lunes, 25 de octubre de 2010

Halloween

Read this information about Halloween

Origin

The answer to the question is two-folded. First of all Halloween derives from the New Year celebration of the Celts. They called that night Samhain, Winter´s Eve. The Celts thought that the spirits of people who had died the past year would search for new bodies this particular night, the 31st of October. In order not to be possessed, people would make their own homes as uncomfortable as possible, by turning off the heat. At night, the Celts went on a parade, dressed in weird clothes. The aim was to frighten the souls of the dead.

All Saints Day

The day after Halloween, the 1st of November is the All Saints Day, an important holiday in the Christian church. It is also called All Hallows, a definition turned into Halloween. The church has never been in favor of the Celtic tradition of Halloween, and has tried to stop the celebrations by claming the the parades and the costumes to be evil. But that has not been that successful. Today Halloween is a secular holiday.

Today

The Celtic traditions has persisted the catholic criticism. The habit of Halloween got to America in the 1840s by Irish immigrants. The tradition has since then grown into an international habit, and Halloween is today celebrated in all of the western countries. The costumes and the parading on the streets are still two of the main things about Halloween. The trick-or-treating is also a tradition that has become a part of the modern form of Halloween. That tradition comes from the Celtic habit of walking door-to-door in order to collect money and food for the parade.

Now answer the following questions:
 
Where does this tradition come from?
 
What did the Celts do to avoid to be possessed?
 
Has the church ever been in favour of the celebration of Halloween? Why not?
 
Why did the Celts walked door to door?
 
What do we celebrate on the first of November? What do people do?