Halloween: the history and traditions of the Celtic holiday. Halloween is a holiday of what: all saints or the devil How is the holiday of Halloween

An unusual, mystical and perhaps the most recognizable holiday is Halloween. It is quite popular in the USA, Great Britain and other English-speaking countries. It is celebrated in Australia, some countries of Asia, Oceania. In non-English-speaking Europe and the post-Soviet space, Halloween gained popularity not so long ago, at the end of the last century. Back in the late 90s, few knew what Halloween was. Even today, for most people, this is just an excuse to have fun, dressing up in scary costumes and scaring each other.

Halloween: the history of the holiday, the emergence of the modern name

Halloween story begins long before the onset of the era of Christianity, this holiday is very ancient, dating back to the traditions of the ancient Celts. In those days, the whole life of people was subordinated to the annual cycle, each of the turning points of which was marked by celebrations. The Samhain holiday was dedicated to the end of the harvest, the dying of nature, which fell asleep until next spring. By this time, all field work was over, the harvest was harvested, and people had completely different concerns.

The very word "Samhain" or "Samhein" means in translation from the Old Irish language "the end of summer", now in the Irish language this is the name of the month of November. The Celts celebrated Samhain at about the same time, in late October - early November. For seven days, various rituals were held, the purpose of which was to adequately complete the past year and to agree with the higher powers, to appease them for future harvests.

These rituals may seem strange to us, but in those days people were closer to nature, saw nothing wrong with sacrifices to the gods. It must be said that it rarely came to human sacrifice, but the animals were slaughtered with joy. The insides were hung on trees (from this tradition the modern New Year's custom of decorating the Christmas tree has gone). In addition, the Celts brought fire from sacred fires into the house, after extinguishing the old hearth, which also marked the beginning of the new year. There was also a tradition of dressing up in animal skins, which today has transformed into a tradition of dressing up in the costumes of various characters in films and books.

With the arrival of Christianity in Europe, Samhain eventually merged with a religious holiday - the day of veneration of all saints (they are honored on November 1). This is a fairly common phenomenon, and it happened with some other pagan holidays. After all, not everyone accepted the Christian religion, the pagans continued to secretly send their rituals and worship their gods. Gradually, in the minds of the people, both holidays merged into one. It happened when Pope Gregory III transferred All Saints' Day on November 1. The traditions of Samhain, ingrained in the national memory, gradually became intertwined with the Catholic day of honoring the saints. This is how the tradition of celebrating one of the funniest, despite the gloomy attributes, of modern holidays appeared.

The name Samhain has finally sunk into oblivion quite a long time ago, in the 16th century. The word Halloween comes from the phrase "all hallows even" - "an evening of all saints", which quickly transformed into an abbreviated version of the sound. So then they called the time on the eve of the holiday - All Saints Day.

Today, Halloween, although the history of the holiday is due to cyclical annual changes, is firmly connected in the perception of people with the afterlife and evil spirits that can freely enter our world this evening and do their dark deeds. There is no documentary or other evidence that the Celts, or rather their priests, the Druids, saw in Samhain precisely the worship of dead ancestors or associated it with the appearance of unclean spirits on earth. Most likely, for the ancients it was precisely a seasonal holiday associated with the end of the year and agricultural work.

Today it is established that the modern understanding of the holiday appeared around the 10-11th centuries, thanks to the gloomy Christian monks. Since then, in Scotland and Ireland, it has been customary to tell various horror stories, legends about ancestors on the night of November 1, and to carry out rituals of veneration for the dead.

Modern traditions and symbols of the holiday appeared gradually. For example, people started going home and entertaining neighbors for treats back in the 16th century. They were a little disgraceful and tried to scare the owners by putting on masks. The tradition of dressing up in costumes and carrying a luminous pumpkin (Jack's lamp) began at the end of the 19th century.

Holiday symbols

Halloween attributes and traditions make it recognizable and loved in many countries. They appeared gradually, not immediately, but today the celebration of the darkest and mystical day of the year cannot be imagined without mysterious pumpkin lamps, terrible costumes of all kinds of evil spirits, and the tradition of begging for sweets from neighbors.

