Halloween in Britain

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Halloween means “ holy evening”, and takes place on 31 October. It was begun by the
Celts over 2000 years ago. People believe that ghost and witches came out on that
night. There beliefs were not encouraged by the church, but the festival wasn’t
abandoned. The Irish lit lanterns and candles to keep the ghosts away and wore
costumes and masks to frighten them. People travelled from village to village and
asked for food. They believe that any village that didn’t give food would have bad
luck.

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These were brought to the USA in the nineteenth century by Irish immigrants. Although it is a
much more important festival in the United States than in Britain, it is celebrated by many
people in the UK. It is particularly connected with witches and ghosts

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TRICK OR TREAT
At parties people dress up in strange costumes and pretend they are witches children dressed in white sheets
knock on doors at Halloween and yell “trick” or “treat”. The idea being that the owners of the house give
the children a treat (sweets or money) and then they go away. However, if you don’t, they play a “trick” on
you, such as making a lot of noise or spilling flour on your front doorstep!

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 Jack o 'Lanterns
- The practice of carving Jack-o'-lanterns goes back to the Irish legend of Jack, a lazy but shrewd farmer who tricked the
Devil into a tree, then refused to let the Devil down unless the Devil agreed to never let Jack into Hell . The story goes
that the Devil agreed, but when Jack died, he was too sinful to be allowed into Heaven, and the Devil wouldn't let him
into Hell. So, Jack carved out one of his turnips, put a candle inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a
resting place. He was known as Jack of the Lantern, or Jack-O'-Lantern.
- Nowadays the typical Jack-o'-lantern is a pumpkin whose top and stem have been carved off and inner membranes and
seeds scooped out to leave a hollow shell. Sections of a side are carved out to make a design with the light illuminates
the design from the inside

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SUPERSTITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH HALLOWEEN

It was believed to be the night when the

barrier between the living world and that of
the spirits was at its weakest. In the old days
people lit bonfires to ward away evil spirits
and in some places they used to jump over the
fire to bring good luck.

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Hazel Nuts and Nut-cracking
- The hazel nut was sacred to ancient Celts, they were believed to have divining powers and was sacred to poets.
The magic power of this nut was considered to be especially powerful on Halloween -- and was often used in
marriage divinations.
- Place two nuts (such as conkers) on a fire. Give the nuts the names of two possible lovers and the one that cracks
first will be the one.

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Halloween Costumes
- It's traditional for people (especially children) to dress up at Halloween. In the past this wasn't done just for fun, it
was thought that the costume would confuse any evil spirits so they wouldn't play any pranks on you.

- Nowadays Halloween costumes can range from cute to downright scary. The simplest costume has to be draping a
white sheet over your head and making a couple of holes for the eyes, but a lot of people go all out as vampires,
witches, or a character from a horror film.

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 Halloween Stories

Another popular tradition is to tell scary stories at Halloween. Turn the lights off, shine a torch
under your chin, and tell your scariest tale.

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Thank you for listening