Halloween

Dovleac Jack-o'-Lantern

Halloween este o srbtoare de origine celtic, preluat astzi de multe popoare din lumea
occidental, ea rspndindu-se n secolul al XIX-lea prin intermediul imigranilor irlandezi
din Statele Unite ale Americii. Ea este srbtorit n noaptea de 31 octombrie, dei n unele
ri data srbtorii variaz de exemplu, n Suedia este srbtorit n prima smbt din
noiembrie. Numele provine din limba englez, de la expresia All Hallows' Even, numele
srbtorii cretine a tuturor sfinilor, srbtoare cu care Halloweenul a devenit asociat n
rile unde predomin cretinismul occidental catolic i protestant, deoarece n aceste
culte cretine, ziua tuturor sfinilor este srbtorit pe 1 noiembrie. Specific pentru
Halloween este dovleacul cioplit, care reprezint Lanterna lui Jack. Cu ocazia acestei
srbtori, copiii se mascheaz n vrjitori, mumii sau alte personaje i colind pe la case
ntrebnd Trick or Treat? (Pcleal sau dulciuri?), ca o ameninare c dac nu li se dau
dulciuri, persoanei colindate i se va juca o fars. n alte ri Halloween este serbat prin
parade i carnavale.

Halloween

Jack-o'-lantern
Also called

All Hallows Eve

All Saints Eve

Observed by

Numerous Western countries (see article)

Type

Secular, with roots in Christian and Celtic tradition

Begins

Sunset

Ends

Midnight

Date

October 31

Celebrations

Costume parties, trick-or-treating in costumes, bonfires, divination

Related to

Samhain, All Saints Day

Halloween (also spelled Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the
Celtic[1][2] festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a secular celebration
but some have expressed strong feelings about perceived religious overtones.[3][4][5] Irish immigrants
carried versions of the tradition to North America during Ireland's Great Famine of the 1840s.[6]
The day is often associated with orange and black, and is strongly associated with symbols like the jacko'-lantern. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, wearing costumes and attending costume parties,
ghost tours, bonfires, visiting haunted attractions, pranks, reading scary stories, and watching horror
films.

History

Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise showing a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young
children on the right bob for apples. A couple in the center play Snap-Apple, which involves retrieving an
apple hanging from a string. The couples at left play divination games. These games are common at Irish
Halloween parties still today
Halloween has origins in the ancient celtic[7] festival known as Samhain (pronounced sow-in or sau-an)[8]
[9]
, which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end".[10] A similar festival was held by
the ancient Britons and is known as Calan Gaeaf (pronounced kalan-geyf). The festival of Samhain
celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes[11]
regarded as the "Celtic New Year".[12]
The celebration has some elements of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border
between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and
harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home whilst harmful spirits
were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes
and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the
spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.[13][14]
Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires
played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the
bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames.[15] Sometimes two bonfires would be
built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.
Another common practise was divination, which often involved the use of food and drink.

Origin of name
The term Halloween, originally spelled Halloween, is shortened from All Hallows' Even e'en is a
shortening of even, which is a shortening of evening. This is ultimately derived from the Old English
Eallra Hlgena fen.[16] It is now known as "Eve of" All Saints' Day, which is November 1st.
A time of pagan festivities,[17] Popes Gregory III (731741) and Gregory IV (827844) tried to supplant it
with the Christian holiday (All Saints' Day) by moving it from May 13 to November 1.
In the 800s, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar.
Although All Saints' Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were once
celebrated on the same day.

Symbols

A traditional Irish halloween Jack-o'-lantern from the early 20th century on display in the Museum of
Country Life, Ireland.
On All Hallows eve, the ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their window sill to represent the
departed.[citation needed] Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga.
Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body, containing the spirit and the knowledge,
the Celts used the "head" of the vegetable to frighten off harmful spirits.[citation needed] Welsh, Irish and
British myth are full of legends of the Brazen Head, which may be a folk memory of the widespread
ancient Celtic practice of headhunting the results of which were often nailed to a door lintel or brought
to the fireside to speak their wisdom. The name jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of
Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer.[18][19] He tricked the devil into climbing a tree
and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack,
condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a
hollowed turnip. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where
pumpkins are both readily available and much larger- making them easier to carve than turnips.[20] Many
families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their
doorstep after dark. The American tradition of carving pumpkins preceded the Great Famine period of
Irish immigration[21][dead link] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming
specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 1800s.[citation needed]
The imagery surrounding Halloween is largely a mix of the Halloween season itself, works of Gothic and
horror literature, in particular novels Frankenstein and Dracula, and nearly a century of work from
American filmmakers and graphic artists,[22] and British Hammer Horror productions, also a rather
commercialized take on the dark and mysterious. Halloween imagery tends to involve death, evil, the
occult, magic, or mythical monsters. Traditional characters include the Devil, the Grim Reaper, ghosts,
ghouls, demons, witches, goblins, vampires, werewolves, zombies, skeletons, black cats, spiders, bats,
owls, crows, and vultures.[23]
Particularly in America, symbolism is inspired by classic horror films (which contain fictional figures like
Frankenstein's monster and The Mummy). Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks,
and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around
Halloween.
The two main colors associated with Halloween are orange and black.[24]

Trick-or-treating and guising

Typical Halloween scene in Dublin, Ireland.

Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from

house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometimes money, with the question, "Trick or treat?"
The word "trick" refers to a (mostly idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property
if no treat is given. In some parts of Ireland and Scotland children still go guising. In this custom the child
performs some sort of show, i.e. sings a song or tells a ghost story, in order to earn their treats.

