Halloween in the West

In Western countries, every year on October 31, there is a "Halloween", the dictionary explains as "The eve of All Saints' Day", Chinese translation: "Halloween night". Halloween is a traditional holiday in Western countries. It is the most haunted night of the year, so it is also called "Ghost Day".

More than two thousand years ago, the Catholic Church in Europe designated November 1 as the "Day of the Saints of the World" (ALL HALLOWS DAY). "HALLOW" means saints. Legend has it that since 500 B.C., the Celts, who lived in Ireland and Scotland, moved the holiday forward one day, to October 31st. They believed that the day is the official end of summer, that is, the beginning of the New Year, the beginning of the harsh winter. It was believed that on this day the dead souls of the deceased would return to their homelands to find life in the living and regenerate themselves, and that this was the only hope for regeneration after death. The living are afraid that the dead souls will come to take over their lives, so people will extinguish the fire and candles on this day so that the dead souls can't find the living, and they will dress up as demons to scare away the souls of the dead. Afterward, they would rekindle the fires and candles to start the new year. Legend has it that Celtic tribes also killed the living on October 31st to honor the dead.

The Romans, who occupied the Celtic territories in the 1st century AD, gradually accepted the Halloween custom, but stopped the barbaric practice of burning the living and sacrificing the dead. While the Romans celebrated harvest festivals in conjunction with Celtic rituals, wearing gruesome masks and dressing up as animals or ghosts and goblins, it was a way to chase away the demons that roamed around them. This is how Halloween came to be celebrated today by most people around the globe in a ghoulish getup. As time passed, the meaning of Halloween gradually changed, becoming more positive and happy, with festive connotations dominating. The idea of dead souls looking for replacements to return to the world was gradually discarded and forgotten. Today, most of the images and drawings symbolizing Halloween, such as witches and black cats, have friendly, cute and funny faces.

The Origin of Halloween

Before the Christian era, the Celts held ceremonies at the end of summer to give thanks to the gods and the sun for their bounty. Soothsayers of the time lit and practiced witchcraft to ward off the demons and ghosts that were said to be roaming around. Later, the harvest festival, celebrated by the Romans with nuts and apples, merged with the Celtic October 31st to become Halloween.

The most popular version of the origin of Halloween is that it originated in the countries of ancient Western Europe before the birth of Christ, including Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The ancient Western Europeans in these places were called Druids. The Druidic New Year was on November 1, and on New Year's Eve, the Druids had their young men gather in teams, wearing all sorts of grotesque masks and carrying carved turnip lamps (pumpkin lamps were a later custom, and there were no pumpkins in ancient Western Europe in the earliest days), as they wandered through the villages. This was actually a celebration of the fall harvest at that time; it was also said to be the "Ghost Festival", and legend has it that the souls of those who died that year would visit the world on the eve of Halloween, and it was said that people should let the ghosts of those who visited them see a successful harvest and present them with sumptuous hospitality. All bonfires and lights are used to scare the ghosts away, but also to light their way and guide them back.

In medieval central Europe, there was a history of Christianity destroying the pagans. But the ritual celebrations before New Year's Eve were never really eliminated, though in the form of witchcraft. That's why we still have traces of witches' brooms, black cats and spells in our current Halloween.

The Legend of Halloween

The night before Halloween means "Holy Night". However, due to various reasons, Halloween Eve has turned into one of the most popular and favorite holidays of the year, which is celebrated by many players with great enthusiasm.

Halloween, which falls on October 31, is actually a holiday that praises autumn, just as Maypole is a holiday that praises spring. The ancient priests of Gaul, Britain and Ireland - the Druids - had a great festival in praise of autumn, which began at midnight on October 31 and lasted all day the following day, November 1st. They believed that on that night their great god of death, Saman, summoned all the ghosts of those who had died that year, and that these evil spirits were to be punished by being consigned to the life of beasts. Surely the mere thought of such a ghostly gathering was enough to make the simple-minded fools of the time tremble with fear. So they lit bonfires in the sky and kept a close watch on the evil spirits.

