Does pumpkin stand for anything in America? Are there any festivals related to it?

Halloween presentation

Every year10,31is a traditional "ghost festival" in the west-Halloween. 65438+1October 3 1 is Halloween. It is usually called Halloween. But the atmosphere of this day is far from "creepy" as its name suggests. Whenever Halloween comes, children can't wait to put on colorful costumes, put on strange masks and carry a "pumpkin lantern" to ask adults for holiday gifts everywhere. These are the most well-known symbols of Halloween-strange "jack-o'-lantern" and practical jokes of "performing magic or giving candy".

The appearance of "pumpkin lantern" is very cute and the method is extremely simple. Hollow out the pumpkin, then carve smiling eyes and a big mouth on the outside, then put a candle in the pumpkin and light it, so that people can see this innocent smiling face from far away. This is the children's favorite toy.

However, the highlight of Halloween is still at the dinner table. You should not only prepare delicious food to entertain those "children" who make trouble, but also decorate your dining table on this special festival. Don't let your guests underestimate you!

This night is the most "haunted" time of the year, and all kinds of monsters, pirates, whispers and witches are out in succession. Before the Christian era, the Celts held ceremonies in summer to thank God and the sun for their kindness. At that time, fortune tellers lit and practiced witchcraft to drive away monsters who were said to be wandering around. Later, the harvest festival celebrated by the Romans with nuts and apples merged with Celtic 10 and 3 1. In the Middle Ages, people put on costumes in the shape of animals and put on terrible masks to drive away ghosts in the dark. Although Christianity later replaced the religious activities of Celts and Romans, the early customs still existed. Now, children wear all kinds of costumes and masks to attend Halloween dances. Witches, black cats, ghosts and paper-pasted bones are often hung on the walls around these dances, while grinning or ugly pumpkin lanterns are hung on the windows and doorways. Children often try to bite the hanging apples.

[Edit this paragraph] The origin of Halloween

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 "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 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.

[Edit this paragraph] Halloween custom

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 door to door has evolved into a game, with children begging for candy from door to door with pumpkin lanterns. 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. There is also a custom, that is, there are many pumpkin lanterns in every mouth of every family. If you don't invite them to dinner (without sugar), the children will step on one of his pumpkin lanterns.

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.

The emergence of the word "Halloween"

Many ethnic groups hold celebration parties on Halloween, so this day is also called Halloween, Halloween, Halloween or Halloween. Finally, the agreement evolved into "Halloween" and the Chinese translation became Halloween night.

In western countries, there is a "Halloween" on June 3 1 every year, which is interpreted as "Halloween" in the dictionary and "Halloween night" in Chinese translation. Halloween is a traditional festival in western countries. This night is the most haunted night of the year, so it is also called "Ghost Festival". There are many versions of legends about the origin of Halloween. The most common ones originated from 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. 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.

Tales of Halloween

Halloween means "holy night". Nowadays, Halloween has become one of the most popular and popular festivals in a year, and many players celebrate it with great enthusiasm.

Halloween on June 3 1 is actually a festival to praise autumn, just as May Day is a festival to praise spring. Druids, priests of ancient Gaul, Britain and Ireland, had a grand festival to praise autumn, which started at midnight on June 3 1 and lasted all day until the next day. They think that on that night, their great Shaman Church of Death summoned all the ghosts of those who died that year, and these evil spirits would be punished by being born as animals. Of course, just thinking of such a ghostly party was enough to make those simple-minded fools at that time tremble with fear and can't believe it. So they lit a bonfire and watched these evil spirits closely.

That's how the saying that there are witches and ghosts everywhere on Halloween comes from. Until now, some people in some isolated areas of Europe still believe this is true.

Now all over Europe, people regard Halloween as a good opportunity to have fun, tell ghost stories and scare each other. So people no longer just praise Qiu Guang with this festival, but make it a real "carnival". Facial makeup is one of the traditional Halloween programs.

Halloween parade

(Greenwich Village Halloween Parade)

Every year1October 3 1 day is Halloween for western ghosts. It is said that its origin can be traced back to the 5th century BC. The Celtics living in Ireland at that time designated this day as the end of summer, which also symbolized the end of the year. They believe that on the eve of the turn of the new year, all the laws of time and space will be suspended temporarily, and the door of the spiritual world will be opened that night, so that all ghosts can wander around the world, looking for the right body body double everywhere, and thus be reborn. Therefore, for fear of being the target of ghosts, the Celts put out the fire at home that night and pretended that no one was at home. At the same time, they put on ferocious and terrible masks and walked in the street together like ghosts, creating a noisy atmosphere to drive away those wandering ghosts.

Gradually, these traditional customs have evolved into celebrations for young people today. Everyone likes to play the role of a ghost horse and have a happy holiday on this night.

New york also held a parade on Halloween night, where a group of vampires, zombies, witches and Frankenstein appeared in unison. Members of the public are also welcome to visit. Participants are not limited to age, sex, class or nationality. Even if you are a coward, you can join them and have a lively carnival.

In fact, these ghosts are all dressed up by people, so they are not terrible. On the contrary, some little faces are more lovely, which makes people stay inside, just like attending a big fancy dress ball.