The most common celebration of the holiday in the countries of North America. Here people prepare in advance for Halloween, send out congratulations, decorate houses, work places and public places with suitable attributes. They stock up in advance with various sweets and small coins to treat children.

The most recognizable symbol of Halloween is a carved pumpkin inside which a light is burning, the so-called Jack's lamp. Initially, lanterns were made from various root crops: turnips, turnips, rutabagas. The inner part of the vegetable was removed, a terrible face was carved on the outer surface, and a burning candle was placed inside. Such lamps were placed in windows and near doorways in order to protect against evil forces that could penetrate our world that night and harm people. This custom is also associated with the beliefs of the ancient Celts, who used vegetables in various rituals, carving a schematic image of a face on them.

When the descendants of the Celts moved overseas, the more affordable pumpkin was used to make lamps for Halloween. The tradition of carving various figures on this vegetable has existed in America for a long time, and was also associated with the end of agricultural work. In the middle of the 19th century, customs merged, and Jack's lamp was already strongly associated with Halloween.

Halloween traditions

The custom of covering the face with a mask and dressing up in suits suitable for the occasion appeared relatively recently, a little over a century ago. According to documentary evidence, it originally appeared in Scotland, from where it quickly spread to Ireland, England, the USA and Canada.

The first carnival costumes and masks for Halloween were pretty dark. More often than not, they did not please at all, but frightened the people to whom the mummers knocked at the door. However, at the end of the 20th century, they began to dress up brightly on Halloween, in recognizable characters - Dracula, evil witches, Frankenstein, Freddy Krueger and others. Today the choice is even wider: people dress up as pop stars, medieval kings and queens, fairies, elves. In this case, everyone relies on their imagination and financial capabilities. By the way, trading in attributes and costumes for Halloween is extremely profitable. In the USA, for example, people spend billions of dollars to purchase all these symbols.

The custom, which is called "trick or treat" in the English-speaking world, is also traditional. This phrase means "a joke or a treat", loosely translated sounds like "Wallet or life"... Children, dressed in costumes and masks, knock on neighbors' houses, jokingly threatening to harm the inhabitants if they do not pay off. The owners, in this case, stock up on cakes, sweets and small money. This tradition has its origins in the custom of giving to the poor on Christmas and other church holidays, including All Saints' Day. Today, this is just an excuse for children to get treats and some money in return for entertaining adults. We also have such a custom at Christmas and is called carols.

Since every evil spirits crawl out of the underworld on Halloween, on this night you can quite successfully ask the spirits to lift the veil over the future. Therefore, girls traditionally guess on this holiday. There are various methods of divination, this custom also dates back to ancient times, when the priests judged the future harvest by some signs.

Fortune-telling is, as a rule, the prerogative of young girls who want to know about their betrothed at all times. In Scotland, for example, it is customary to cut the skin off an apple in the form of long shavings, and then throw it over your shoulder. By the pattern in which the shavings were formed, they judged the future groom, most often they tried to discern the first letter of his name in the pattern. Fortune telling in the mirror is also widespread throughout the world. For this, a fortune-telling girl on a dark night rose with a candle into a dark room, moving her back forward, and then peering into the reflection, trying to discern her future husband and the events of her life. The girls could see in the reflection anything, not just the betrothed. It was believed that if a skull or death with a scythe appears, it means a quick death in girls.

Celebration in Russia and in the world

In America, special attractions are being prepared especially for Halloween. These are haunted houses, where every visitor can be terrified for their own money. Disney parks also host various themed events dedicated to this fun holiday. In France, at Disneyland, a parade is held with people dressed in carnival costumes, singing songs, waving Jack's lamps, along the way, treating themselves to traditional Halloween treats. Large-scale processions are also held in Japan.

In neighboring Germany, there is a special place for those who like to celebrate this holiday on a grand scale - the house of Frankenstein. It is located near Darmstadt and has hosted Germany's largest Halloween festival since the 1970s.

