On Halloween, witches come true;Wild ghosts escape from dreams.
Each monster dances in the park.... ~Nicholas Gordon
Halloween in the US traditionally includes trick-or-treating or going door-to-door in costumes getting candy and treats, costume parties, haunted hayrides, carving pumpkins into Jack-o-lanterns and other scary faces, reading scary stories to your children, and watching horror movies on television.
The term Halloween is shortened from All Hallows' Even (both "even" and "eve" are abbreviations of "evening") as it is the eve of All Hallow’s Day which is now also known as All Saint’s Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions. Pope Gregory IV standardized the date of All Saints' Day, or All Hallows' Day, to November 1 in the name of the entire Western Church in 837.
As the church day began at sunset in accordance with the Florentine calendar, the holiday coincided exactly with Samhain, the pagan festival of the dead. It is claimed that the choice of date was consistent with the common practice of leaving pagan festivals while overlaying a Christian meaning. It is speculated that the Pre-Christian Celts, although perhaps content to move All Saints' Day from their own previous date of April 20, to November 1st, were unwilling to give up their pre-existing autumn festival of the dead, and continued to celebrate Samhain.
Irish immigrants are credited with carrying versions of this tradition and thus the pre-cursors of Halloween to North America in the nineteenth century. Enjoy the Day.. Boo ! BAF !( Boo in Czech )
No comments:
Post a Comment