(image taken from pixabay)
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Halloween seems to have something to do with saints. In fact, it originated from the "Ghost Festival" held by the Celtics in northern Europe on 1/month1day. The Celtics were widely distributed in ancient Europe and naturally had great influence. The custom of Halloween remained popular after Christianity was established as the state religion of the Roman Empire, which was unacceptable to Christians. Later, Christians commemorated the deceased saints and sages. On the eve of All Hallows' Day1October 3 1 became Halloween All Hallow`s Evening, which was later simplified to Halloween.
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The year of ancient Celts was only ten months, so the number 1 1 month 1 was equal to their New Year's Day. They believed that the last day of1month was the day of the dead, and the dead would come to the world. In order to prepare for this ghost night, the Celtics will have some activities, such as wearing masks and strange clothes to exorcise ghosts on 1 1 month 1.
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Many ethnic groups have festivals to commemorate, expel and sacrifice the dead, which are usually quite important, such as the Chinese Mid-Yuan Festival; The Celtic Ghost Festival is no exception, which is highly valued and therefore widely influential. This pagan festival worries the Archdiocese very much, so the All Saints Day, which was originally commemorated on the first Sunday after the arrival of the holy spirit every year, was moved to 1 1 month 1 to suppress the Ghost Festival.
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Halloween English has evolved from the ancient English Holy Halwen, and All Saints are called All Hallows. The day before All Hallows`Evening was finally simplified to Halloween, and this day was to prepare for All Hallows' Day. Halloween is one of the successful examples of Christian belief absorbing pagan festivals, but it is not completely successful. The Celtic custom of welcoming Halloween is still passed down from the ancestors of the British (the British are mainly composed of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon) and spread to the United States, Canada, New Zealand and other vast areas through the colonization of the British Empire.
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What is the pumpkin lantern?
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The classic decoration of Halloween is jack-o'-lantern, which is Jack』s lantern in English. Legend has it that there used to be a man named Jack who was often drunk. One day when he was drunk, he tricked Satan into a tree and carved a cross to trap Satan in the tree. In order to get out of trouble, Satan promised Jack not to go to hell after he died. Although Jack talked about an excellent condition, he didn't have to be afraid of going to hell after death, but he couldn't go to heaven because of cheating, so he could only wander in the underworld. Finally, Satan gave him a hollowed-out lantern made of kohlrabi to help him travel in the dark world until the final judgment.
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Jack』s lantern used to be made of turnips or beets, but after this custom spread to the United States, it was changed to a wider pumpkin as a lantern.
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Trick or treat, another common Halloween program, originated from the European custom of giving candy to the dead, and the giver would pray for the dead.
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Some Christians don't take Halloween seriously.
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As mentioned earlier, Halloween is a means used by the Archdiocese to fight against Halloween, but it has not achieved good results. Up to now, almost no one will seriously regard Halloween as a day to commemorate saints. Commercial activities have also helped the prevalence of Halloween "ghost-playing" activities, which makes some Christians very dissatisfied. They think that the activity of dressing up as ghosts on Halloween is to celebrate death, honor the devil and evil spirits, and that Halloween has a holy name, but everyone is engaged in activities to highlight ghosts on that day. Such a mismatch between name and reality will confuse the world.
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Some Christians don't like trick-or-treating. They prefer parents to share their beliefs with their children and design some extracurricular programs for them to play.
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