In Ireland, on Halloween, grandiose pyrotechnic shows are held, reminiscent of the descendants of the Celts about the bonfires of Samhain. There is no such custom in neighboring Scotland.

In Russia, this holiday has also taken root, although not everyone likes it. The Russian Orthodox Church opposes the pagan orgy with disguises, believing that the traditions of Halloween teach people to negotiate with evil, to enter into any kind of relationship with it. The religious elite of Russian Muslims do not approve of this holiday either. Despite this, young people are very loyal to Halloween, preferring to have fun on this night in clubs or throwing themed parties at home.

Treats

In Russia, any holiday is unthinkable without a plentiful feast. There are also culinary traditions for Halloween. Since the holiday was originally dedicated to the end of the harvest, apple sweets are considered traditional sweet treats on Halloween. In the USA, pumpkin or corn candy is popular.

In the Celtic territories, in Ireland and Scotland, it is customary to prepare special bread with "surprises". During the manufacture, various objects were put into it, symbolizing a possible future. If a person came across a coin in a piece of bread, he should have expected wealth, a ring - for an imminent wedding, a splinter - to some troubles in life.

Halloween is the most recognizable and beloved holiday in many countries around the world. It is celebrated as Samhain by neo-pagans, followers of Wicca magic. Films, books, musical works are dedicated to this holiday. In Russia, he took root and fell in love with many, probably, as an excuse to once again have fun in our difficult time.

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The essence of Halloween

October 31 according to the druidic calendar - the border date between the Old and New Years. On this day, according to the observations of the ancient Celts, the harvest ended, summer gave way to winter, and at night from October 31 to November 1

The dead descended to earth to meet their still living relatives.

The Celts reacted negatively to this unsolicited intrusion and the dubious pleasure of meeting: they say, they died, so stay at your place - and in every way tried to fence themselves off from the guests: who knows what these dead people will think of. People made fires near houses, dressed in animal skins to look scary and scare away the otherworldly team, made sacrifices, left food at the doors of houses to appease her, put out the lights in the rooms to disguise themselves. In general, they did everything that was in their weak forces.

This went on for many, many years, until Christianity came to the British Isles, which did not want to hear about the strange New Year on November 1, the dead descending to the ground, the druids scaring them away. It knew its holidays, its saints and was jealous of strangers, calling everything paganism.

In the 9th century AD Pope Gregory III, in order to mean to take away the wild inhabitants of the British Isles, I appointed the Catholic holiday of All Saints Day for November 1: if you want to celebrate - celebrate, but our date. Well, said the good-natured British, so be it, but not All Saints Day, but the evening, which sounded in their dialect All Hallows Even - or shortly Halloween... Compromise, you know. Because it seems that the Catholic holiday was celebrating, but the customs remained the same pagan. The popes have resigned themselves: the main thing is to observe decency and form.

Halloween holiday today

Gradually, the tradition of celebrating All Saints' Day in a Celtic manner spread among all peoples of the earth from the United States to Japan.

On Halloween, it is customary to have fun, to arrange masquerades, parties dressing up in costumes of horror movie heroes, parades, to burn fires, to organize pyrotechnic shows, for children to beg for sweets from strangers. Fearful masks and costumes of vampires, demons, witches and other inhabitants of the underworld are popular.

Pumpkin with a flashlight inside - a symbol of Halloween

One of the symbols of Halloween is a pumpkin with eyes carved on it and a candle placed inside. This pumpkin is called Jack's Lamp ... True, pumpkin is an American know-how, in Ireland or Scotland there were turnips or rutabagas. In short, Halloween is a fun day today, celebrated mainly by young people on the advice of Wikipedia and other special sites.

Halloween paraphernalia

It is associated with the afterlife, otherworldly forces, mermaids, goblin, brownies, witches, ghosts in white robes, the dead, opened empty graves, dilapidated crypts, harsh, overgrown with weeds, cemeteries and all the like, that his adherents are not threatened in the near future. why is it so interesting to talk in a familiar company of friends, to quiet melodic music, in a warm, spacious, dry, cozy room, with the appropriate entourage.

