The origin of Halloween and celebrations around the world

There are many versions of legends about the origin of Halloween. It is generally believed that it originated from ancient western European countries before the birth of Christ, including Irish, Scots and Welsh. The ancient Western Europeans in these places were called Drouth people. The New Year in Drouth is 1 1 month 1 day, New Year's Eve. People in Drouth let young people wander among villages in groups, wearing all kinds of weird masks and carrying carved radish lanterns (pumpkin lanterns are a late custom, and there were no pumpkins in ancient Western Europe). It was actually celebrating the autumn harvest; Some people say it is "Ghost Festival". It is said that the souls of those who died that year will visit the world on Halloween. It is said that people should let visiting ghosts see the harvest and show rich enthusiasm to them. All the bonfires and lights, in order to scare away ghosts, also illuminate the route for ghosts and guide them back.

In medieval Central Europe, there was a history of Christianity destroying pagans. However, the sacrificial ceremony before New Year's Eve never really disappeared, but appeared in the form of witchcraft. That's why we have traces of witches' brooms, black cats, spells and so on on Halloween.

There are two legends about the origin of Halloween:

First kind

More than two thousand years ago, the Catholic Church in Europe designated 1 65438+1October1as "Halloween". "Saint" means saint. Legend has it that since 500 BC, Celts living in Ireland, Scotland and other places have moved this festival forward by one day, that is, 65438+1October 3 1. They think that this day is the day when summer officially ends, that is, the beginning of the new year and the beginning of the severe winter. At that time, people believed that on this day, the dead souls of the deceased would return to their former homes to look for all beings, so as to be reborn, which was the only hope of being reborn after death. Living people are afraid of dead souls to take life, so people put out fire and candlelight on this day, so that dead souls can't find living people and dress up as monsters to scare away dead souls. After that, they will rekindle the candlelight and start a new year's life. Legend has it that Celtic tribes also had the custom of killing the living to commemorate the dead on June 3 10.

By the 1 century, the Romans who occupied the territory of Celtic tribes gradually accepted the custom of Halloween, but the barbaric practice of burning the living to sacrifice the dead was abolished. Roman festivals celebrating harvest were combined with Celtic rituals, wearing terrible masks and dressed as animals or ghosts to drive away demons wandering around them. This is why most people in the world celebrate Halloween with strange costumes today. With the passage of time, the meaning of Halloween has gradually changed, becoming active, joyful and festive. The idea of the deceased seeking the reincarnation of body double was gradually abandoned and forgotten. Today, most images and pictures symbolizing Halloween, such as witches and black cats, have friendly, lovely and interesting faces.

The second type

Another version of the legend about the origin of Halloween believes that it originated in ancient western European countries before the birth of Christ, mainly including Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The ancient Western Europeans in these places were called Drouth people. Drouth's New Year falls on 165438+ 10/0/. On New Year's Eve, Drouth people let young people wander around the village in groups of three or five, wearing all kinds of weird masks and carrying carved radish lanterns (pumpkin lanterns are a late custom, and there were no pumpkins in ancient western Europe at the earliest). It was actually celebrating the autumn harvest; Some people say it is "Ghost Festival". It is said that the souls of those who died that year will visit the world on Halloween. It is said that people should let visiting ghosts see the harvest and show rich enthusiasm to them. All the bonfires and lights, in order to scare away ghosts, also illuminate the route for ghosts and guide them back.

In medieval Central Europe, there was a history of Christianity destroying pagans. However, the sacrificial ceremony before New Year's Eve never really disappeared, but appeared in the form of witchcraft. That's why we have traces of witches' brooms, black cats, spells and so on on Halloween.

supplement

The Celts believed that the sun god helped them grow crops. However, the sun god is attacked by an evil force called Samhain every year and imprisoned for six months. Samhain, also known as "the king of death" and "the prince of darkness", brought cold and dark winters to the Celtic land.

The Celts were very afraid of the night of June 3 1 because they thought there were a group of evil spirits lurking anywhere. They make a fire at home to let the evil spirits leave their home. They believe that Samhain summons the dead, and they also believe that Samhain will turn the dead into something else, such as a cat. The Celts will put on terrible camouflage to drive away those evil souls. (This is the prototype of Halloween)

After Rome occupied the Celtic land, the Roman festival on June 3 10 was combined with the Celtic Samhain Festival, which became the present Halloween.

Halloween customs

65438+1October 3 1 is Halloween in the west. There are wonderful live performances, stage magic tricks, lifelike walking ghosts, and all kinds of horror movies on American streets.

