What is the origin of Halloween?

There are many versions of the legend about the origin of Halloween. The most common one is that it originated in ancient western European countries before the birth of Halloween ghost dog Christ.

[1] mainly includes Ireland, Scotland and Wales, where ancient Western Europeans were called Celts. Celtic New Year is on 1 1 month 1 day, New Year's Eve. The Celts brought young people together, 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). They wandered around the village. 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. It is said that meeting a black cat that day is equivalent to meeting a witch, and there will be a year of disaster, so everyone will dress up in disguise that day and drive away those unlucky symbols.

The second statement

More than two thousand years ago, the Catholic Church in Europe designated 1 65438+1October1as "All Hallows' Day". "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 third statement

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 "Lord of Death" and "Prince of Darkness", came to Celtic land with cold and dark winter. 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 Celtic land, Roman festivals were combined with Celtic Samhain Festival on June 10 and June 3 1 day, which became the present Halloween.

The fourth statement

Originally, Halloween originated from Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) of ancient Croste (Celtic, the ancestor of Irish people). Ancient Crete

After the introduction of Christianity, in order to assimilate paganism, the original Halloween (AllSaints'Day or AllHallows) was changed to the same day, that is, 1 1 month 1 day,1October 3 1 day became Halloween. Croste used to be a nomadic people. On the one hand, it is a festival for them to prepare for the arrival of winter and welcome the New Year. On the other hand, it is also a religious festival. Samhain is one of the gods they believe in, and its priest is called Druid. Although there is no official historical record, most researchers believe that people can see things in the spiritual world, including the dead souls of the spiritual world and the return of evil spirits. These spiritual individuals are evil, and they want to hurt others on the lunar calendar. Therefore, Cloeter people should be kind to these ghosts and don't deceive them into the wrong way. For example, some people put food in front of the house for ghosts to enjoy. so this is it？ TrickorTreat？ The origin of. At the same time, Father Zhao Yi also held a religious ceremony that night. Almost all studies have pointed out that slaughtered livestock are also used for ritual sacrifices. As for whether there is murder or sacrifice, although opinions vary, no one denies it. Besides, there must be divination and witchcraft or something. Other Halloween customs also have some origins of witchcraft and superstition, such as the jack-o-lantern with its face cut off. It is said that a man named Jack refused to accept heaven or hell after his death because of his extremely bad behavior, so he had to wander around, find a radish, hollow out the middle, put some red-hot coal on it and find his way in the dark. In addition, Halloween costumes originated from Yin Festival, where participants slaughtered livestock and put on skins. There are also masks worn by participants, which were originally meant to ward off evil spirits and were handed down.