The origins of Halloween
go back to the ancient Celts [kelts]. The Celts lived in the British
Isles. They were pagans. They believed in the gods of nature.
Samhain
[saun] was the last day of the year on the Celtic calendar. It marked
the end of summer, on October 31st. Samhain was also the Celtic god
of death. The Celts were afraid of winter. They associated it with
death and evil spirits. People
wanted to drive away all the evil spirits before the beginning of the
new year on November 1st.
The
Druids were Celtic priests and teachers. Everyone respected them.
They practiced magic and religious rituals. They made big fires to
frighten the spirits of evil and death. The Celts believed that on
the night of 31st
October, ghosts came out of their tombs. The spirits of the dead
returned to earth.
After the Roman invasion
in 43 AD., Samhain also became a harvest festival. The Romans had a
harvest festival called Pomona, who was the Roman goddess of gardens
and orchads. Apples were sacred and lucky! The colours of Halloween
are orange and black. They represent the harvest (orange) and death
(black).
After the Roman invasion,
Christian rites substituted pagan rites. The first day of November
was the day of all saints for the Christians. It was called All
Hallows' Day (the day of all saints). The evening of October 31 was
All Hallows' Eve. This was shortened to Halloween.
The
Druid religion went on for a long time in Ireland and Scotland. In
the 19th
century, Irish immigrants brought their Halloween customs to the
United States. Now it's on every American calendar.
Nowadays, Halloween is
celebrated with fancy dress parties and, particularly in the USA,
‘Trick or Treating’. Children dress up as witches, wizards,
ghosts and monsters and go round to their neighbours’ houses,
saying ‘Trick or Treat’. The neighbours must give them a treat,
usually some kind of sweet. If they don’t, the children will play a
trick on them – for example – stick down the doorbell with sticky
tape so that it rings continually. Trick or Treating is now becoming
popular in the UK. Children make and play traditional Halloween
games, such as “bobbing for apples” (the child has to retrieve an
apple from a bowl of water, using only his/her mouth).
