Information AboutHalloween |
Halloween, or '''Hallowe'en''', is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31 , most notably by children, who, in a tradition commonly known as Trick-or-treating , dress in costumes and go door-to-door to collect Sweets , Fruit , and other gifts. Other traditional activities include Costume Parties , viewing Horror Films , visiting "haunted Houses" , and participating in traditional Autumn activities such as Hayride s (which may have "haunted" Themes ). Halloween originated under the name of " Samhain " as a Pagan festival among the Celt s of Ireland and Great Britain , after which Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Several other western countries have embraced the holiday as a part of American Pop Culture in the late twentieth century. Halloween is now celebrated in many parts of the Western World , most commonly in Ireland , the United States , Canada , Puerto Rico , the United Kingdom and sometimes in Australia and New Zealand . In recent years, the holiday has also been celebrated in some parts of Western Europe. The term ''Halloween'' (and its older rendering ''Hallowe'en'') is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening of/before "All Hallows' Day" 1, also known as " All Saints ' Day". It was a day of religious festivities in various northern Europe an Pagan traditions, until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints' Day from May 13 to November 1 . In the ninth century, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine Calendar . Although we now consider All Saints' (or Hallows') Day to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were, at that time, celebrated on the same day. Liturgically, the Church traditionally celebrated that day as the Vigil of All Saints, and, until 1970, a day of fasting as well. Like other vigils, it was celebrated on the previous day if it fell on a Sunday, although secular celebrations of the holiday remained on the 31st. The Vigil was suppressed in 1955, but was later restored in the post-Vatican II calendar. In Ireland , the name of the holiday was All Hallows' Eve (often shortened to '''Hallow Eve'''), and though seldom used today, the name is still well-accepted, albeit somewhat esoteric. The festival is also known as Oíche Shamhna (or Samhain ) to the Irish, ''Samhuin'' to the Scots, Calan Gaeaf to the Welsh, Allantide to the Cornish and Hop-tu-Naa to the Manx . Halloween is also called ''Pooky Night'' in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the Púca , a mischievous Spirit . Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the Liminal times of the year when Spirit s can make contact with the physical world, and when Magic is most potent (according to, for example, Catalan Mythology About Witches and Irish tales of the Sídhe ). HALLOWEEN AROUND THE WORLD portrays a Halloween party in Blarney , Ireland, in 1832. The young people on the left side play various Divination games, while children on the right bob for apples. A couple in the center play "Snap-Apple", which involves retrieving an apple hanging from a string]]. Ireland Halloween is very popular in Ireland, where it is said to have originated, and is known in below). It is alleged that the Irish continued to practice their deep-rooted, ancient pagan rites well after the arrival of Christianity in the mid sixth century. |
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