ENGLISH HALLOWEEN CUSTOMS

THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

On October 31st, the eve of All Saints Day or just Hallow­een is celebrated.

The tradition of Halloween began in the fifth century B.C. by the Irish Celts, who organized their year according to the agricultural calendar and marked the transition from one year to the next on October 31.

The Celts, ancient inhabitants of Great Britain, celebrated their New Year on November 1st. It was celebrated every year with a festival that marked the end of the « season of the sun» and the beginning of «the season of darkness and cold.

On the eve before their new year, October 31, it was believed that Samhain, who was the Lord of the Death and Prince of Darkness, called together all the dead people. The Celts believed the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred on this night.

On October 31st, the Druids, who were the priests and teachers of the Celts, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest. They considered oak trees to be sacred. The Druids would light fires and offer sacrifices of crops, animals mid possibly even human beings. They told fortunes about the coming year by examining the remains of the animals that had been sacrificed.

When the morning arrived, the Druids would give an em­ber from their fires to each family who would then take them home to start new cooking fires at home. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from evil spirits.

The story tells us that during the transition, spirits return to earth, looking for living bodies to possess for the following year. The Celts dress up in ghoulish, costumes and parade around to frighten them away.

In the year 835 AD the Roman Catholic Church made No­vember 1st a church holiday to honour all the saints. This day is called All Saint's Day. It used to be also known as Hallow­mas. Gradually, over the years, October 31st became known as All Hallow Even, eventually All Hallow's Eve, and then Halloween as we know it today.

It was thought that even strangers could help a soul's pas­sage to heaven by saying prayers.

ENGLISH HALLOWEEN CUSTOMS

I am going to tell you about the most popular customs of Halloween. The most known custom is the tradition of dressing. The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was be­lieved that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. 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. On Halloween, people placed bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter their home. Fire has always played an important part in Halloween. Fire was very important to the Celts as it was to all early people. In the old days people lit bonfires to ward away evil spirits and in some places they used to jump over the fire to bring good luck. Today, we light candles in pumpkin and then put them outside our homes to ward of evil spirits.

Another tradition is Apple Bobbing. It has the roman ori­gins. 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. Apples probably became associated with Halloween because of this festival. Some people believe that, if you slice an apple through the equa­tor (to reveal the five-pointed star within) and then eat it by candlelight before a mirror, your future spouse will appear over your shoulder.

Trick or Treat was first known as Mischief Night. Hallo­ween was a time for making mischief — many parts of England still recognize this date as Mischief Night — when children would knock on doors demanding a treat (Trick or Treat) and people would disguise themselves as witches or ghosts, in or­der to obtain food and money from nervous householders.

Halloween was sometimes called Nut Crack Night or Snap Apple Night, in England. Families would sit by the fire and tell stories while they ate apples and nuts.

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1224