Among all kinds of costume roles, witches and Xinjiang ghosts are played the most, and those shops specializing in Halloween supplies are also specially prepared to sell such costumes to meet the needs of the public; At the same time, every year, manufacturers put popular figures including masks and clothes on the market to attract more people to participate in the upsurge of this western traditional festival. For example, the image of the little wizard in the movie Harry Potter has become an essential role for many children.

The Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village started at 1973 and was initiated by the mask craftsman and puppet actor Ralph Lee. It is said that at first he marched with friends and children in the neighborhood, and later it gradually evolved into a large-scale activity in the whole village. Of course, large puppet shows are indispensable in the activities. At the same time, the purpose of tourism is to hope that everyone is a participant rather than a bystander, so even if people just want to watch the excitement, when you step into the village, you will soon be invited to participate in the tourism and become one of them.

The Halloween Parade in new york attracts thousands of people and tourists from new york every year, and it will be held in Greenwich Village. At about 7: 00 p.m., teams will leave from the junction of Sixth Avenue and Spring Street [Sixth Avenue &; Spring Street]], March all the way to 23rd Street [Sixth Avenue &; 23rd Street]], the whole journey takes about one hour.

Visitors from Asia, South America, Africa, Europe and even the Middle East can dress themselves up as various characters, or bring simple musical instruments, play local unique music in real time and integrate into the borderless local culture. Maybe I haven't participated in Halloween activities before, let alone such a wonderful parade, so I feel particularly fresh.

As early as1mid-October, Manhattan began to be haunted. On busy streets, Halloween ghost decorations are hung everywhere. Many department stores are busy stacking seasonal gifts and clothes in the window, attracting many passers-by. Pumpkins, large and small, are also placed in supermarkets and markets for people to buy home to decorate their homes or make pumpkin lanterns. Of course, some housewives cook pumpkins to cook or make cakes, which is completely in line with holiday traditions.

Near my home, many neighbors specially decorate their homes for festivals, including pumpkins with grimaces, tombstones with humorous words, skeletons hanging on trees, fat witches flying to the roof, and green strange hands sticking out of mailboxes. Some neighbors even decorated their front gardens as cemeteries. When I pass through these places at night, I feel particularly gloomy and horrible. Some people spread cobwebs outside the house, just like a haunted house that has been abandoned for a long time In short, they are all kinds.

Even if new york people choose to stay at home on this night, they can still feel the atmosphere of Western Ghost Festival, because TV and radio stations will launch special programs about Halloween. In the online world, in addition to sending out tangible Halloween cards, many large websites have already made preparations for this festival in the early morning, especially to transform their own web pages or design new games to wait for more people to enter the online area.

Halloween is not only a festival that adults like, but also a day that children look forward to. On this night, some children who make faces and wear ghost clothes will carry lanterns made of pumpkins. Pumpkins are carved with narrow eyes and big mouths, which reveal a little candlelight, much like our homemade grapefruit lanterns in the Mid-Autumn Festival. These children will play the traditional trick of "trick or treat" and then go next door to ask for candy. If the family doesn't give them candy, naughty children will stick around and say something ominous, so people who don't go out will prepare some candy to let the children leave happily.

It is said that this custom was originally that people put food in front of their homes to appease ghosts. Ghosts and ghosts will leave quietly after entertainment. Now, this superstitious color has disappeared, and it has become an activity for children to knock on the door for candy. Adults and children can participate in the festival and have fun.

I remember a year after taking part in the Halloween parade, my classmates and I went to Wendy's house. When the car passed the street, several children in black approached our car. They painted some fluorescent pigments on their faces, but suddenly they approached the window and made faces at me with glass. I was shocked and cried even more. When my classmates saw my expression, they almost couldn't laugh. Yan Yi even said that the evil spirits of the parade didn't scare me, but the child. At that time, I really wanted to put on thick clothes and even put on a mask to avoid everyone's eyes.

What is the Halloween parade?

background knowledge

Halloween Parade in new york City is an annual activity in Greenwich Village, new york. The parade originated from 1973. It was just a simple idea of Ralph Lee, a mask maker and puppet operator. At that time, he and several children held a small Halloween parade in the community. The following year, new york Theatre invited him to take this idea to the street and start the annual parade. Later, the last week of 10 was officially designated as "Halloween Week".

Now, there are about 30,000 disguised parades and nearly 2 million people come to watch them every year. In the huge parade, all kinds of strange clothes can be seen everywhere, and even new york people who have seen all kinds of strange clothes are amazed. In addition, there are giant puppets operated by several people at the same time, which show the fantastic image. Finally, the route will come to the wildest gay area in new york, and the streets and alleys will be crowded with transvestites who perform to their heart's content, thus ending this crazy party perfectly.

Every year, the parade has different themes, such as environmental protection and AIDS. Last year, because of the "9o 1 1" terrorist attack, a phoenix statue was erected in Greenwich Village, symbolizing the rebirth of new york. The theme of this year's parade is "play". Presumably, parade enthusiasts all over the world are eager to move, so we will wait and see.

The Halloween Parade recommended for everyone today is a description of the Halloween Parade. The lyrics vividly describe the Halloween parade. The singer must have participated in this parade many times.