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Halloween's roots lie
By Kendra Kingsley
THE BATTALION
war on terron).:
United States
for a very’ long
lich there migl
of success.
.vetotmsttheMi ^ ,
•ult times. folklore and anc ' ent
dition.
Originating from the
OO-year-old, pre-Christian
Itic calendar, Halloween —
m called Samhain — marked
secunty mattets,*
ig bipartisan ctr
' Quayle said,
i in a norma/&tfe
\ ft most celebrated holiday of the Celtic year.
■rtw J e Celts believed that Samhain, which was
l o lives" 111 * e ^ ratec ^ ^ ov - ^ an< J marked the beginning of
Vt'LnS’ inrlntW nter months, was the time of year that the
mi four aren osts t * ie ^ eac * were a * :) ^ e to m i n gle with the
vho peppered ia in ^ To kee P such unw elcome guests away,
stions followir ^unities sacrificed animals, fruits and vegeta-
isand lit bonfires to encourage unearthly visi-
d the personals s to continue their journey to the afterworld,
d that made him However, the Halloween of modern times is
person. Seeincli t exactly an untouched Celtic tradition,
ikes me realize tli After Christian missionaries attempted to alter
normal guy,” i a g an ” Celtic religious practices, they renamed
'irregla-Garcia, ap Celt’s Nov. 1 holiday to a feast of All Saints
as AcfcM Consol 18 honor the church’s saints. All Saints Day. also
)o/. known as All Hallows, linguistically transformed
[o today’s Oct. 31 celebration of Halloween,
^addition to its foundation, many Halloween
iions can be traced to the Celtic heritage.
One of the holiday’s most popular traditions,
ici-or-treating, originates from the Celts’
in fairies. Believed to have sided with
ither God nor Satan, fairies were thought to
alkthe earth condemned until judgement day.
rghi explained
in a world-class
lefit is that it alio*:
ects that relate toi
ts are able to study n Halloween, however, people would imitate
they are facing in£|e f a i r ies and go house to house begging for
ats — and played practical jokes on house-
submit an applied
a Graduate
; of recommend®
■ship and a profes
r next year’s class!
holds that
failed to supply an offering.
Surviving several decades, trick-or-treating is
still a widely-practiced Halloween tradition. Yet,
those who feel they have outgrown the cavity-
inducing ritual continue to find ways to celebrate
the Celtic tradition.
Amy Puente, a sophomore kinesiology major,
said she and her friends decided to host a costume
party in an effort to rekindle the trick-or-treating
experience from their childhoods.
“For kids, it’s understood that Halloween is
about dressing up going out trick-or-treating,”
Puente said. “But when you get to a certain age,
the anticipation for [Oct. 31] is gone. [My friends
and 1[ thought a costume party would be the per
fect excuse for people our age to get dressed up
again and remember what it’s like to celebrate
Halloween again.”
Yet the continuation of Halloween rituals and
folklore does not end with childhood traditions.
exam
ple, the legend of werewolf's,
the metamorphosis of man into wolf, long has
fascinated the public and is thought to have
originated from pre-historic Europe where
hunters believed wearing wolf hides would
allow them to possess the same powers as their
predator.
Additionally, Lycanthropy — a disorder in
which the victim believes he can transform
himself into a wolf (tearing open raw meat,
howling at the moon and attacking victims in a
bloodthirsty rage) — has strengthened an inter
est in werewolf folklore.
Now commonly associated with Halloween,
the topic of werewolfs has been publicized
through popular 1980s movies such as The
Howling, An American Werewolf in London
and Teen Wolf.
This crossover from European legend to the
silverscreen plays a large role in determining
what has kept ancient folklore alive for cen-
RUBEN DELUNA •
turies. In fact, X the battalion
many students opt to
experience the terror and
thrill associated with Halloween with the flick
of a remote. Michelle Bertino, a sophomore
business major, said her customary Oct. 31 cel
ebration has always included renting scary
movies.
“Ever since I can remember. I’ve always
watched horror films on Halloween,” Bertino
said. “My personal favorites are Friday the 13th
movies, but I’ll watch anything that will get me
in the mood to be really scared.”
