Merry Christmas: What's the connection between Christmas and Halloween?

There is no connection, just three unrelated festivals.

Christmas is a holiday in memory of Jesus.

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.

Thanksgiving Day is a holiday in the United States and Canada. It was originally to thank God for the good harvest, and later people often thanked others on this day. In the United States, Thanksgiving Day falls on the fourth Thursday of June 1 1 because of194/,and there will be a two-day holiday from this day. On this day, thousands of people will be reunited with their families no matter how busy they are. Thanksgiving is an ancient festival for the American people, and it is also a festival for Americans to reunite with their families. Therefore, Americans always feel very cordial when they mention Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day is the most authentic and Americanized of the national holidays in the United States, and it is closely related to the early history of the United States. Thanksgiving in Canada begins on 1879 and falls on the second Monday of June 10 every year, which is the same as Columbus Day in the United States.

Generally speaking, Thanksgiving Day is165438+1October 23rd-165438+1October 28th every year.