Is it 'Saints' or 'Souls'?

It is one of the most festive times of the year — a colorful season, a time of giving and reuniting with friends and family. No, it’s not yet Christmas (there are 55 days to go!), but it is Halloween.

Bright orange, purple, green, and black decorations deck the halls, and of course, free candy is everywhere, from churches and malls, to schools and villages. People are flocking to horror houses and spending on scary flicks and cheeky costumes. It’s a very happy time.

But it wasn’t always this way.

I, personally, have liked this part of the year for as long as I can remember, but I think it’s really supposed to be a somber period, a time for prayer. But I can’t help having fun during this season.

When I was younger, reaching the end of October meant it was time to go to the cemetery. Morbid as it sounds, I still love doing the annual trek to visit my dearly departed relatives in the cemetery.

Never has my family missed going to the memorial park on Nov. 1. Through unbearable heat or rain, we would push on.

Getting there was an adventure I looked forward to because cars were barred from entering. The whole cemetery became like a giant maze filled with people, flowers, candles, and food. At times, there would be no other way to pass an area except to climb over, or shimmy in between graves.

Once inside the park, I would divide my time between playing with melted candle wax with my cousins and walking through the streets looking at the headstones and searching for a fast-food stall where I could get my lunch.

There was also the possibility that I could get my face on TV since camera crews from the biggest networks were always around.

Of course, prayers are said once the whole family is together, and after that, it’s usually time to pack up and go home.

Going around houses asking for candy wasn’t part of my childhood.

Now, the American tradition that is Halloween is competing with local traditions. I don’t think kids even care about going to the memorial parks. The season is increasingly becoming more about dressing up as Hannah Montana or Harry Potter and parading around the barangay streets blackmailing neighbors into giving away sweets.

It used to be that malls and other commercial establishments would close for the whole of Nov. 1 (or maybe my parents just didn’t want to sully the holy day), but now, some are open half-day, and a few don’t even close at all. Halloween treats are offered to entice customers to enter stores.

Times change. Cultures evolve. Some customs are introduced, and some are forgotten. I’m saying that a lot of kids I know are missing out on the Nov. 1 experience I had because they are sheltered from it, or are too preoccupied with the festivities of the season.

However, I bet my grandparents would say that I didn’t do many of the things they had to do for All Saints’ Day when they were younger, either. Maybe they even had separate traditions for All Souls’ Day, too!

I bet a lot of people don’t even know there’s a difference between All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. There is so much confusion about these two days, and about Halloween. The three words are now often misused and misunderstood. I hear people use them interchangeably, but they’re really not the same.

Halloween is a holiday in Northern America and in parts of Europe, and is celebrated on the night of the Oct. 31. The giving of candy is said to be taken from an ancient Celtic tradition called Samhain, when folks warded off the spirits of the recently departed with offerings of food and drink. Its name is taken from Allhallows or Hallowmas, the old names of what we now know as All Saints’ Day, which is on Nov. 1. 

All Souls’ Day, on the other hand, is on Nov. 2 and was created by the Church to help purify the spirits of the dead, according to Encarta Encyclopedia.

 Why we pay respects to our loved ones on Nov. 1, a day which was established by the Catholic Church to honor the saints, not the souls of the dearly departed, is something of a mystery to me.

That’s just one of the many questions I have about this time of year. This season is so full of mystery.

Are there really ghosts roaming around? Is the Manila City Hall really haunted because it is shaped like a coffin (a question news programs aim to answer year after year after year)? Why waste a perfectly good squash or pumpkin by poking holes in it, when it can be made into yummy pinakbet? Why is it that I always end up with less candy than I came with when I trick or treat? Does anyone ever say “trick”?

I don’t think I’ll ever get the answer to all of my questions, and that’s okay. Halloween can keep its mystique, and I can keep my dignity. After all, I certainly don’t hope to prove that ghosts are indeed among us!