“THEY DID WHAT?!” YOU MAY EXCLAIM. NOT EVERYONE IS KEEPING TO THE BASICS OF DRESSING UP, CARVING PUMPKINS AND TRICK-O-TREATING TO STRANGERS’ HOUSES, NO, THERE ARE MUCH WEIRDER TRADITIONS OUT THERE…
Written for Glide
By Maria Baker
· Italy – In Italy they bake cakes in the shape of, weirdly enough, beans for this special occasion. They’re called ‘Fave dei Morti’ which translates to the creepy and maybe slightly humorous name of ‘Beans of the Dead’. This may have originated or been inspired from the Catholics long ago, where they baked these special spirit bakery to purify and convert the Celts.
· Portugal – Sticking to the food subject here, in Portugal, people go to the cemetery to celebrate, yes, people actually go to what most people plan to do on Halloween but never get around actually doing it. They go there and celebrate with food and wine, including some unique special sugar cakes. This holiday is getting close to beating Christmas for its yummy meals.
· Czechoslovakia – Now this is a bit different technique to honouring the dead. Over there they drink a glass of cold milk to do this, this cools down the spirits in Purgatory, Apparently. They also go beside a fireplace and place down one chair for each family member including the ones that had passed away.
· Germany – Everyone puts away any kind of knives, this way they don’t threaten any spirits. So does that mean I can’t be Edward Scissorhands for Halloween?
· Japan
– In respect and memory of their close ones that had passed away, they put water and food in front of their graves. Another thing that they do for their ‘O-Bon festival’, they light up some lanterns to guide the spirits back to home.
· Hong Kong – They burn pictures of fruit or money for the spirits. They call their festival “Yue Lan” which meaning is “The festival of the hungry ghosts”.
Looks like no matter where you are in the world, every spirit is hungry especially on Halloween.
Maria Tzing Fung Baker 