DARK SECRET OF HALLOWEEN AND WHY IT IS FOOLISH FOR NIGERIANS TO CELEBRATE IT.

Halloween has a holiday is filled with
mystery, magic and superstition. It originated from the
Celtic end-of-summer festival in which people
felt especially close to deceased relatives and
friends. For these friendly spirits, they set places
at the dinner table, left treats on doorsteps and
along the roadside  and lit candles to help
loved ones find their way back to the spirit world.
Today's Halloween ghosts are often depicted as
more fearsome and malevolent, and the Halloween customs
and superstitions are scarier too. For example: one avoids
crossing paths with black cats, afraid that they
might bring us bad luck,this idea has its roots in
the Middle Ages, when many people believed that
witches went incognito by disguising  themselves
into cats.
One tries not to walk under ladders for the
same reason. This superstition may have come
from the ancient Egyptians, who believed that
triangles were sacred; it also may have
something to do with the fact that walking under
a leaning ladder tends to be fairly unsafe. And
around Halloween, one also try to avoid
breaking mirrors, stepping on cracks in the road
or spilling salt.
All these dark superstition surrounding the Halloween tradition is not alarming to the Americans in any way. But why are Nigerians also partakers of these tradition? Aleast it is understandable  that Halloween came to America in the second half of the 19th century, during which
America was flooded with new immigrants. These
new immigrants, were millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846, and they helped to
popularize the celebration of Halloween
nationally in America . And Taking from Irish and English
traditions, Americans began to dress up in
costumes and go house to house asking for food
or money, a practice that eventually became
today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. But today they are some Nigerians participating in the Halloween tradition, imitating and photocopying an event that they do not understand. Its a pity and it shows some level of immaturity that we copy everything and anything the white man indulge in. With all the dark superstition surrounding this Halloween event,Nigerian celebrants should understand that Halloween go beyond partying and costume dress-up to actually abiding to those superficial Halloween customs, and this customs are alien to our own African culture and traditions.