Halloween is called "Halloween" in English, which is the abbreviation of "All Hallow Eve". It refers to the eve of All Hallow's Day, which is similar to Christmas Eve. "Hallow" comes from Middle English halwen, which is very close to the etymology of holy. In some areas of Scotland and Canada, Halloween is still called "All Hallow Mas", which means a Mass to be held in memory of all saints.
Halloween is usually associated with supernatural things. Traditionally in Europe, Halloween is regarded as the closest time to the world of ghosts, which is similar to the Orchid Festival in China. Anoka, Minnesota, USA is known as the "Halloween Capital of the World" and holds a large-scale parade every year.
[Edit this paragraph] The origin of Halloween
More than two thousand years ago, the Catholic Church in Europe designated 1 1 month 1 day as "ALL HALLOWS DAY". "HALLOW" means saint. Legend has it that since 500 BC, CELTS, who lived in Ireland, Sugar Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o'-Jack-o-o'-Jack-o'- 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 harsh winter. At that time, people believed that on this day, the dead soul of the deceased would return to the former residence to look for living beings, so as to be reborn, and this was the only hope for people to be reborn after death. The living are afraid of the dead soul to seize life, so people put out the fire and candlelight on this day, so that the dead soul can't find the living, and dress up as monsters to scare away the souls of the dead. After that, they will rekindle the candlelight and start a new year's life. Legend has it that the Celtic tribes still had the custom of killing the living on1October 3 1 day to pay homage to the dead.
By the 1 century, the Romans who occupied the territory of Celtic tribes gradually accepted the custom of Halloween, but since then the barbaric practice of burning the living to sacrifice the dead has been abolished. Roman festivals celebrating harvest were combined with Celtic rituals, wearing terrible masks and dressing up as animals or ghosts in order to drive away demons wandering around them. This is why most people around the world celebrate Halloween with strange costumes today. As time goes by, the meaning of Halloween has gradually changed, and it has become active and happy, and the festive meaning has become the mainstream. The idea that the dead sought body double's reincarnation was gradually abandoned and forgotten. Today, most images and pictures symbolizing Halloween, such as witches and black cats, have friendly, lovely and funny faces.
After the Roman emperor Constantine believed in the Lord, Christianity was established as the state religion. At that time, Christianity actually evolved into Catholicism. Constantine ordered all the people in the country to convert to Christianity. As a result, unrepentant pagans joined the church and brought in all kinds of pagan styles, including Death Day, and they wanted to keep this festival as a part of their lives.
Because the church can't eliminate the pagan customs of the people, it has to sanctify some customs, especially the death day on October 31. In the eighth century, the Pope designated November 1st as All Saints' Day to commemorate all martyrs in the history of the church. In this way, October 31 is the eve of all saints' day. The Catholic church allows people to observe festivals on October 31, because November 1 is holy. Later, All Saint's Day became All hallows Day, and Hallows means "sacred", and October 31 is All Hallows Evening. Evening was later reduced to Eve and een, the former means "Eve" and the latter is the abbreviation of evening, which means "night", and it became today's Halloween, representing the eve of Halloween. Chinese people simply call October 31 Halloween, but it should actually be translated as "All Souls' Day".
Halloween symbol
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 well-known symbol of Halloween. In Britain and Ireland, locals used to light candles in hollowed-out turnips to make jack-o'-lanterns, but immigrants to the United States soon used pumpkins instead, because pumpkins are bigger and easier to carve patterns on. Many families carve scary faces on pumpkins and put them on the 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 death, and because he made fun of the devil, he couldn't go to hell, so he had to wander around with lanterns until the day of judgment. Thus, 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 with turnips, beets or potatoes to represent Jack holding lanterns. This is the origin of Jack-o'-lantern. After the Irish moved to the United States, they began to carve pumpkins, because pumpkins were more abundant than turnips in autumn in the United States. Now, if people hang pumpkin 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-treating. Dressed up in all kinds of scary looks, the children rang the neighbor's doorbell door to door and shouted, "Trick or Treat!" " (meaning trick or treat), 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 making machines to create a horrible atmosphere. The candy that children get in one night is often counted by bags, and the whole bag is taken home.
Tricke or Treat originated in Ireland. Ancient Irish pagans believed that on Halloween, ghosts would gather near their homes and receive banquets. Therefore, after the "banquet", the villagers dressed up as ghosts and spirits and wandered outside the village to guide the ghosts away to avoid evil spirits and disasters. At the same time, the villagers will also put some fruits and other foods in the front yard and back yard to feed the ghosts so that they will not harm humans and animals or plunder other crops. Later, this custom continued, and it 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, the grass is green, May we have our Halloween." (The sky is blue and the grass is green, so we can celebrate Halloween together), and then they will win candy by singing and dancing.
Traditional Halloween costumes include zombies, ghosts, witches and demons. A typical costume is covered with a piece of cloth with two eye 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 like 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 up in any way, such as TV dramas or movie stars, and public figures, such as politicians. In 2004, it coincided with the US presidential election, and George Bush and Kerry became popular Halloween costumes in the United States. However, after the September 11th attacks in 200012000, firefighters, policemen, etc. became the targets of children. It is estimated that about 2150,000 American children dressed as Spider-Man in 2004, which was the most popular dress in that year. It is common in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It is planned to be launched in 1950, and the fund-raising small money box will be distributed to children through schools, so that children can collect donations smoothly when begging for candy. It is estimated that more than1.1900 million dollars have been raised since its launch.
BIGresearch, a research organization, conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation of the United States, and found that 53.3% of customers would shop for Halloween in 2005, and the average spending was 38. 1 1 US dollars, which was1US dollars higher than last year. Based on this calculation, American consumers spent as much as 3.3 billion US dollars on Halloween in 2005.
Bobbing 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 choose one from the table with several small discs blindfolded. For example, if the touched disc contains dirt, it means that people related to the participants will die in the coming year. For example, if there is water, it 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 the appearance of their future husbands.
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. However, 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 in Halloween parties. TV specials with the theme of Halloween are usually broadcast on or before the Halloween holiday, and most of them are targeted at children.
Different religious views
Most Christians believe that Halloween has no important religious significance, and only treat it as an ordinary holiday. However, some churches regard Halloween as the festival of Satan, and strongly oppose believers' participation in any Halloween activities.