Halloween
Halloween (also spelled Hallowe'en) is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints.
Halloween has origins in the ancient festival known as Samhain, which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end". This was a Gaelic festival celebrated mainly in Ireland and Scotland.This festival celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year".The celebration has some elements of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Other world became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honored 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.
But where does the origin of the name "halloween" come from? Well The term Halloween, originally spelled Hallowe’en, is shortened from All Hallows' Even – e'en is a shortening of evening. It is now known as "Eve of" All Saints' Day, which is November 1st. As Chritianity started to spread, the church tried to supplant these pagan festivities with the Christian holiday (All Saints' Day) by moving it from May 13 to November 1. Although All Saints' Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were once celebrated on the same day.
Halloween is also related to A jack-o'-lantern (sometimes also spelled Jack O'Lantern) which is typically a carved pumpkin. In a jack-o'-lantern, typically the top is cut off, and the inside flesh then scooped out; an image, usually a monstrous face, is carved onto the outside surface, and the lid replaced. At night, a light is placed inside to illuminate the effect.
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.
1 Match the definition to a Halloween word.
a special clothes to look like someone/something else i vampire
b a large orange vegetable ii werewolf
c a woman with magical powers iii skeleton
d In stories, a person who changes into a wolf at full moon iv pumpkin
e In stories, a person who drinks blood v bat
f a small black animal which flies at night vi costume
g a small animal with eight legs vii candle
h the bones of a person or animal’s body viii trick or treat
i a large, outside fire ix creature
j made of wax and string, it burns slowly x bonfire
k tradition of children wearing costumes, visiting homes xi witch
and asking for sweets
l any living animal or person xii spider
2 Which group?
Put the words below under the different group headings.
Food Creature Place
werewolf toffee apple ghost pumpkin zombie vampire cave black cat graveyard castle witch bat
spider sweets haunted house
Read the text below to see whether you were right.
A long time ago, the Celts (who lived in Ireland, Scotland and Wales) celebrated the new year on 1st November, and the night before that, 31st October, was the eve of the Celtic new year, called "All Hallows' Eve". The Celts believed that souls of dead people came back to the earth during that night to find a new body for themselves. Of course, no one wanted a ghost to live in his body, so people dressed up to look like the souls of the dead. When Christianity came to Ireland, people no longer celebrated the new year on 1st November but they didn't stop the tradition of dressing up as ghosts. When millions of Irish people immigrated to the United States in the 1840s, the tradition came with them. These days, on 31st October every year, people in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada celebrate Hallowe'en. It is a celebration mostly for children, although more and more adults celebrate Hallowe'en as well.
So, answer the questions:
(a) What do you know about Halloween?
(b) Is Halloween popular in Poland?
See if you can answer the questions below. Tick (") the appropriate box.
a) The first people to have a festival similar to Hallowe'en lived in
( ) the United States. ( ) Ireland. ( ) Canada.
b)People dressed up like ghosts or witches
( ) to have fun. ( ) to cheat evil spirits. ( ) to live longer.
c) People celebrate Hallowe'en on
( ) 30th October. ( ) 31st October. ( ) 1st November.
Answer True or False:
( ) Many people wear strange costumes. Children dress up as ghosts, pirates, vampires, witches, princesses, or popular heroes of the day, e.g. Superman or Harry Potter. Only children go to Hallowe'en parties where they play games.
( ) One Hallowe'en game is called "bobbing for apples". Someone puts water in a big bowl and throws apples into the water. To win the game, players need to take the apples out of the bowl but they mustn't use their hands. They are lindfolded and they have to take an apple out with their teeth! The game is sometimes very difficult and players can get very wet!
( ) In the evening, children knock on their neighbours' doors and yell "Trick or Treat!" when the door opens. The person who opens the door should give the children some goodies (sweets, fruit or little toys). If the children don’t get anything, they will play a trick on the neighbours. They may put soap on their car windows or throw toilet paper on the trees in their garden!
( ) Children will definitely get some goodies in a house which has a "jack-o'-lantern" in the window. Jack-o'-lanterns are big orange pumpkins with faces cut out in them. People made them to scare the ghosts away but today they are not really so scary.
( ) Jack-o'-lanterns are not the only Hallowe'en decorations. Many people decorate windows of houses and schools with cut-out figures of witches, black cats, skeletons and ghosts.
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