Halloween is a holiday that is celebrated
annually on the 31st of October.
It originated in Ireland, and is said to be among
the world’s oldest holidays.
It has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival
known as Samhain.
The festival was used by the ancient pagans to
take stock of their supplies and slaughter livestock for winter storage. The
ancient Gaels believed that on the 31st of October, the boundary between the
living and the dead dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by
causing problems such as sickness, plagues, or damaged crops.
The celebration of Samhain would frequently
involve bonfires, upon which the bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown;
costumes and masks were also worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits.
Now, let’s watch some vocabulary related to
Halloween.
The essential elements of Halloween are lighting
bonfires, costuming, trick-or-treating, telling ghost stories, carving
pumpkins, and attending parties
All these can be traced back to Samhain
celebrations as early as 2000 years ago. The Celts believed that on the 31st of
October, the Lord of Death (Saman), would call together all the souls that had
died the previous year in order for them to travel to the afterlife.
Thus, the living would often disguise themselves
in ghoulish costumes in order for the spirits of the dead to think they were
one of their own, and pass by them without incident. The villagers would also
wear masks and form parades in order to lead the spirits out of the town. The
Celts would also offer food to Saman, in order to persuade him to be more
temperate when he was judging their ancestors. This is seen as a precursor to
"trick-or-treating", a key component of modern day Halloween
celebrations.
History of Halloween in America - Halloween did not become a holiday in the United States until the 19th
century. Strict Christian traditions and lifestyles prevented this, and
American almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th centuries don't include
Halloween in their lists of holidays. The trans-Atlantic migration of almost 2
million Irish in the mid-1850s finally brought Halloween to the United States.
Scottish emigration, primarily after 1870, also brought the Scottish version of
Halloween. By the mid-1900s, Halloween had become engrained in the fabric of
American society. From a commercial perspective, Halloween is now the United
States' second most popular holiday and it is becoming very popular in
countries like Spain.
