With Halloween around the corner, this time of year can cause many around the world to question what other cultures are doing to kick off the holiday season. For Weber State University, the campus comes alive with multicultural holiday celebrations in addition to Halloween such as Diwali and Día de los Muertos.
This year, Oct. 20 marks the beginning of the Diwali celebration and lasts for five days. It is a symbolic celebration rooted in the Hindu religion of light overcoming darkness. The first day is called Dhanteras, and people will typically purchase expensive jewelry and household items for good luck and to invite the goddess Lakshmi into their homes.
The second day is called Choti Diwali or Naraka Chaturdashi during which people will arise early in the morning and bathe themselves and clean their homes to commemorate the defeat of the demon king by Lord Krishna.
On the third day, the main celebration of Diwali takes place. During the celebration, people will feast on delicious food and deserts while they exchange gifts with one another.
On the fourth day known as Padwa, or Govardhan Puja, the celebration focuses on marriage. Husbands will buy gifts for their wives and others will cook an enormous amount of food and dedicate it to Lord Krishna.
To finish off the festivities, the fifth day is centered around the bond between siblings. Sisters will place some kind of red mark on their brother’s forehead and the brothers will give gifts to their sisters. This process is in honor of Lord Yama and his bond with his sister Yami.
On the Weber State Ogden campus, the Diwali celebration will take place on Nov. 4th from 2-4 p.m. in the Shepherd Union building in Ballroom B. It will have booths that offer traditional Hindu activities such as henna tattoos and food to enjoy.
The campus celebration is organized by the Student Success Center and is open to all Weber State students.
Día de los Muertos is a traditional Mexican holiday that is celebrated right after Halloween on Nov. 1-2. Similar to Diwali, this holiday is centered around family connection and is rich with symbolism.
Día de los Muertos dates all the way back to ancient Aztec and Spanish cultures. It involves building altars, called an ofrenda, to place the photographs of deceased ancestors on in remembrance of their lives. Many bring food and play music to symbolically reunite with these ancestors again.
Its underlying tone is meant to be a positive memorial of their loved ones, in which they focus on their lives instead of their death. Just like the American celebration of Halloween, there is face painting and skeletal decorations, but Halloween focuses on the celebration of death and horror.
Other Día de los Muertos activities could also include cleaning off and decorating grave sites to prepare for the festivities. Other cultural holidays around this time of year seem to be based around family bonds and celebrating life.
The traditions of American Halloween can be traced back to the Irish holiday of Samhain. This holiday marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. People believed that during Samhain, the boundary between the living and dead was thinner.
To ward off the evil spirits, people would light bonfires and dress up in costumes which is why costumes are central to the current celebration of Halloween. Jack-o-lanterns came from the Celtic tradition of carving faces into squashes and other root vegetables.
The name Halloween comes from the later established holiday of All Hallows Eve which usually came before All Saints’ Day that was instituted by the Catholic Pope at the time. Over time the name became shortened to Halloween because it was easier to say.
Most of the campus Halloween activities and celebrations have already happened, but there are two more to come. On Oct. 29 at the Weber State Recreation Center there is an activity called “Witches and Wizards night out.” This will be a fitness party that encourages all students to come in their costumes to enjoy yoga, Zumba or cycling classes.
The other Halloween activity happening on campus is on Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 called the “Spooky Desert Climb” hosted by Weber State Outdoor Program. It will take place in St. George and the tickets for Weber State students will be $220 to rock climb, camp and generally explore the desert.
With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming soon there is still so much to learn and so many holidays to celebrate. Discovering and learning about cultural traditions can deeply enrich people’s lives, and at Weber State it can help students understand and feel more connected to their fellow Wildcats.
