Halloween

HalloweenHalloween is a yearly celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It is an important part of western countries and becomes very famous.OriginIn fact it is a day for ghost. Throughout the ancient history, people believed the spirit of a dead person resided in the underworld. In Chinese tradition, the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day, on which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors will come out from the lower realm. Like Chinese people, Celts believed that the border between this world and the otherworld became thin on that day; because animals and plants were dying, it allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living. The ancient Celts believed that wearing masks would ward off evil spirits. That is the origin for people to pretend the ghost or others on Halloween.Today's Halloween customs are also thought to have been influenced by Christ. Pope Gregory III designated November 1st All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs in 8th century. Many people believe the Pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a Christian holiday. And the Catholic Church made November 2nd All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead in 10th century. The three Catholic celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas. In 1846, the Irish Potato Famine brings Irish Catholics to America, along with their Halloween traditions.DecorationPeople always celebrate festivals with lights. On Chinese Ghost Festival, people float lit lanterns along the rivers. This practice is called "floating river lanterns". And the jack-o-lantern is the symbol of Halloween for western country.The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837 and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century. Jack-o-lantern is associated with Halloween firstly in 1866. There’s a story about Jack, an Irishman. On route home after a night's drinking, Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never bring away his soul. Because of his life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven after he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. So Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest.Nowadays, every autumn, when the vegetables are ready to eat, children pick the large orange pumpkins. Then they cut faces in the pumpkins and put a burning candle inside in order to make it like a person looking out of the pumpkin. It becomes the most popular and even the necessary decoration in Halloween.ActivityDressing up in costumes is one of the most popular Halloween customs, especially for children. According to tradition, people would dress up in costumes to frighten the spirits away. It is quitedifferent from Chinese Ghost festival. According to tradition, people will burn some paper money (a kind of paper that people believe it can be the money in the underworld). It is living people send things to dead family to cherish the memory to their family seriously. Oppositely, in western country, people send candies to children to celebrate the day.Dressing up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween by the late 19th century. And it became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century. No matter children or adults, everybody enjoys it. While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s. Popular Halloween costumes include vampires, ghosts and werewolves. Witches are also popular Halloween characters that are thought to have magical powers. Children in these special clothes will play tricks. Trick or Treating is a modern typical one in Halloween custom. Children go from house to house, asking for treats like candy or toys. If they don't get any treats, they might play a trick on the owners of the house.Nowadays, Halloween is also a shopping festival. It is a day creates annual all citizens’ carnival.。