What are the customs of Halloween?

Halloween, also known as Pumpkin Festival, is a traditional festival in the English-speaking world, which is mainly popular in North America, the British Isles, Australia and New Zealand. That night, children will put on makeup clothes and masks and go door to door to collect fruit. Chinese-speaking areas often mistake Halloween for Halloween.

Halloween is called "Halloween" in English, which is the abbreviation of "Halloween". It refers to Halloween, similar to Christmas Eve. "Hallow" comes from Middle English halwen, which is very close to the etymology of holy. In some parts of Scotland and Canada, Halloween is still called "Halloween Mass", which means a mass held in memory of all saints.

Halloween is usually associated with supernatural things. Traditionally in Europe, Halloween is considered as the closest time to the world of ghosts and gods, similar to the Orchid Festival in China. Anoca, Minnesota, USA is called "Halloween Capital of the World", and a large-scale parade is held every year.

[Edit this paragraph] The origin of Halloween

More than two thousand years ago, the Catholic Church in Europe designated 1 65438+1October1as "Halloween". "Saint" means saint. Legend has it that since 500 BC, the Celtics (Sugejek Jack-o-lanterns) living in Ireland moved the festival forward by one day with funny expressions, that is, 65438+1October 3 1. They think that this day is the day when summer officially ends, that is, the beginning of the new year and the beginning of the severe winter. At that time, people believed that on this day, the dead souls of the deceased would return to their former homes to look for all beings, so as to be reborn, which was the only hope of being reborn after death. Living people are afraid of dead souls to take life, so people put out fire and candlelight on this day, so that dead souls can't find living people and dress up as monsters to scare away dead souls. After that, they will rekindle the candlelight and start a new year's life. Legend has it that Celtic tribes also had the custom of killing the living to commemorate the dead on June 3 10.

By the 1 century, the Romans who occupied the territory of Celtic tribes gradually accepted the custom of Halloween, but the barbaric practice of burning the living to sacrifice the dead was abolished. Roman festivals celebrating harvest were combined with Celtic rituals, wearing terrible masks and dressed as animals or ghosts to drive away demons wandering around them. This is why most people in the world celebrate Halloween with strange costumes today. With the passage of time, the meaning of Halloween has gradually changed, becoming active, joyful and festive. The idea of the deceased seeking the reincarnation of body double was gradually abandoned and forgotten. Today, most images and pictures symbolizing Halloween, such as witches and black cats, have friendly, lovely and interesting faces.

After the Roman emperor Constantine believed in the Lord, Christianity was established as the state religion. At that time, Christianity actually turned into Catholicism. Constantine ordered the whole country to convert to Christianity. As a result, stubborn pagans joined the church and brought various pagan styles, including the Day of Death, which they wanted to keep as a part of their lives.

Because the church can't eliminate the pagan customs of the people, it has to sanctify some customs, especially1October 3 1 day. In the eighth century, the Pope designated 1 1 month 1 day as Halloween to commemorate all the martyrs in the history of the church. In this way,1October 3 1 day is Halloween. The Catholic Church allows people to celebrate festivals on 1 October 3 1 day, because 1 1 month1day is sacred. Later, Halloween became Halloween, and Halloween means "sacred".1October 3 1 day is Halloween night. Even was later simplified to Eve and een. The former means "Eve" and the latter is the abbreviation of even, meaning "night", which became Halloween today, representing the eve of Halloween. China people simply call1October 3 1 day Halloween, but it should actually be translated as "All Souls' Day".

Halloween sign

The theme of Jack-o-lantern Halloween is ghosts, scary people, and things related to death, magic and monsters. Things usually associated with Halloween include ghosts, ghouls, witches, bats, black cats, owls, elves, zombies, skeletons and demons, as well as fictional characters such as vampires and Frankenstein.

Black and orange are the traditional colors of Halloween. Modern Halloween products also use a lot of purple, green and red. Autumn elements such as pumpkins and scarecrows have also become symbols of Halloween.

Jack lamp is the most famous symbol of Halloween. In Britain and Ireland, locals used to light candles in hollowed-out turnips to make jack-o'-lanterns, but American immigrants soon replaced them with pumpkins, because pumpkins are bigger and easier to carve patterns on. Many families carve scary faces on pumpkins and put them in class at the gate. Traditionally, this is to scare away demons or monsters.

