Halloween is a festival that is on the 31st of October. Children all over the world have heard of it. Everyone knows what Halloween is in modern times. But, where did it come from?
Halloween is a mix of two traditional European festivals. The first comes from the Celtic festival of “Samhain”, a harvest festival that fell on the Celtic New Year’s Eve. They believed that on that day, the world of the living and the world of the dead overlapped, allowing spirits to come to earth from the afterlife. People made huge bonfires (meaning bone fires) to scare away evil spirits. They wore costumes to make the remaining spirits think that they were also spirits. And later, they put food outside their door as offerings to please restless spirits. Later, the Christian festival of “All Hallows Eve”, or “All Saints Eve” was blended with “Samhain” to help convert Pagan Europeans to Christianity. The result was the new festival of Halloween, a blending of the words Hallow (meaning sacred or holy) and Evening.
In the 1800s, Irish immigrants to the United States brought the tradition of carving radishes to look like faces with candles burning inside. In North America, pumpkins were more plentiful and easier to find, so carving radishes became carving pumpkins.
Pumpkin carving represents several things at the same time. First, it symbolizes the story of a man named Jack and his fight with the Devil. That’s why carved pumpkins are called “Jack-o-Lanterns”. But they also symbolize the “bone fires” of ancient times, along with a scary face to scare away evil spirits.
The tradition of children going out to “trick or treat” symbolizes the ancient belief that spirits would come to your house but would let you survive if you gave them food as an offering. If you didn’t, then they would “trick” you by taking your children or damaging your property. That is why children now say, “trick or treat!” when they knock on your door.
Now that you know a thing or two about the meaning of Halloween, you can enjoy it more when you see the symbols of the festival.
Happy Halloween!
Mr. Nick
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万圣节从何而来？
万圣节是10月31日的节日。全世界的孩子都听说过。每个人都知道现代的万圣节是什么。但是，它从何而来？
万圣节是两个传统的欧洲节日的混合体。第一个来自凯尔特人的节日”Samhain”，一个收获的节日，落在凯尔特人除夕夜。他们相信，在那天，生者的世界和死者的世界重叠，让灵魂从来世来到地球。人们制作了巨大的篝火（意为骨火）来吓跑恶灵。他们穿着服装，使剩下的灵魂认为他们也是灵魂。后来，他们把食物放在门外，作为祭品来取悦不安的灵魂。后来，基督教节日的”所有圣夏娃”，或”所有圣徒夏娃”与”Samhain”混合，以帮助转换异教徒欧洲人基督教。结果是万圣节的新节日，一个混合的万圣节和晚上。
在19世纪，爱尔兰移民到美国带来了雕刻萝卜的传统，看起来像脸，蜡烛燃烧里面。在北美，南瓜更丰富，更容易找到，所以雕刻萝卜变成了雕刻南瓜。
南瓜雕刻同时代表两样东西。首先，它象征着一个叫杰克的人的故事和他与魔鬼的战斗。这就是为什么雕刻的南瓜被称为”杰克-奥-灯笼”。但它们也象征着古代的”骨火”，以及一张可怕的脸来吓跑邪恶的灵魂。
孩子们出去”捉弄或治疗”的传统象征着古老的信念，即灵魂会来到你家，但如果你给他们食物作为祭品，你会活下来。如果你没有，那么他们会”欺骗”你，带走你的孩子或破坏你的财产。这就是为什么孩子们现在说，”欺骗或治疗！
现在，你更了解万圣节的意义，当你看到节日的象征时，你可以享受它更多。
万圣节快乐！
尼克先生
