History of Halloween
.
October 29, 2009
Filed under Uncategorized
Halloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. The day is often associated with the colors orange and black. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties, ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, reading scary stories, and watching horror films.
Halloween has origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain, which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly “summer’s end”. The celebration has some elements of a festival of the dead.
The term Halloween, originally spelled Hallowe’en, is shortened from All Hallows’ Even – e’en is a shortening of even, which is a shortening of evening.
The thing that everybody looks forward to is going trick or treating. Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, “Trick or treat?” The word “trick” refers to a (mostly idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.
Halloween costumes are traditionally those of monsters such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. They are said to be used to scare off demons. Costumes are also based on themes other than traditional horror, such as those of characters from television shows, movies, and other pop culture icons.
With its roots in Celtic cultures, Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world, and among those that do, the traditions and importance of the celebration vary significantly.
Loading ...
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!