Is your circle of friends swept away by "Halloween"? Is your city "surrounded" by pumpkin lights, masks, funny costumes and other props? Halloween is coming, do you really understand its history and customs? Who made pumpkin lamps to commemorate? In addition to "trick-or-treating without sugar", what interesting games will foreigners play? Today, let Xiaobian take you through an "authentic" Halloween.
That's how Halloween came about...
Halloween is a traditional holiday in Western countries.
Legend has it that more than 2,000 years ago, the Catholic Church in Europe designated November 1 as "the day of the saints under heaven." But beginning in 500 BC, the Celts living in Ireland, Scotland, and elsewhere moved the holiday forward by one day, October 31. Because the Celts believe that this day is the official end of summer, that is, the beginning of the new year, the day when the harsh winter begins.
At that time, people believed that the souls of the deceased would return to their former homes on this day and find living beings in the living people, so as to be reborn. The living are afraid of ghosts, so people put out the fire and candlelight on this day, so that the ghosts cannot find the living, and they dress up as demons to scare these ghosts away. That's why most Westerners now celebrate Halloween in eccentric dresses.
Subsequently, around the 9th century AD, the Christian Church, taking into account that many saints did not yet have their own holidays, designated November 1 as Halloween, and since it was only one day away from the "Ghost Festival", people later merged them into one. The festival has since spread to North America and other regions. With the passage of time, the meaning of Halloween gradually changed, becoming positive and happy, and the festive meaning became the mainstream.
Do you know the customs of Halloween?
It turns out that the pumpkin lamp is also called "JACK lamp"
Westerners always put pumpkin lights at home or in the yard when celebrating Halloween, and everyone must be curious, why is the pumpkin lamp the "standard" of Halloween?
The pumpkin lamp became a must-have item for Halloween stemming from a story in ancient Ireland. The story goes that there is a drunk man named Jack, who is miserly and likes to play pranks. One day, JACK encounters a demon who tricks him into a tree, and then he engraves a cross on the stump to prevent the demon from getting off the stump and intimidates the demon into agreeing to his conditions. In the end, the Demon and Jack reach an agreement, and the Demon promises to cast a spell so that no matter what Jack does, the law cannot punish him. After JACK's death, because he had made a deal with the devil and had improper conduct, his soul could neither go to heaven nor go to hell. So his undead had to rely on a small candle to illuminate him and guide him between heaven and earth. In ancient Irish legend, this small candle is placed in a hollowed out radish and is called "JACK LANTERNS". It is said that after the Irish arrived in the United States, they found that pumpkins were better than radishes in terms of origin and carving, so pumpkins became the new favorite of Halloween.
After that, the pumpkin lamp was also called "JACK lamp".
Must eat a snack - pumpkin pie
Pumpkin pie is a traditional home-cooked snack from late autumn to early winter in the Southern United States, especially around Halloween, and becomes a popular food. In addition, dried pumpkin seeds are often regarded as a must-have food for Halloween.
Halloween mini-games, play or not?
If you don't give sugar, you make trouble:
An interesting part of Halloween is "Trick or treat," which translates to "trick or treat without sugar." Adults take children out together, and adults ask children in advance to only go to the door of the house where there is a festival arrangement and lights, otherwise they are not allowed to disturb. In addition, during the process of begging for sugar, you must always stand at the gate and wait, you are not allowed to enter the house, and the sugar you get back must be handed over to adults for inspection before you are allowed to eat. Families who receive children are also required not to give home-made food or unpackaged food.
Homemade clothing:
All kinds of strange clothes are the highlight of Halloween!
Halloween costumes, millions of people, not just monotonous big ghosts and little ghosts. The simplest ghost costume is made with a white sheet on the head, two holes to leave the eyes; if you want to play a magician, you wear black clothes and black pants, then wear a black top hat, and hide a fluffy bunny between the top hat and the top of the head; children wear white pants, and then tie a flashlight on the back to the head to dress up as a little angel; there are also parents who like to dress up their children as cartoon images they like.
Make pumpkin lamps:
1: Pick a round pumpkin, cut a hat at the end of the handle, and keep the cutting surface as flat as possible.
2: Use a spoon or hand to pull out the pumpkin, select the place to be carved, and scrape the skin thin.
3. Use a marker pen to draw a grimace or your favorite pattern on the melon peel, use a knife to carve along the outline of the pattern, and erase the remaining handwriting after completion.
4. Use a toothpick to fix the candle and pumpkin at the bottom, light it, and you're done.
Werewolf Trail:
In this game, participants who play as werewolves are blindfolded and bring simulated items such as wolf tails, wolf ears, and wolf claws. The werewolf's active area will be confined to a circle, and when the blindfolded werewolf roars, other game participants should echo the wolf howl.
Learn about Halloween from light and shadow:
Watching a film about Halloween with family and friends on this mysterious holiday is both exciting and heartwarming. There are many movies about Halloween, Xiaobian has selected a few warm and cute animated movies, let's go and see it together!
Monster House
Set on the night before Halloween, the story tells a series of fantasy stories about a 12-year-old boy and his partner in an old house. After watching this film, we may be able to find that childlike innocence that is no longer in childhood.
Shrek's Halloween Game
Shrek's Halloween Game tells the story of a fun and terrifying game played by the monster Shrek and his friends at the Haunted Castle of Lord Falkid during Halloween...
See how they celebrate Halloween?
United Kingdom:
The UK is the birthplace of Halloween, and each place has its own unique activities. Every year in mid-to-late October, you can feel the "supernatural" atmosphere in the streets of London.
During Halloween, many past execution sites will be restored near the Tower of London, and people can feel the "ghostly shadows" while visiting.
United States:
Halloween was introduced to the United States in 1840. Due to the Irish famine at that time, a large number of Irish immigrated to the United States, and they brought the custom of celebrating Halloween to the United States.
On this day, almost all stores in the United States sell ghost-shaped food, candy, clothing, masks, etc. Since pumpkin lights are the symbol of the festival, every household has to buy pumpkins to make pumpkin lamps and compete in pumpkin lamp competitions.
Canada:
Halloween is also known as "Ghost Day" in Canada. That night, the Canadian people disguised themselves as terrible, hoping to scare away the "ghosts". People disguised as "ghosts", both adults and children, go door to door to ask for candy, and the Governor's Office and the Prime Minister's Office of Canada are even more crowded.
France:
In fact, Halloween is not a French tradition, but in recent years it has slowly become popular in France. On Halloween, the French generally go to the Montmartre Cemetery and Father Raz Cemetery in Paris to offer chrysanthemums, and there are thousands of flower shops along the way from Paris to these two cemeteries, filled with fragrant and elegant chrysanthemums, and the people who go to the cemetery are endless.