The Origins of Halloween

The origins of Halloween go back very far, to the ancient Celts. The Celts lived in the British Isles during ancient times. They were pagans. They believed in the gods of nature.

There were  two important festivals on the Celtic calendar. One was called Beltane. It marked the beginning of summer. The other was called Samhain. It marked the end of summer, on October 31. Samhain was also the last day of the year on the Celtic calendar.

Samhain was the Celtic god of death. The Celts were afraid of winter. They associated it with death and evil spirits.

Halloween Day

Halloween Day is a big event in the U.S.A. and Britain. Who celebrates Halloween in the United States. Almost everyone! Children, teenagers and many adults dress up in costumes with masks. Some costumes are scary, and others aren’t. Let’s see what happens!

Halloween at school is an exciting day. Schools are decorated with ghosts, witches, bats, spiders and pumpkins. On Halloween morning, smaller children go to the school dressed in there costumes.

Older children bring there costumes to school. They also bring sweets and other party food. After lunch, they put on there costumes. Some teachers put on a costume to.

Halloween Night

Halloween night is fun for everyone. Children play trick-or-treat on Halloween night. They dress up in their costumes and masks. Then they go around their neighbourhood and ring their neighbours doorbells. When the door opens, the children say “trick-or-treat!”.

The neighbour usually gives a treat: sweets, biscuits, fruit or money. If the neighbour doesn’t give a treat, the children often play a trick. Typical Halloween tricks are: writing on doors with coloured pens, writing on windows with soap, and spraying and shaving cream on cars and people!

The Irish introduced the custom of trick-or-treat hundreds of years ago. In Ireland, groups of farmers travelled from house to house. They asked for food for the village’s Halloween party. They promised good luck to those who were generous, and they frightened those who were not generous.

On Halloween night, almost every home in America has a jack o’lantern. It is out in front of a window. It is a Celtic origin.

It is fun to be scared on Halloween. Most towns or neighbourhoods have an old, haunted house. Children like walking near the haunted house when it’s dark. It can be very scary.

Many young people make their costumes and masks. Others buy them. Teenagers spray their hair green, purple, orange, blue, white, gold or silver! The most popular costumes are the ghost, skeleton, witch, vampire, monster and alien. Other costumes are funny or elegant.

Some people want to be a different person on Halloween.

Perhaps a football player wants to be a ballerina, and a shy student wants to be a punk!

In the United States, these are the “safety rules” when you go trick-or-treating:

1.     Always go trick-or-treating in groups. Never go alone!

2.     Never go inside the house of a stranger. Always wait outside the door for the treat.

3.     Stop trick-or-treating at 8 p.m.

4.     Ask an adult to look at the sweet and biscuits before you eat them. Do not eat sweets or biscuits that are not factory-wrapped.

Witches

Witches are a symbol of Halloween. But who are they? What do they do?

The history of witches is very long. The word “witch” comes from Wicca, a pagan religion. In pagan days, people believed that witches had special powers and could predict the future. People also believed that witches contacted spirits. They thought that witches made good and bad things happen. People called this “casting spell”. These magical and mysterious things are called the occult.

Witches were persecuted. Christians believed that witches worked with the devil. They believed that witches were evil. In medieval Europe, many witches were burnt alive! Others were hanged!

Shakespeare’s play Macbeth begins with three witches. The witches predict Macbeth’s future. They predict disaster.

In 1692 in Salem, Massachussets, strange things happened. There was a big witch hunt. Many people were accused of being witches, and they were hanged.

Do witches exist today? Do they practise black magic?

Today there are people who predict the future. They use tarot cards, astrology, palm reading and crystal balls. There are also people who try to contact spirits. But today we do not call them witches.

Ghosts

Ghosts, or spirits of the dead are very important part of Halloween. Do you believe in ghosts?

People who believe in ghosts tell us the following things:

1. There are many different types of ghost.

2. Some ghosts are transparent. Others are invisible.

3. There are good ghosts and bad ghosts.

4. There are silent ghosts and noisy ghosts.

5. Some ghosts help people. Others play tricks on them.

6. There are human ghosts and animal ghosts.

7. Ghosts are often dressed as normal people. We see them and we think they are strangers. But they are not! Then, they disappear.

8. Ghosts usually live in old houses or castles. People call these “haunted houses” or “haunted castles”.

There are haunted houses and haunted castles all over the world. Great Britain has a lot of them.

There are ghosts in literature. There is a ghost in Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. There is a ghost in Emily Bronte’s novel, Wuthering Heights. Oscar Wilde wrote a beautiful story about a ghost called The Canterville Ghost.

The famous writer Robert Louis Stevenson had a home in Monterey, California. Today it is a museum with many visitors. Some visitors say there is a ghost in the museum: an old lady with a long, black dress. She likes walking around the museum when there are visitors!

In Trieste, Italy, there is a beautiful castle called Miramare Castle. The legend says that the castle has a curse. The curse was brought by the ancient Egyptian sphinx that sits outside the castle. Some people say there is a ghost in the castle: the ghost of Princess Carlotta. She walks around the castle at night crying and screaming!

Vampires and Werewolves

Bats are another symbol of Halloween. Many people are afraid of bats. When they see a bat, they think of a vampire.

This is what a legend says about vampires:

1. A vampire is a corpse that drinks human blood to remain active. The vampire’s victims become vampires too.
2. Vampires can become bats.
3. Vampires are afraid of garlic and of the Christian cross.
4. They are invisible in mirrors.
5. The only way to destroy a vampire is to push a stake through its heart. Then, the vampires body must be burnt.

Vampires have a long history. In ancient Greece, most vampires were women. There are stories about vampires in China and in the North of American Indian tribes.

In Eastern Europe, near the Carpathian Mountains, there are a lot of stories about vampires. In 1792, there was a lot of fear in a Balkan village. There were a lot of mysterious deaths. One day a group of soldiers visited the village. They saw that the cemetery was full of vampires! The soldiers cut off the heads of the vampires. Then they burnt their bodies.

In 1897, the Irish writer Bram Stoker wrote his famous book, Dracula. It was the story of Count Dracula, a vampire. It was a very successful book. Today, there are a lot of films and book about vampires.

The legend of the werewolf is very old. The word “were” in old English means “man”. The werewolf is a man (or woman) who becomes a wolf or another animal. This usually happens at night, when there is a full moon. Werewolves go around at night killing people.

How to make a Jack  o' Lantern

1. Buy a big, orange pumpkin.

2. Cut off the top of the pumpkin.

3. Now scoop out all the flesh of the pumpkin.

4. With a pen, draw the eyes, nose and mouth of the pumpkin.

5. With a knife, make the eyes, nose and mouth. Be careful!

6. Put a candle or a small torch inside the pumpkin.

7. Put the jack o’lantern in front a window, or on your terrace.

 (Clube de Inglês)