Halloween although not a bank holiday date is one of
the world’s oldest holidays and Halloween, or the Hallow E'en as it is called in
Ireland , means All Hallows Eve, or the night before the 'All Hallows', also
called 'All Hallowmas', or 'All Saints', or 'All Souls' Day, observed on
November 1.
Halloween like many holiday dates has its beginnings in
an ancient pagan history.It
was originally a pagan pre Christian Celtic holiday with the feast of Samhain,
which was held annually on October 31st to honor the dead and October 31 was the
date that marked the official "end of summer" and the beginning of
the new year based on the natural cycles of the earth. When the Romans conquered the Celts in the
first century A.D., they added parts of their festivals, Feralia and Pomona to
the tradition. Feralia was a festival to honor the dead and Pomona was a
harvest festival named after the goddess of fruit (apples) and trees. The
Catholic celebration of All Saints' Day was started in 609 A.D.although the
Christian influence on Halloween actually begins in 601 A.D., when Pope Gregory
I instructed his missionaries that, rather than destroy other peoples' customs
and beliefs, they should try to use them resulting in many Catholic holy days taking place on
native celebrations and festivals.
Today Halloween is symbolised by
Fancy Dress Costumes - These were originally worn to
scare away the spirits of the dead who were roaming the earth on All Hallows'
Eve. Today popular costumes include Demon, Devil, Ghost, Grim Reaper, Skeleton,
Vampire, Warlock and of course Werewolf and Witch.
Orange and Black Colours - Orange symbolizes fall,
turning leaves, the harvest, bonfires, and jack-o'-lanterns while Black
symbolizes death, evil, the ancient Celtic dark half of the year, the night,
witches, black cats, vampires, and bats.
Trick or Treat - This practice might have had it's start
in the legend from Irish Celtic days that faeries would dress as beggars going
from door to door asking for food, and those that did not show hospitality
would be harshly dealt with by these magical faeries. Others maintain that trick-or-treating
did not start with the Irish Celts, but with a 9th century custom
called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from
village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square
pieces of bread with currants and sometimes groups in costumes would sing and
perform in exchange for food, drink, or cash.
Bonfires - A sacred ritual of extinguishing home fires,
and one sacred bonfire is lit in each town for the end of the New Year. Some
say the reason home fires were extinguished is to scare away evil spirits from
homes, while others say that home fires were supposed to be lit from embers
from the sacred bonfire to start the New Year.
Apples - The symbol of the Roman goddess Pomona who was
thought to possess qualities of knowledge, resurrection, and immortality.
Bobbing for apples, peeling a long apple peel, and other manipulations of the
fruit were thought to foretell the future, on this night of Samhain.
Jack O'lanterns - Originally from Ireland where there
was a legend about a man named Jack who
was so mean that he was not allowed into heaven when he died. He was not
allowed to enter hell either because he had was said to have tricked the devil into
climbing into a tree. He then carved an image of a cross into the tree’s trunk,
trapping the devil in the highest branches of the tree. As a result the decil gave him a single ember to light his way through the darkness and to make the
ember light last longer it was placed inside a hollowed out turnip. Jack then
had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day. The Irish used turnips
as their "Jack's lanterns" originally but when many emigrated to
America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips and pumpkins
were used instead.
Halloween Jokes
Why did the ghost go trick or treating on the top floor
- He was in high spirits.
What do you call a witch who lives at the beach - A
sand-witch.
Why didn't the skeleton dance at the party - He had no
body to dance with.
halloween
