THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
The origin of Halloween go back very
far to the ancient Celts. The Celts lived in the British
Isles during ancient times. The last day of year on the old pagan
calendar, October 31st, served the triple purpose of bidding goodbye
to summer, welcoming winter and remembering the dead. This day was called
"Samhain". On the evening of October 31st and the day
of November 1st, the Celtic priest called Druids, used to honour
Samhain, the god of death. According to Celtic legend, Samhain controlled the
spirit of the deads and could allow them to rest peace fully or make them go
wild on this night. The Celtic believed that on the night of October 31st,ghosts come
out of their tombs. The spirit of dead returned to heart. Druids made big fire
to frighten the spirit of evil and death. On October 31st, they also
predicted the future. The Celtic people dressed in scary costumes to frighten
the evil spirits. They dressed as witches, ghosts and skeletons. They also
played games to bring good luck in the new year.
After the Roman invasion in 43 AD,
Samhain also became a harvest festival. Rome had
a festival honouring the goddess Pomona
who ruled fruits and garden. The Romans pictured her as a beautiful maiden, her
arms filled with fruit and a crown of apples on her head. Nuts, fruits and
apples were part of the Samhain ceremonies. Apples were sacred and lucky.
The colours of Halloween are orange
and black. They represent the harvest (orange) and the death (black).
After the Roman invasion, Christian
rites substituted pagan rites. For the Christians the first day of November was
the day of All Saints. It was called All Allows Day (the day of All Saints). The
evening of October 31st was
All Allows Eve. This was shortened to Halloween. The druid religion went on for
a long time in Ireland and Scotland . Halloween
continued to be important in both places. In XIX century, Irish immigrants brought
their Halloween costumes to the United
States . Now Halloween is one of the biggest
festivities in USA .
The date is on every calendar.
HALLOWEEN TRADITIONS
Halloween
means "All Hallows Eve", the evening before All Saints. Halloween is
a popular event in America , Great Britain
and Ireland .
Both adults and children alike celebrate All Saints Eve. The children dress up
in funny clothes and masks .They go round the houses, ring the door-
bells and say: "Trick or treat". People give them some candy,
fruit, money, or they play a trick , like writing on windows with soap, ringing
door-bell, spray shaving cream on cars, dumping garbage can. People make
faces out of large pumpkins and put candles inside: this is called Jack
O'Lantern. They cut out ghosts and spectres and even skeletons and put them in
their windows. Teenagers in middle school and high school have a Halloween
party and dance. The party is in the evening in the school gymnasium. After
the school party, everyone helps to clean up. At home and at school
children play games such as "dunking for apples", "apples on
a string", and others. Typical Halloween food is nuts, popcorn, pumpkin
pie, liquorice, sweets and candied apples. The Halloween drink is apple
cider.
In North America , It was believed that
it was unlucky for a black cat to come into their homes or travel on their
ships. In the United
States trick-or-treaters are welcomed by
placing lighted pumpkins known as Jack-o'-Lanterns in their
windows. The North American tradition of trick or treat comes
from the original idea that you must be kind to dead ancestors or they will
play a trick on you. Neopagans of North America
honor their ancestors on October 31. It was once believed that on this night
any souls who had not yet passed into the paradise of the summer lands might
return to wander the streets and visit their old homes once more. Neopagans
celebrate the festival today as a turning point between the old and the new
year, as well, the date of October 31 as the gateway between the worlds. Many
neopagans believe that, on the eve of Samhain, the veil that separates each
world that of the living and that of the dead is at its thinnest and that on
this night, there is a better chance of being successful in communicating with
their ancestors.
In Spain also a
special pastry known as the Bones of the Holy is eaten on this day. November 1 has become a public
holiday. On All Saints' Day Catholics attend church services in honor of the
saints, the martyrs and those who have died for the Catholic faith. People may
also visit their family’s graves to beautify them with wreaths and small
lanterns. Sometimes a mass is said at the gravesite and the grave sprinkled
with holy water.
JACK-O-LANTERN
Jack,
it seems, was a bad man. He kept all his money to himself. He wouldn't help
people for all of his life. When Jack died, he wasn't allowed into
Heaven because he was such a miser: a person who wouldn't share his
money. It seems that Jack also had played tricks on the Devil, who
wouldn't let him into hell, either. Jack was stuck. He had to walk
the earth, holding a lantern, until Judgment Day. This is the story
that has been handed down to us by the Irish people who came to America in the
1800s. They carved their turnips into the face of
"Jack-of-the-lantern" to remind themselves what happened to people
who were misers. And in the fall, pumpkins are much easier to ferns. So that's why Americans today carve their pumpkins into
jack-o-lant.