In the evening, I quickly put up spider silk to help the actors who are responsible for scaring people make up. The contents of haunted houses are mostly related to movie themes, such as legends of ghosts and gods, interstellar legends and ghost stories. The layout, makeup techniques and costumes of these scenes are all like real situations. If you are not careful, you will definitely scream.

The origin of this carnival is in 500 BC. People living in Ireland, Scotland and other places believe that the deceased will return to their former residence on 10, 3 1 to find life among the living and get a chance of rebirth. Because local residents are worried that ghosts will take their lives, when June 3 1 comes, they will turn off all the lights so that ghosts can't find the living and dress up as monsters to scare them away.

With the passage of time, the meaning of Halloween has gradually become festive. So the monsters and pictures symbolizing Halloween have become lovely and quaint, such as pumpkin monsters and witches. Creative Americans dress up as ghosts as much as possible on this day, making Halloween much more interesting.

Children's favorite festival

Halloween is a good time for children to have fun. In the eyes of children, this is a festival full of mystery. As night falls, the children can't wait to put on colorful costumes, strange masks and a "Jack-o-lantern" and run out to play. "Jack-o 'lantern" looks very cute. The way is to hollow out the pumpkin, carve smiling eyes and a big mouth on the outside, and then put a candle in the pumpkin and light it, so that people can see this innocent smiling face from far away.

After packing, groups of children dressed as monsters ran to the neighbor's door with "pumpkin lanterns" in their hands, threatening to shout "trick or treat" and "want money or eat" If adults don't give candy or change, those naughty children will do as they say: OK, I'll play a trick on you if you don't give it. Sometimes they soap other people's doorknobs and sometimes color other people's cats. These little pranks often make adults laugh and cry. Of course, most families are happy to entertain these naive little guests. Therefore, on Halloween, children are always full and have bulging pockets.

The most popular game on Halloween is "biting apples". In the game, people let the apples float in a basin filled with water, and then let the children bite the apples with their mouths instead of their hands. Whoever bites first wins.

Trick or treat-trick or treat

An interesting content of Halloween is "trick or treat", but this custom did not originate from Ireland, but from the Christian church in Europe in the ninth century. At that time,165438+1October 2nd was called "All Souls Day" by Christians. On this day, believers trudged in the backcountry, begging from door to door for "soul bread" made of flour and raisins. It is said that people who donate cakes believe in the prayers of church monks, hoping to get God's protection and let their dead relatives enter heaven as soon as possible. This tradition of begging from house to house has evolved into a game, in which children carry pumpkin lanterns and beg for candy from house to house. When they met, the children dressed as ghosts threatened to trick or treat without asking for dinner, but the host naturally dared not neglect and said, "Please eat!" Please eat! "At the same time, put the candy in the big pocket that the child carries with him.

Carve an empty pumpkin as a mask.

And the story of pumpkins carved into lanterns. This comes from ancient Ireland. The story is about a man named Jack. He is drunk and likes playing practical jokes. One day, Jack tricked the devil into climbing a tree, and then carved a cross on the stump, threatening the devil not to come down. Then Jack made an agreement with the devil to let him come down from the tree on the condition that the devil promised to cast a spell so that Jack would never commit a crime. After Jack died, his soul could neither go to heaven nor go to hell, so his ghost had to wander between heaven and earth with a small candle.

In the ancient Irish legend, this small candle was placed in a hollowed-out radish, which was called "Jack's lantern", while the ancient radish lantern evolved to today, and it was made of pumpkin lantern. It is said that soon after the Irish arrived in America, they found that pumpkins were superior to radishes in source and carving, so pumpkins became Halloween pets.

Children's favorite festival

Halloween is a good time for children to have fun. In the eyes of children, this is a festival full of mystery. As night falls, the children can't wait to put on colorful costumes, strange masks and a "Jack-o-lantern" and run out to play. "Jack-o 'lantern" looks very cute. The way is to hollow out the pumpkin, carve smiling eyes and a big mouth on the outside, and then put a candle in the pumpkin and light it, so that people can see this innocent smiling face from far away.

After packing, groups of children dressed as monsters ran to the neighbor's door with "pumpkin lanterns" in their hands, threatening to shout "trick or treat" and "want money or eat" If adults don't give candy or change, those naughty children will do as they say: OK, I'll play a trick on you if you don't give it. Sometimes they soap other people's doorknobs and sometimes color other people's cats. These little pranks often make adults laugh and cry. Of course, most families are happy to entertain these naive little guests. Therefore, on Halloween, children are always full and have bulging pockets.

The most popular game on Halloween is "biting apples". In the game, people let the apples float in a basin filled with water, and then let the children bite the apples with their mouths instead of their hands. Whoever bites first wins.