Now that you have learned of other Halloween-time holidays and their similarities, you can do some of your own searching. Celebrations will seldom be the same, and it is always a learning experience to see what is beyond your borders. For example, some celebrations include the Japanese Daimonji and Nepali Gai Jatra.
Samhain is an old Gaelic festival. It marked the end of their harvest year and the beginning of winter. Held on November 1st (in the Northern Hemisphere), Christians at the time adopted features of Samhain into their trio of All Hallow's Eve, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day. Historians theorize that this adoption eventually led to Halloween, so similarities are expected between Halloween and Samhain. During Samhain, celebrants believed that the barrier
Now we move on to a more Asiatic part of the world for Diwali. Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and some Buddhists in the Kartik month right before a new moon (Amavasya). Upon research, it seems many people used to say Halloween was a western Diwali, but it's not. However, there are some similarities. Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over dark, and knowledge over insolence. Halloween traditions, albeit less common, include the lighting of bonfires to ward off evil spirits. The warding of evil spirits can be connected to the triumphs of good over evil and light over dark.
Another part is the use of different outfits. During Diwali, people traditionally wear their best clothes. They wear these clothes because many Hindus worship their goddess of wealth (as well as money and fortune), Lakshmi, during Diwali. Wearing one's best clothes works to honor her. On Halloween, people definitely do not wear their best clothes; they wear costumes. They wear them for a different purpose than in Diwali: Halloween costumes were traditionally used to ward off evil spirits. Lastly, we can talk about decorations and sweets. There are decorations for almost every holiday, but they are rarely similar. Diwali is a festival of light, so houses and businesses are decorated with diyas, a type of lamp. There is also beautiful rangoli. Halloween decorations take a different turn. Most noticeable, Halloween is dark. In at least the Western versions, the fright holiday's decorations are chosen to incite fear (or something reminiscent of it). Like Diwali and Halloween, holidays share similarities and differences.
between the living and the spiritual was at its weakest. Spirits would enter the living world and visit their relatives, bringing blessings and sometimes vengeance. To protect themselves, people eventually started wearing costumes as a tradition. These costumes are evocative of those on Halloween. Like trick-or-treating, people went around in their costumes during Samhain, asking for food in exchange for verses or songs.
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