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The story of The story of HalloweenHalloween
Halloween is the name applied to the evening of October 31, preceding the
Christian feast of Hallowmas, Allhallows, or
All Saints' Day.
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The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
People in Britain have been celebrating a festival at the end of October and the beginning of November for more than
two thousand years.
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The observances connected with Halloween are
thought to have originated among the ancient Druids, who believed that on that evening, Saman, the lord of the dead, called forth
hosts of evil spirits.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
Then the Celts celebrated the festival of Saman which meant the end of summer and the
beginning of the Celtic New Year on November 1st. Among the ancient Celts,
Halloween was the last evening of the year and was regarded as a propitious time for examining the portents of the future.
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This was a time of darkness and mystery when ghosts and witches were
everywhere and winter was near. The Celts also believed that the spirits
of the dead revisited their earthly homes on that evening.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
People lit bonfires to drive away the evil spirits and to give energy to the dying sun. They carried torches from these
bonfires to their own homes and lit fires there too. They thought the fires kept the
witches away from their homes.
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After the Romans conquered Britain, they added to Halloween
features of the Roman harvest festival held on November 1 in honour of Pomona, goddess of
the fruits of trees.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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This was a time of darkness and mystery when ghosts and witches were
everywhere and winter was near. The Celts also believed that the spirits
of the dead revisited their earthly homes on that evening.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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For many hundreds of years we have been frightening the witches in another way with jack - o’ - lanterns. These are
usually hollow pumpkins or turnips with a candle burning inside them.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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Eventually, in England, the “Day of fires” became
November 5th, the anniversary of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. People have stopped
having bonfires at the end of October.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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Christian Hallowmass is a three-day period between October 31st and November 2nd. All Hallows’ Eve
(Hallowe’en) comes first, then All Saints’ Day and then All Souls’ Day.
Apples, nuts and candles are all very common in the Hallowe’en rituals.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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For hundreds of years children have been combining Hallowe’en with an old
custom called Mischief Night. This is a night when, traditionally, children played jokes on their neighbours. They changed stop signs... tied doors to walls... or to put
gates off their hinges.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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This is the origin of trick or treat which is popular in America and Britain.
Children wear Hallowe’en costumes (witches’ hats, frightening masks, etc.), visit houses and say, “Trick or treat?”.
People give them something - sweets or fruit (a treat). If people don’t give them
anything, children play a trick (for example, they tie some old tins to that
person’s car).
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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Today Halloween is a festival of fun. Children dress up as ghosts and witches
or as other strange creatures like: Dracula, Frankenstein or Terminator. If they visit your house, you must give sweets or other good things, otherwise
they will play tricks on you!
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
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Some people give Halloween parties. They decorate the walls with cut-out figures of
witches, black cats and ghosts, make lanterns out of hollow turnips or pumpkins,
play games and tell ghost stories.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween
They eat hot soup and sausages, baked potatoes and
roast chestnuts and crisp apples. To drink there is hot, spiced wine or hot chocolate
flavoured with cinnamon.
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The Celtic tradition of lighting fires on Halloween survived until modern times in Scotland and Wales, and the concept of ghosts and witches is still common to
all Halloween observances.
The story of HalloweenThe story of Halloween