From frequenting haunted houses to spend
ing an evening glued to a scream-worthy movie,
many students will experience Oct. 31 as the
Celts would have intended — continuing a
haunting tradition of otherworldly proportions.
O MORE CANDY, ALL GROWN UP
Students hang up trick-or-treat bags, create new ways to celebrate Halloween
Ca$h
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Kd. & Hollein®
5:30
By Bethany Brown
THE BATTALION
25 Years
HO!
ring (lie
holidays and exam peK‘ :
POSTMASTER: Seni^
i'7843-1111.
ersity in the Divisionols^
McDonald Building. Sf* 5 ' 1
1p://www.thebatt.«)iii
entbyThe Battalion. Fit ^
ng, call 845-0569. W?!
rhrough Friday. Fax: 84$'
3ntto pick up a single®
>er school year,MOW]
^isa, MasterCard, Dise ?
For many Aggies, Halloween used to mean going door to door
essed as a witch, monster or their favorite super hero and asking
r a tasty treat.
But most Aggies feel they have reached the age at which they
ust hang up their trick-or-treat bags and find other forms of enter-
inment for Halloween. The problem is, many Aggies are not sure
hat activities will be as fun as trick-or-treating used to be and
ive trouble deciding what to do on Halloween.
Some students will spend Halloween celebrating
th their campus organizations. Student organi-
itions will host such activities as haunted
Rises and costume parties. Mike Hopkins, a
iphomore business major, said he plans to
tend Aggie Fish Club’s skate-n-date
irty this Halloween.
“Basically, we all dress up in our cra-
est Halloween costumes to look as
diculous as possible and then skate
ound at Wolf Pen Creek, which we
ve rented out for the night of
alloween],” Hopkins said.
Hopkins said he is excited about his
ight of skating and said it will be the per-
ct substitute for trick-or-treating.
“Halloween is a fun time for everybody
get together with their friends and
istead of doing the old boring ‘get candy,
hich equals get cavity’ we thought we would
o something different,” Hopkins said.
Everybody out there knows how much fun skat-
tg is if all their social misconceptions are gone
nd if you add a costume party to top it off, with lots
fcandy — you just can’t beat that.”
Other students plan to attend some of the events at bars and
lubs around town, such as Shadow Canyon’s costume contest or
he Blue October show at Hurricane Harry’s.
Katie Lewis, a freshman business major, said she is going to the
Blue October concert mainly because she just really likes the band.
“Blue October is a great band, and I love going to live
shows,” Lewis said.
According to Lewis, seeing a band is a great way to spend
Halloween. She said Halloween is pretty much like any other day to
her, and she plans to just kick back and enjoy the music.
AMEY BAHN • THE BATTALION
“I never really do anything on Halloween, but I can’t think of a
better way to celebrate than hanging out with friends and seeing a
good band,” Lewis said.
James Adams, a senior environmental design major, said he
and his roommates will be celebrating Halloween this year by
having a costume party.
“It’s a good excuse to make the party more fun,” Adams said.
“Halloween is a holiday, and if we aren’t going to trick-or-treat, we
need to keep some kind of tradition.”
Adams said what he likes most about Halloween is that it is an
immediate-gratification holiday.
“[I get to] eat candy, party and I don’t have to
remember anything special that happened on this
day,” Adams said.
Josh Armstrong, a senior biomedical sci
ences major, said he is going to spend his
Halloween at home this year.
“It’s tough when Halloween is in the
middle of the week like it is this year,”
Armstrong said. “I want to go out,
but I know I have to worry about the
tests and homework I have for the
rest of the week and it would be
hard to have a good time.”
Armstrong said he plans to rent
scary movies and invite friends over
for some laid-back fun.
“We decided to get a really
scary movie, like The Exorcist,
and just hang out here,”
Armstrong said. “That way we can
still celebrate by doing
‘Halloweeny’ stuff but we don’t have
to put a lot of effort into it.”
Armstrong also said he gets a lot trick-or-
treaters in his neighborhood and that he plans to
have a big bowl of candy waiting for them.
“It’s kind of fun to see how excited the kids are when they
come to my door,” Armstrong said. “I remember how much I use to
love to go trick-or-treating and since I’m too old to do it now, it’s
nice to still get to experience it in some way.”