October 30, 2007 | 12:00am
Tomorrow, many communities in Metro Manila and other urban areas will observe Halloween. The term comes from All Hallows Eve or All Saints Day, which was shortened to All Hallow E’en. In Spanish, it is called Vispera de Todos Los Santos. The ironic part about this is that November 1st was set apart in the ninth century for the commemoration of the saints, mainly to supplant the autumnal pagan fire rites. The witches and jack-o-lantern are the survival of the pagan gods. Today, it has become some sort of holiday for children. Dressed in “scary” costumes, they go from house to house demanding handouts of sweets. If refused, they inflict some sort of mischief.
Most people are under the impression that like Valentine’s Day, Halloween is one of the festivities that was introduced in the Philippines during the American times. Actually, Halloween was celebrated in the Philippines long before it was celebrated in the United States. The folk called our celebration mangangaluluwa. They went serenading from house to house portraying the souls of the departed. Each household was supposed to pay homage to the departed souls by giving token gifts. Those who did not honor the “souls” had their pigs or chicken stolen. So it was also a form of trick or treat.
This practice extended way back to our Spanish period of history. In the United States, Halloween became popular only during the middle of the nineteenth century. America’s earliest settlers were Protestants and they looked at Halloween as Catholic practice decided by the Pope. They objected even to Christmas. It was the Pope who decided that Christ was born on December 25th. Rightly, they contended that there was no Biblical evidence that Christ was born in winter. Actually, December 25th was originally the feast of the pagan sun god and it was the greatest pagan feast. Long after they had been Christianized, the people still commemorated the feast of the old sun god. So a Pope decided to push the old god out by making the old celebration the new celebration of the birth of Christ. Halloween went through the same process. October 31 was the last day of the year in the old Celtic Calendar. Its night was the time when all the witches and warlocks were abroad. Until early in this century, it was spelled “Hallowe’en,” an abbreviation of Hallow-even, or eve of All Hallows Day.
Today, it is only in a few rural areas where mangangaluluwa is still practiced. In urban areas, Halloween has been Americanized. The Indian symbol is the pumpkin. Halloween decorations were imported from the United States and the children go around the neighborhood for their annual trick-or-treat celebration. It is important for us to know the history of our traditions. As we always like to say, it is in looking at the past that we will learn the lessons for our future.