This is how the idea that there were witches and ghosts everywhere on Halloween night began. It is still believed to be true in certain isolated parts of Europe. The ancient Romans also had a festival on Nov. 1 that was used to honor their goddess Pomona. They roasted nuts and apples in front of a roaring bonfire. Our own Halloween Eve seems to be a blend of the ancient Romans' holiday with that of the Druids. The activities of Halloween Eve turned out to be very simple, and most of them took place in churches. But throughout Europe, people saw the night before Halloween as a great opportunity to have fun, tell ghost stories and scare each other. So instead of using the holiday to celebrate the fall light, people made it a holiday of gods and monsters, witches and ghosts. Face makeup is a traditional Halloween program.

The origin of the word "Halloween"

Many peoples have celebrated the night before Halloween, which is also called "All Hallow E'en", "The Eve of All Hallows It was also called "All Hallow E'en", "The Eve of All Hallows", "Hallow e'en", or "The eve of All Saintas' Day". Eventually, the convention evolved into "Halloween", which translates to Halloween night in Chinese.

Halloween customs - Trick or treat

One of the interesting aspects of Halloween is "Trick or treat", which did not originate in Ireland, but in the Christian churches of Europe in the 9th century AD. It began in the Christian Church in Europe in the ninth century. At that time, November 2, was known as "All Souls Day" (All Souls Day) by Christians. On this day, believers traveled through the backwoods of the countryside, going from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made of flour and raisins. It is said that the families who donate the cakes believe in the prayers of the monks of the church and expect to receive God's blessing for their deceased loved ones to enter heaven as soon as possible. The tradition of begging from house to house has evolved into a game in which children carrying pumpkin lanterns go from house to house begging for candy. When they meet, the children, dressed as ghosts and goblins, always threaten to "trick or treat," and the hosts, naturally, do not dare to be slow and say, "Please eat! Please eat!" The host would not hesitate to say "Please eat!" and put the candy in the large pockets the children carried.

There is also the story of the carved pumpkin as a lantern. This again originates from ancient Ireland. The story goes that a man named Jack was a drunkard and a prankster. One day, Jack tricked the devil into a tree, then carved a cross on the stump to terrorize the devil so that he wouldn't dare to come down, and then Jack made a pact with the devil, so that the devil promised to cast a spell so that Jack would never commit a crime as a condition for letting him come down from the tree. After his death, Jack's soul could neither go to heaven nor hell, so his spirit had to rely on a small candle to guide him between heaven and earth.

In the old Irish legend, this small candle is placed in a hollowed out turnip, called "Jack LANTERNS", and the old turnip lamp evolved to today, is a pumpkin made Jack-O-Lantern. It is said that the Irish came to the United States soon, that is to say, found that the pumpkin whether from the source and carving are better than the turnip, so the pumpkin has become a Halloween pet.

Children's favorite holiday

Halloween is a great time for children to have fun. It is a festival full of mystery in the eyes of children. When night falls, children can't wait to put on colorful costumes, wear strange masks, carry a "jack-o'-lantern" and run out to play. "Jack-o'-lanterns" look very cute, the practice is to hollow out the pumpkin, carved on the outside of the smiling eyes and mouth, and then insert a candle in the melon, light it, people in a faraway place will be able to see this silly smiling face.

After cleaning up, a group of children dressed as demons and monsters carrying "jack-o-lanterns" ran to the door of their neighbor's house, shouting threateningly: "To play pranks or to give hospitality", "to give money or to give food! ". If adults do not treat them with candies and change, those mischievous children will do what they say: well, if you don't treat me, I'll play a prank on you. Sometimes they put soap on other people's doorknobs, sometimes they color other people's cats. These little pranks often make adults laugh and cry. Of course, most people were very happy to entertain these innocent little guests. That's why the children on Halloween night always have their bellies stuffed and their pockets full.

The most popular game on Halloween night is "Bite the Apple". During the game, people let the apple float in a basin filled with water, and then let the children bite the apple with their mouths without using their hands, and whoever bites it first is the winner.