Halloween

How would you celebrate this tradition? Will you dress-up? Throw a party? Will you go trick-or-treating? Well regardless of the traditions you follow, our dental clinic wants you to create memorable moments this Halloween and would like our readers to know how this prediction started. Sani Dental Group wants you to have a safe Halloween, we invite you to read our previous post: Having a Healthy and Safe Halloween

In the post, we offer several tips that will help you have a safe and healthy Halloween.

History of Halloween

The Halloween tradition has origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced "sah-win"). The Samhain festival is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic cultures. During the festival, the ancient pagans spend time to stock supplies and prepare for the winter. The ancient Gaels believed that October 31 was a special day, this was the day where the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc.
Among the havoc, the dead causes were sickness or damaged crops and death. To prevent damages and sickness, the ancient Celtics developed several customs; these include putting masks and costumes through which they attempted to mimic the evil spirits or appease them.

Evolution of the Tradition

The Halloween activities have evolved, becoming more and more popular every year. The festivity is especially popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada. The increase of the American cultural influence in recent years through the television and other media has made the festivity reach numerous of countries.
Part of the evolution of this festivity are the changes the main themes have had in order to fit modern society. Today, some of the modern traditions include trick-or-treating, bonfires, costume parties, visiting "haunted houses" and carving jack-o-lanterns; of course all of these traditions have a significant meaning.

For example, trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice known as "souling". In this practice poor folks would go door to door on Hallowmas day (Nov. 01), they would receive food and other treats in return for prayers. In todays’ version children will visit several homes on Oct. 31 asking the question, “Trick or treat?"; the homeowner will then give treats such as candy or money. However, if the owner does not open or treat are not given, the owner is in “danger” of having a mischief performed at his property.

Traditionally dressing up on Halloween were model after supernatural figures such as demons, devils, ghosts, skeletons and/or witches. They were used to appease evils spirits and keep harm away from the user, but today the selection of a costume is different, there is a strong influence from popular characters from fiction, celebrities and generic archetypes (princesses, pirates, ninjas, ghosts, etc.).

Top Tricks

Scary Figures:

Dress up as your favorite scary figure and lay outside your home as a harmless decoration, when trick-or-treaters walk up, spring to life and scare them.

Annoying the Neighborhood:

We all know that one neighbor who turns off all their lights on Halloween to avoid giving out candy, why not get with a friend and lavishly decorating their property so they attract hundreds of trick-or-treaters. Making him extremely mad in the process.

The Invisible String

Here you and a friend head over to a heavily trafficked walkway, squat down and pretend you’re holding a string between you. Laugh and enjoy watching people lift their legs try to avoid the “string”. Be careful, some might fall.

On behalf of the Sani Dental Group staff we hope you enjoy learning the history of Halloween and a pleasant evening and night. If you dress up, we invite you to take some pictures and share them with us. If you only go trick-or-treating be careful, as some out there will only want to do some mischief deeds.