Halloween

On October 31st, Americans celebrate Halloween.

It’s is an important date in the calendar, especially for young children.

It is the night of Halloween. The name comes from “All Hallows Eve”
.The word ‘hallow’ means ‘holy, saint‘ and ‘eve’ means ‘the day or
night before an important day’ so it is the day before 1st November.

Before Christianity, people in Europe believed that on October 31 st

ghosts of dead people came back. To scare the ghosts, people dressed
like devils and were very noisy. They also made big fires to keep the
ghosts away.. Later, people didn’t believe in ghosts , but they kept the day of halloween for fun.

Immigrants came from Europe to America and brought with them the custom of Halloween. Halloween has
some strange symbols. One symbol is the jack-‘o-lantern in the window. The jack-ó-lantern is to scare ghosts.
People cut the pumpking, throw away all of the inside, and cut a face in it. Then, they put a candle inside of it.

Today, in the United States, Halloween is very popular with the children. They wear masks and special
costumes, they want to look like skeletons and ghosts.
Then, they go from house to house and say ‘’Trick or Treat’’. People give them candies, cookies or fruit. When
people give nothing, the children often play tricks on them.

1. Write T (true) and F (false).

1. On October 30th people celebrate Halloween.
2. In the past, people made fires to keep the ghosts away.
3. Halloween came from Europe.
4. The jack-o’-lanterns is a kind of pumping to eat.
5. On Halloween children wear costumes.
6. Children collect masks
7. On Halloween, children say, ‘trick or fun’.

2. Answer the questions

1. When do people celebrate Halloween?
2. Why did people dress like devils?
3. Why did people keep the day of Halloween?
4. What do people put inside the pumpkin?
5. Where do they put the jack-‘o-lantern?
6. Why do they use the lantern?
7. What do people give children when they go from house to house?
 Halloween

The celebration of Halloween is of Celtic origins, and has

more than 2,500 years. It's original name was Samhain, and
was celebrated, like nowadays, in October 31th, the last day
of the harvest time and the beginning of winter.

The Christian tradition joined the celebration of Samhain

with November 1st, the day of All Saints, and the name of
Halloween was born ("All Hallows' Eve").
The night of Samhain was considered as the most magical night. The Druids lit numerous fires,
and made sacrifices both of animals as human sacrifices. These sacrifices were done in honor
of the God of Sun and the God of Death. The people wore terrifying customes made with
animal skins, willing to be mistaken with the evil spirits that came to the world of the living in
this ceremony.

In that day, divination was practiced, and people jumped through a bonfire, and danced
around it to frighten away the evil spirits.

The use of masks was not only practiced in these date. Masks were also used each time that
some natural disaster happened, or a flooding or drought, with the will to scare the evil spirits.

The Celts believed that the dead returned in that day to visit their families and come back to
their homes where they had lived. This was the day in which the world of the dead joined with
the world of the living.
To avoid that the dead ones could disturb their familiars, a candle was lit in each window. A
candle for each one of the deceased persons in the family.

Nowadays one of the most representative elements of Halloween is the pumpkin, it's not a
symbol of the ancient Samhain. The Irish did not had knowledge of the existence of pumpkins
until the first colonizers arrived to America. The pumpkin is an element that belongs to an
ancient Irish legend.
The legend says that a man called Jack couldn't go to Heaven when he died but not to Hell
either. So Jack started to lurk though the land with no direction. He put a burning charcoal
inside a turnip to be able to walk at night. He was called Jack of the Lantern (Jack O'Lantern).
Some time later, it was a candle inside a pumpkin, and symbolizes the souls of those damned to
lurk without direction.
The candies have a very ancient origin. The Celts put food and candies to keep the spirits away
from the houses. It was a kind of treat ("trick or treat") with the spirits: food in exchange of not
frightening the mortals with their presence.

 Complete with the information:

 Name of the festivity:

 Origin:

 Original name:

 Date:

 Religion that joined:

 The druids were:

 Sacrifices:

 Beliefs: