What day is Halloween?

In Western countries, every year on October 31, there is a "Halloween", the dictionary explains as "The eve of All Saints' Day", the Chinese translation: "Halloween night". 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 Festival".

More than two thousand years ago, the Catholic Church in Europe designated November 1 as "the day of the world's saints" (ALL HALLOWS DAY). "HALLOW" is the meaning of the 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 it was the official end of summer, the beginning of the New Year and the start 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 scary 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 pictures symbolizing Halloween, such as witches and black cats, have friendly, cute and funny faces.

◆The origin of the word "Halloween"

Many ethnic groups have celebrations and gatherings on the eve of Halloween, which is also known as "All Hallow E'en", "The Eve of All Hallows", "Halloween", "Halloween" and "Halloween". 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 began in the Christian Church in Europe in the 9th century AD. It began in the ninth century in the Christian Church of Europe. At that time, November 2, by Christians called "All Souls Day" (All Souls Day). 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 can neither go to heaven nor hell, so his spirit has to rely on a small candle to guide him between heaven and earth.

In the old Irish legend, this small candle is in a hollowed out turnip put, 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 good 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, strange masks and jack-o'-lanterns. "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 a prank 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.