Costumes
Halloween costumes are traditionally those of monsters such as ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils.
They are said to be used to scare off demons. Costumes are also based on themes other than traditional
horror, such as those of characters from television shows, movies, and other pop culture icons.
Costume sales
BIGresearch conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation in the United States and found that
53.3% of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween 2005, spending $38.11 on average (up $10
from the year before). They were also expected to spend $4.96 billion in 2006, up significantly from just
$3.3 billion the previous year.[25]

UNICEF
"Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" has become a common sight during Halloween in North America. Started as
a local event in a Philadelphia suburb in 1950 and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the
distribution of small boxes by schools (or in modern times, corporate sponsors like Hallmark, at their
licensed stores) to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small-change donations from the houses they
visit. It is estimated that children have collected more than $118 million (US) for UNICEF since its
inception. In Canada, in 2006, UNICEF decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes, citing
safety and administrative concerns; after consultation with schools, they instead redesigned the program.
[26][27]

Games and other activities

In this Halloween greeting card from 1904, divination is depicted: the young woman looking into a mirror
in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of the face of her future husband.
There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. One common game is dunking
or apple bobbing, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use
their teeth to remove an apple from the basin.[28] A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair,
holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple[29]. Another common game
involves hanging up treacle or donuts by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they
remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a very sticky face.
Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. A traditional Irish and Scottish
form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's
shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name. This
custom has survived among Irish and Scottish immigrants in the rural United States.[citation needed]

Unmarried women were told[who?] that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween
night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die
before marriage, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on
greeting cards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties.
Episodes of TV series and specials with Halloween themes (with the specials usually aimed at children)
are commonly aired on or before the holiday, while new horror films, are often released theatrically
before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.

Haunted attractions
Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons; most are seasonal
Halloween businesses. Origins of these paid scare venues are difficult to pinpoint, but it is generally
accepted that they were first commonly used by the Junior Chamber International (Jaycees) for
fundraising.[30] They include haunted houses, corn mazes, and hayrides,[31] and the level of sophistication
of the effects has risen as the industry has grown. Haunted attractions in the United States bring in an
estimate $300500 million each year, and draw some 400,000 customers, although trends suggest a peak
in 2005[30]. This increase in interest has led to more highly technical special effects and costuming that is
comparable with that in Hollywood films.[32]

Foods

Candy apple
Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples
outside North America), caramel or taffy apples are a common Halloween treat made by rolling whole
apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts.
At one time, candy apples were commonly given to children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake
of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the
apples.[33] While there is evidence of such incidents,[34] they are quite rare and have never resulted in
serious injury. Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant. At the peak
of the hysteria, some hospitals offered free x-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence
of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned
their own children's candy, and there have been occasional reports of children putting needles in their own
(and other children's) candy in need of a bit of attention.[citation needed]
One custom that persists in modern-day Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays, the purchase) of a
barmbrack (Irish "birn breac"), which is a light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin and other
charms are placed before baking. It is said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing
year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany.
Other foods associated with the holiday:

Apple cider (unfiltered apple juice)

Barmbrack (Ireland)

Bonfire toffee (Britain)

Candy corn (North America)
Caramel corn
Colcannon (Ireland)
Pumpkin, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread
Roasted pumpkin seeds
Roasted sweet corn
Soul cakes
Novelty candy shaped like skulls, pumpkins, bats, worms, etc.

Around the world

With its roots in Celtic cultures, Halloween is not celebrated in all countries and regions of the world, and
among those that do the traditions and importance of the celebration vary significantly. Celebration in the
United States has had a significant impact on how the holiday is observed in other nations. The history of
Halloween traditions in a given country also lends context to how it is presently celebrated.
Religious perspectives
In North America, Christian attitudes towards Halloween are quite diverse. In the Anglican Church, some
dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions of All Saints Day,[35][36] while some other
Protestants celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation.[37][38]
Celtic Christians may have Samhain services that focus on the cultural aspects of the holiday, in the belief
that many ancient Celtic customs are "incompatible with the new Christian religion. Christianity
embraced the Celtic notions of family, community, the bond among all people, and respect for the dead.
Throughout the centuries, pagan and Christian beliefs intertwine in a gallimaufry (hodgepodge) of
celebrations from October 31 through November 5, all of which appear both to challenge the ascendancy
of the dark and to revel in its mystery." [39]
Many Christians ascribe no negative significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely secular holiday
devoted to celebrating "imaginary spooks" and handing out candy. Halloween celebrations are common
among Roman Catholic parochial schools throughout North America and in Ireland. In fact, the Roman
Catholic Church sees Halloween as having a Christian connection.[40] Father Gabriele Amorth, a Vaticanappointed exorcist in Rome, has said, "[I]f English and American children like to dress up as witches and
devils on one night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that."[3] Most
Christians hold the view that the tradition is far from being "satanic" in origin or practice and that it holds
no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the
Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage.[39]
Other Christians feel concerned about Halloween, and reject the holiday because they believe it trivializes
(and celebrates) "the occult" and what they perceive as evil.[4] A response among some fundamentalists in
recent years has been the use of Hell houses or themed pamphlets (such as those of Jack T. Chick) which
attempt to make use of Halloween as an opportunity for evangelism.[41][dead link] Some consider Halloween
to be completely incompatible with the Christian faith[42] due to its origin as a pagan "Festival of the
Dead." In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on
the holiday.[41] Many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children,
holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy.
Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate Halloween for they believe anything that originated from a pagan
holiday should not be celebrated by true Christians.[citation needed]
Religions other than Christianity also have varied views on Halloween. Some Wiccans feel that the
tradition is offensive to "real witches" for promoting stereotypical caricatures of "wicked witches".[5]
Traditional Judaism frowns upon the celebration of Halloween."[43]
In Arab countries where it is celebrated, devotion is given to St. Barbara.