Currently, there are holidays that were previously celebrated in several countries, and then spread around the world. One of them - Halloween - is celebrated on October 31. What is Halloween, and how did it come about? Let's figure it out.
From the history
Several thousand years ago , the Celts lived in Great Britain, Ireland, and Northern France. November 1, they celebrated the New Year. This day was considered the end of the harvest and the beginning of the opening of a new season: dark and cold. The Celts were sure that on the night of October 31 to November 1, the border between the world of the dead and living people is blurred.
The night when the spirits returned to the earth, they called Samhain. Wickedness destroyed crops and crops, but helped clerics predict the future. Therefore, the Celts burned bonfires, made sacrifices. During the festival, people dressed up in animal heads and skins to scare away otherworldly guests.
"What is Halloween?" - you ask. This is the same Samhain, but modern. The lands of the Celts were conquered by the Romans in 43 BC. e. After this, the national celebration was combined with two Roman holidays: Feralia (dedicated to death) and Pomona (in honor of the fruit goddess). The symbol of Pomona was an apple, it became an attribute of new rites. The holiday itself was later renamed Halloween.
At first, the solemn date was celebrated in English-speaking countries, then Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the island countries of Oceania, Russia and the CIS joined them.
What are halloween characters
The Day of All Saints has its own symbols. The most important is the pumpkin lamps. The history of their production begins in the Celtic period: at that time, residents made lanterns that help souls go to purgatory. In Scotland, turnip was an attribute for the lamp, and in North America it was replaced by a pumpkin. “Jack Lamp” is a pumpkin with a cut out face that portrays an ominous smirk, inside it is a lit candle. It is believed that such a fruit, left at home, will drive away evil spirits.
Another symbol is costumes. Horror movie characters and village scarecrows are popular. The main topics are monsters, evil, death, occultism. Traditional colors - orange, black.
What is Halloween today?
Nowadays , both adults and children like to celebrate the holiday . The latter go home in suits and beg for sweets. And for those who refuse, they do dirty tricks. Girls on this day are guessing at a betrothed with an apple peel or a candle.
The organization of rides populated by ghosts has already become a tradition. Their goal is to scare visitors. They differ from “haunted houses” by the use of corn mazes and haystacks in symbolism. Halloween alone in the US brings businessmen $ 500 million. The technical level of the organization is constantly growing.
There must be apples on the table. In many countries, fruit is prepared in syrup, apple caramel, butterscotch. In North America, sweets are eaten in the form of pumpkins (Candy Pamkina) and in the form of corn (Candy Corn). The composition, in addition to corn and pumpkin, includes sugar, artificial colors, binders, honey, marshmallows, low-fat cream.
Halloween party does not do without bread brambrak. When cooking, put a piece of cloth, peas, a coin, a wood chip or a ring into the dough. What kind of thing will fall to the eater - such is his future (fabric - poverty, peas - to remain without a wedding, coin - wealth, wood chips - family troubles, ring - fast wedding).
A person can be evil or good. Plunging into the eerie and extravaganza extravaganza of the holiday, he gets a chance for rebirth and understanding of the unknown. Having thrown off the heavy burden of everyday problems, it is cleansed and reborn to life.