HALLOWEEN

Halloween is the time of pumpkins, candies, ghosts, witches and much more. No one knows exactly when it was first celebrated, but it is believed that it was the Celtic people the first to celebrate this special day as the end of summer, but also the season of darkness as well as the beginning of the New Year on 1st November. Today, HALLOWEEN is celebrated in the United States more than in Europe, but long before American children started trick-or-treating, people in Scotland, England, and France looked upon October 31 as a day of ghosts and goblins.

That's the night before All Saints Day.

IN SCOTLAND, farmers paraded through fields and villages with burning torches because they thought the fire would protect them from witches and ghosts and they also carried them in hopes of a good crop for the next year.

THE ENGLISH marched through streets carrying lighted candles to drive away witches. They thought that if the candles burned until midnight, people felt they were safe.

THE IRISH hollowed out and carved turnips and potatoes which were lit from inside by candles to scare away spirits and a stingy man named Jack who was ordered to wander the earth after he died. With a lantern in his hand he began to search for a resting place on the Earth. This is the beginning of JACK-O-LANTERN.

When the Irish people came to settle the New World (America), they brought their Halloween beliefs with them. Children started playing pranks on October 31, blaming the pranks on evil goblins. Ever since, Halloween in the United States has been a night filled with creepy sounds and spooky creatures.

Throughout the centuries the cultures have added their own elements to the way Halloween is celebrated. Children love the custom of dressing-up in fancy costumes and going from door-to-door yelling "Trick-or-Treat".

HALLOWEEN VOCABULARY
BAT, VAMPIRE, GOBLINS, GHOST, CANDY, WITCH, SPIDER, PUMPKIN, SKELETON, COSTUME, BLACK CAT, CANDLE, JACK-O-LANTERN, MASK, OCTOBER, CARVE