HALLOWEEN DAY

Halloween (or Hallowe'en), is a holiday in many English speaking countries that is celebrated on the night of October 31st !hildren wear costumes and they go to people"s home saying #$rick or $reat" to ask for candy, sweets in the %nited &ingdom, or lollies in 'ustralia and then people gi(e it to them

1. History of Halloween
Historian )icholas *ogers, e+ploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while ,some folklorists ha(e detected its origins in the *oman feast of -omona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festi(al of the dead called -arentalia, it is more typically linked to the !eltic festi(al of .amhain, deri(ed from the Old /rish .amuin meaning ,summer's end, Halloween is also thought to ha(e been hea(ily influenced by the !hristian holy days of 'll .aints' 0ay and 'll .ouls' 0ay 1alling on )o(ember 1st and 2nd respecti(ely, collecti(ely they were a time for honoring the .aints and praying for the recently departed who had yet to reach hea(en /n /reland, they had been celebrating .amhain and Halloween since the early 3iddle 'ges, and it is belie(ed the &irk took a more pragmatic approach towards Halloween, (iewing it as important to the life cycle and rites of passage of local communities and thus ensuring its sur(i(al in the country )orth 'merican almanacs of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century gi(e no indication that Halloween was recogni4ed as a holiday /nitially confined to the immigrant communities during the mid5nineteenth century, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the twentieth century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds

2. Origin of name
$he word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and represents a .cottish (ariant of the fuller all5Hallows5E(en (,e(ening,), that is, the night before 'll

Hallows 0ay 'lthough the phrase 'll Hallows is found in Old English, 'll5 Hallows5E(en is itself not attested until 1776

3. Symbols
0e(elopment of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed o(er time $he turnip has traditionally been used in /reland and .cotland at Halloween, but immigrants to )orth 'merica used the nati(e pumpkin, which are both readily a(ailable and much larger 8 making them easier to car(e than turnips $he 'merican tradition of car(ing pumpkins is recorded in 193: and was originally associated with har(est time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid5to5late 1;th century $he imagery of Halloween is deri(ed from many sources, including national customs, works of <othic and horror literature and classic horror films Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also pre(alent Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween Halloween imagery includes themes of death, e(il, the occult, or mythical monsters =lack and orange are the holiday's traditional colors

4.

ames an! ot"er a#ti$ities

$here are se(eral 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 remo(e an apple from the basin ' (ariant of dunking in(ol(es kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the

teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple 'nother common game in(ol(es hanging up treacle or syrup5coated scones by strings> these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an acti(ity that ine(itably leads to a (ery sticky face

.ome games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of di(ination ' traditional .cottish form of di(ining one's future spouse is to car(e an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel o(er one's shoulder $he peel is belie(ed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name %nmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and ga4ed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror Howe(er, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear 'nother game?superstition that was en@oyed in the early 1;AAs in(ol(ed walnut shells -eople would write fortunes in milk on white paper 'fter drying, the paper was folded and placed in walnut shells Bhen the shell was warmed, milk would turn brown therefore the writing would appear on what looked like blank paper 1olks would also play fortune teller /n order to play this game, symbols were cut out of paper and placed on a platter .omeone would enter a dark room and was ordered to put her hand on a piece of ice then lay it on a platter Her ,fortune, would stick to the hand -aper symbols includedC dollar sign5wealth, button5bachelorhood, thimble5 spinsterhood, clothespin5 po(erty, rice5wedding, umbrella5 @ourney, caldron5 trouble, D5leaf clo(er5 good luck, penny5fortune, ring5early marriage, and key5fame $he telling of ghost stories and (iewing of horror films are common fi+tures of Halloween parties Episodes of tele(ision series and Halloween5themed specials (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 ad(antage of the atmosphere EFHalloween commonly includes acti(ities such as trick5or5treating, attending costume parties, car(ing @ack5o'5lanterns, bonfires, apple bobbing, (isiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films

%. &oo!s
=ecause the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple har(est, caramel or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts 't one time, candy apples were commonly gi(en to children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some indi(iduals were embedding items like pins and ra4or blades in the apples One custom that persists in modern5 day /reland is the baking (or more often nowadays, the purchase) of a barmbrack, which is a light fruitcake, into which a plain ring, a coin and other charms are placed before baking /t is said that those who get a ring will find their true lo(e in the ensuing year $his is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festi(al of Epiphany