Pumpkins are orange, so orange has become a traditional Halloween color. Carving pumpkin lanterns with pumpkins is also a Halloween tradition, and its history can be traced back to Ireland. Legend has it that a man named Jack was so stingy that he couldn't go to heaven after his death, and he couldn't go to hell because he made fun of the devil, so he had to wander around with lanterns until the judgment day. Therefore, Jack and Jack-o-lantern became the symbols of cursed wandering souls. In order to scare away these wandering souls on Halloween, people carve terrible faces out of turnips, beets or potatoes to represent Jack holding lanterns. This is the origin of the ghost fire. After the Irish moved to the United States, they began to carve pumpkins, because pumpkins are more abundant than turnips in autumn in the United States. Now, if people hang jack-o-lanterns on the windows on Halloween night, it means that those who wear Halloween costumes can knock on the door and ask for candy.

Halloween activities

Trick or treat

The main activity of Halloween is trick or treat. The children dressed up as scary people rang their neighbors' doorbell door to door and shouted, "Trick or treat!" " "(meaning trick-or-treating), the host family (who may also wear scary clothes) will take out some candy, chocolate or small gifts. Some families even use sound effects and cigarette makers to create a horrible atmosphere. Children often get candy in a night by the number of bags and take it home in the whole bag.

Trick or treat originated in Ireland. Ancient Irish pagans believed that on Halloween, ghosts would gather near their homes and receive banquets. So, after the "banquet", the villagers dressed up as ghosts and wandered outside the village to guide the ghosts away to avoid evil spirits and disasters. At the same time, villagers will also put some fruits and other foods in the front yard and backyard to feed ghosts so that they will not harm people and animals or plunder other crops. Later, this custom continued and became a "trick or treat" game for children to make fun of ungrateful businesses or families.

In Scotland, when children ask for candy, they will say, "The sky is blue and the grass is green. We can have Halloween." The sky is blue and the grass is green, so we can celebrate Halloween together. Then they will win candy by singing and dancing.

Traditional Halloween costumes include zombies, ghosts, witches and demons. A typical dress is covered with a piece of cloth with two holes cut. In Scotland and Ireland in the19th century, people at that time thought that ghosts would come to the world on Halloween, so they would dress up as ghosts and let them think of themselves as the same kind. In recent years, Halloween costumes are not limited to horror, but can be dressed as anything, such as TV dramas or movie stars, or public figures, such as politicians. In 2004, coinciding with the US presidential election, George Bush and Kerry became popular Halloween costumes in the United States. After the attack on May 38, 2006+0911,firefighters and policemen became the targets of children. It is estimated that about 265,438+05,000 American children dressed as Spider-Man in 2004, which was the most popular dress in that year. This is common in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is planned to go online at 1950, and the donation boxes will be distributed to children through the school, so that children can raise money smoothly when begging for candy. It is estimated that since its launch, it has raised more than1.1.90 billion USD.

BIGresearch conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation of the United States, and found that 53.3% of customers would shop on Halloween in 2005, with an average consumption of $38.65438 +0 1, which was $65438 +00 higher than last year. Based on this, it is estimated that American consumers spent as much as $3.3 billion on Halloween in 2005.

Swing for apples

Participants managed to pick up apples floating on the water with their mouths only.

Other games

In Ireland, there is a traditional divination game in which participants blindfold and choose one from the table. For example, if the touched CD contains dirt, it means that the people related to the participants will die in the coming year. For example, water means they will travel far, money means they will be rich, and beans mean they will be poor. In Ireland in the19th century, girls would put slugs on a plate sprinkled with flour, and the traces of slugs crawling would be like the girl's future husband.

In North America, it is said that if an unmarried woman sits in a dark room on Halloween, she can see her future husband in the mirror. But if they are going to die before marriage, a skull will appear in the mirror. This custom has been very popular since the late19th century, and related greeting cards are also sold.

Telling ghost stories and watching horror movies are common activities at Halloween parties. Halloween-themed TV special programs are usually broadcast on or before Halloween, and most of them are aimed at children.

Different religious views

Most Christians believe that Halloween has no important religious significance and only regards it as an ordinary holiday. However, some churches regard Halloween as Satan's festival and strongly oppose believers' participation in any Halloween activities.