From Hungry Ghosts To Wicker Men, Halloween Designs From Around The Globe

Halloween’s worldwide popularity may have grown considerably in recent years, but trick or treating and costume parties are hardly the only ways to celebrate as October spills over into November. There are plenty of creative and visually stunning customs observed around the world, and it’s not hard to see why—there are dead to honor, seasonal transitions to observe, and things to burn. Here are just a few noteworthy customs this time of year:

La Diablada, Peru (Week Ending November 5th)

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Every year in the town of Puno, nestled on the shores of Lake Titicaca in Southeastern Peru, a man dressed in an ornate dark lord costume leads a procession of townspeople through the streets. The men, disguised as demons and wearing red crosses, dance an energetic dance known as the diablada (known in English as “the dance of the devils”) as they parade. The origins of the celebration are unknown, but dependable travel institution Lonely Planet has it that the spectacular parade either commemorates the expulsion of conquistadors or honors the spirits of the lake.

Samhain, Ireland (October 31)

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Samhain (try this accepted pronunciation: “sow-een”), is an Irish Gaelic word meaning, roughly, “summer’s end.” It is also a Celtic pagan festival celebrating the start of winter that gives us more than a few of our modern Halloween customs, such as pestering locals for snacks. Another custom that has survived, though in a mercifully changed form, is the burning of a large wicker man. Past celebrants would fill the wicker man with living animals and sometimes human sacrifices and then set it aflame. These days, some still burn wicker men in their celebrations of Samhain and other Pagan holidays, though without human occupants.

Halloween in Transylvania (October 31)

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Vlad III, or Dracula, was not an actual vampire, but there is no denying that he was a monster. Also known as Vlad the Impaler for his preferred method of execution, the man was well known even in his own time for the extreme cruelty and violence of his reign. If legendary tyrants entice you, a number of travel outfits now offer Dracula-themed tours of Transylvania at Halloween, complete with a party surrounded by the dramatic architecture at Vlad’s birthplace, the beautifully preserved medieval Citadel of Sighisoara; a staged witch trial; traditional Romanian folk music performances; and an opportunity to sleep at Borgo Pass in a hotel located roughly where Bram Stoker’s revision of Dracula would have kept his castle and trapped his prey.

Guy Fawkes Night, (AKA Bonfire Night) UK (November 5th)

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If burning a sacrificial wicker man for Samhain isn’t satisfying enough, you might also enjoy burning a royal traitor in effigy for Guy Fawkes Night. The British holiday nominally commemorates the total failure of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt by Guy Fawkes and a number of other conspirators to light dozens of barrels of gunpowder to blow up the House of Lords and assassinate the king. Every November 5th in celebration of the failure, bonfires are lit, fireworks are set off, and effigies of Guy Fawkes are burned.

Hallowmas - Most of Europe (Oct 31 - November 1st) 

All souls day in Wroclaw, Poland.via
Hallowmas, the Christian sequence of All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Soul’s Day, is in many ways an anti-Halloween. Rather than focus on mischief and costume, Hallowmas features respectful celebrations of dead saints and loved ones. The customs take as many forms as there are countries celebrating these holidays, but a common fixture is a trip to the cemetery to light candles, leave flowers, and say prayers to honor dead relatives.

Though they don’t all fall around the same time of year as Halloween, beautiful celebrations for the dead are commonly held all over the world. These are a few of our favorites:

Dia de los Muertos, Mexico (Oct 31st - November 2nd)

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Easily one of the most famous celebrations for the dead, the Mexican Dia de los Muertos is a spectacular mix of colorful costumes, grave-site decorations, and sugar skulls made by local artisans.

Ghede, Haiti (November 2nd)

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Haiti’s Vodun tradition observes the holiday of Ghede (“GEH-day”), a celebration of the Ghede spirits and the god of death, Baron Samedi. Participants might wear white makeup with black around the eyes, and visit cemeteries to honor relatives by cleaning their gravesites and leaving food. According to an article in the SF Gate, altars for the day might include candles, clarin (white Haitian rum spiced with habanero peppers), cigarettes, sequined bottles, crosses, miniature coffins, and Baron Samedi’s top hat and cane.

Festival of Hungry Ghosts, China

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The Hungry Ghost festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar, a month in which ghosts and spirits are set free to join the living. The festival is perhaps best known for its abundance of lanterns: some are decorated and paraded on floats; others are lit and released into the water at night to light the way for lost spirits.

Obon, Japan

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Obon is celebrated in Japan at the same time of year as the Festival of Hungry Ghosts in China. It is celebrated for similar reasons and in similar ways—the dead are set free to roam the earth and lanterns are lit to guide them. One lovely fixture of Obon is the tradition of making dolls from vegetables to place outside the door on the first day of the festival to give ancestral spirits a ride between worlds.