Halloween is a traditional festival in the West. On this day, some people will choose to hold a costume ball, and others will choose to dress up as all kinds of ghosts to scare people, which makes many friends feel very novel. So do you know what day Halloween is this year? What are the legends of Halloween? Let's have a look with Xiaobian
When is Halloween 2019
2019 Halloween time: Friday, November 1, 2019 (the fifth day of October in the year of the pig)
Origin of Halloween
Halloween English is AllSaintsDay, also known as "All Saints' salute". It is one of the Catholic and orthodox festivals. It is a traditional festival in western countries. Halloween is often mistakenly called Halloween in Chinese areas. 'hallow' comes from Middle English halwen, which is very close to the etymology of holy. In some areas of Scotland and Canada, Halloween is still called 'Allhallowmas'. On that day, mass will be held Mass is a celebration of all saints in heaven. Now, for commercial interests or other purposes, society organizes various activities full of demons and ghosts on the night of October 31, which completely deviates from the sacred meaning of Halloween.
Legend of the origin of Halloween:
More than 2000 years ago, the Christian Church in Europe designated November 1 as "All Hallows \ 'day." hallow means saints. It is said that Celts living in Ireland, Scotland and other places since 500 BC They moved the festival forward one day, that is, October 31. They thought that it was the day when summer officially ended, that is, the beginning of the new year and the beginning of the harsh winter. At that time, people believed that the dead souls of the old people would return to their former residence on this day to find creatures on the living people, so as to regenerate, and this was the only hope that people could regenerate after death. While the living people were afraid of the dead So people put out the fire and candle light on this day, so that the souls of the dead can't find the living. They dress up as demons and ghosts to scare away the souls of the dead. Then they will rekindle the fire and candle light and start a new year's life.
Halloween was originally a festival to praise autumn, just as may day was a festival to praise spring. Druid, the priest of ancient Gaul, Britain and Ireland, had a grand festival to praise autumn, which lasted for a whole day from midnight on October 31 to November 1 the next day. They believed that on that night, their great God of death, Saman, called all the ghosts of the people who died that year Come on, these evil spirits will be punished for being animals. Of course, the thought of such a gathering of ghosts is enough to frighten the simple minded fools at that time. So they lit a bonfire and closely monitored these evil spirits. That's the beginning of the saying that there are witches and ghosts everywhere on Halloween. Up to now, in some isolated areas of Europe, there are still many evil spirits Some people believe this is true.
The ancient Romans also had a festival on November 1 to honor their goddess Pomona. They baked nuts and apples in front of a raging bonfire. Our Halloween seems to be a mixture of ancient Roman festivals and Druid festivals.
Halloween activities used to be very simple, and most of them were carried out in churches. But now people all over Europe regard Halloween as a good opportunity to play, tell ghost stories and frighten each other. Therefore, people no longer use this festival to praise autumn, but turn it into a festival of gods, witches and ghosts.
How do you celebrate Halloween in the west
In the United States, ghost day is celebrated on October 31 every year. The English name is' Halloween '- a very strange name
The origin of "ghost day" was the Catholicism in Europe. It was introduced into the United States by Irish immigrants in 1840. Its main purpose is similar to the meaning of Chinese exorcism. What is borrowed here is to wear ghost clothes, dress up as ghosts, decorate ghosts at home and abroad, and then go out noisily to exorcise ghosts. In addition, carved patterns, hollowed out pumpkin lanterns with candles in front of foreign homes, and others Put some sorghum stalks, wheat bales and so on. Hang faces on windows or doors,
A ghost made of cloth or grass.
In Ireland, there is a traditional divination game in which participants blindfold and choose one of them from the table with several small dishes. For example, the dish they touch contains soil, which means that there will be people related to the participants in the coming year. For example, water means that they will travel far, money means that they will get rich, beans means that they will be poor, etc. in Ireland in the 19th century, girls will sprinkle flour There are slugs on the disc, and the traces of slugs will look like the girl's future husband.
In North America, it is said that if unmarried women sit in a dark room on Halloween night, they can see the appearance of their future husband in the mirror. However, if they are going to die before marriage, a skull will appear in the mirror. This custom has been very popular since the late 19th century, and related greeting cards are also sold.
Telling ghost stories and watching horror movies are common activities in Halloween parties. TV specials with the theme of Halloween are usually broadcast on or before the Halloween holiday, mostly for children.
How do you celebrate Halloween in China
On this day every year, all supermarkets will launch ghost faced pumpkins. You can buy one and put it at home to celebrate the arrival of the festival. After the festival, you can cook it and have the best of both worlds.
Take a pumpkin lantern, fill it with candy, then put on ghost clothes and give candy to children everywhere. Although western children wear ghost masks and go door-to-door to ask for candy, this is basically impossible in China, so we can do the opposite.
Make an appointment with a few friends, then go to KTV to pack a box on Halloween night, dress up the room as a Halloween atmosphere, and then you can have fun.
Courageous people can also wear strange ghost clothes and ghost masks in groups and parade as ghosts in the streets. This is a 100% turn back rate.
Find some friends to have dinner at home and discuss the cultural background of Halloween together, so as to understand foreign culture. This can not only enrich each other's knowledge, but also get together with friends.