Halloween

Halloween comes from All Hallow Even, the eve (night before) All Hallows Day. Therefore, Halloween is the eve of All Saints Day. It is celebrated on the 31^st of October.

Currently, it is widely supposed that Halloween originated as a Celtic pagan festival Samhain, marked the end of the harvest, the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half". It was celebrated over the course of several days and had some elements of a Festival of the Dead. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. People and their livestock would often walk between two bonfires as a cleansing ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. The Celts believed that evil spirits came with the long hours of winter darkness. They believed that on that night the barriers between our world and the spirit world were at their weakest and therefore spirits were most likely to be seen on earth.

Halloween customs:

Jack-o’-lanterns – Pumpkin Lanterns

These are hollowed out pumpkins with a face cut into one side. People once carved out beets, potatoes and turnips to use as lanterns on Halloween, but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkins, which are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips.

According to an Irish legend, jack-o’-lanterns were named for a man named Jack, who could not enter heaven because he was a miser. He could not enter hell either, because he had played jokes on the devil. So instead, he had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day.

Fire was very important to the Celts as it was to all early people. In the old days people lit bonfires, to scare away evil spirits. They believed that light had power over darkness. In some places they used to jump over the fire to bring good luck. Today, people light candles in pumpkin lanterns and then put them outside their homes to frighten away witches and ghosts.

Apple Bobbing (Duck-apple)

The Roman festival for remembering the dead was also in October. During this time, the Romans remembered their goddess, Pomona. She was the goddess of the trees and fruits, and when the Romans came to Britain, they began to hold these two festivals on the same day as Samhain. Apple games probably became associated with Halloween because of this.

The British play the game bobbing for apples, in which apples are placed in a tub or a large basin of water. The contestants, sometimes blindfolded, must take one bite from one of the apples without using their hands. It is not permitted to edge the apple to the side of the bowl to get hold of it.

Dressing up

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. On Halloween, it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. To keep ghosts away from their houses on Halloween, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease them and prevent them from attempting to enter.

Trick or Treat

Halloween was a time for making mischief – many parts of England still recognize Halloween as Mischief Night. Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?" The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) "threat" to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.