Decorating a Halloween event is more than important. We need a spider web hanging in the corners; coffins, two or three, along the walls and on the table; good skulls, four or five, you can eight, spread out anywhere or a slide. Skeletons are just needed. In the most unexpected places: a guest goes to the restroom for natural need, and there a skeleton falls on him. Puddles of blood to fit in with a shoe and leave marks everywhere, or drips from above, flows down the face and onto a white dress. It improves your mood very much. But the lady sits down in a chair and plunges into someone's guts. She will be pleased. An innocent girl empties a glass, of course, with lemonade, and at the bottom, a cut off finger, you can - an ear. Brains smeared on the tablecloth under the salad platter. And to make it clear, the signature is explaining. Blood.

The decoration of the hall for the Halloween is very important.

Audio effects are welcome. Howling wind, noise of rain; screams, moans; the crunch of broken bones, requests for help and mercy, all quieter, quieter; death rales.

You can't do without unexpected plot twists. Couples swaying in a slow dance, clinging to each other, resting from what they saw and heard, suddenly the light goes out and a voice with a Caucasian accent announces the beginning of the robbery and the taking of the whole party hostage. And a machine gun fire at the chandelier.

In general, go for it. Halloween for that and Halloween. Holiday

Halloween began to be celebrated presumably in the middle of the 16th century. Historians say that it replaced the ancient pagan festival - Samhain or Samhain.

Samhain marked the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, lasted a whole week, and its culmination fell on October 31st. By this day, farmers and pastoralists had to harvest the entire crop and prepare stalls for animals. In honor of the change of seasons and the end of field work, noisy feasts were organized.

Pagan traditions are primarily associated with nature. In autumn, trees fly around and fall asleep, it gets dark early and dawn late, the nights are increasingly cold. Unsurprisingly, the celebration on the border of the two seasons has become a festival of death with a distinctive aesthetic. Therefore, Samhain not only harvested crops and slaughtered livestock, but also commemorated the dead.

Pagans believe that on the nights of Samhain, the gates open between the worlds of the living and the dead, so the spirits of deceased ancestors can visit their descendants. A meal and a place at the table are prepared for them, they are asked questions and the events of the year are told. It is also believed that the living can easily get lost and get into the spirit world, which is hostile to humans. Therefore, on the night of Samhain, you need to be extremely careful and not wander alone, especially in unfamiliar terrain.

How Halloween is celebrated in Russia

In our country, the attitude towards Halloween is clearly ambiguous. Orthodox activists argue that it is useless to arrange all sorts of demonic parades. Businessmen, meanwhile, do not miss the moment to earn more: they hold sales and costume evenings, decorate shop windows with pumpkins, witches, bats and other paraphernalia.

Halloween can be celebrated in one of the nightclubs in your city, if, of course, you like a big noisy company. There will be loud music, a lot of alcohol and people in funny costumes from a specialty store for adults. It is possible that guests will be served snacks and drinks that mimic blood or severed body parts. Undoubtedly, this has its own charm.

If you are under 18, or you just don’t like bars and nightclubs, you can have a party at home.

• Stock up on carcade, wine, pomegranate or tomato juice if you are going to drink blood.
• For a snack, make something with pumpkin: pancakes, muffins, or pie. For a hearty meal, there are hot dishes made with seasonal vegetables such as stews or stews.
• Decorate your home with themed decor in the form of skulls, tombstones, cobwebs, bats. Such details will create a suitable environment.
• If everything is serious for you, and the goods from the joke store do not suit you, decorate the house with textiles and accessories in a festive color. Black, orange, burgundy, purple and dark green are the most suitable colors for Halloween.
• Get some more candles! Such a holiday should not be held in the light of electric lamps.
• Be sure to do it yourself or buy a pumpkin candlestick. Without Jack-and-the-Lantern, Halloween becomes a regular party.
• Consider an entertainment program and get everything you need to watch horror movies, scare friends, summon spirits, or tell fortunes.
• Arrange a masquerade at last, if your soul requires it. It's really funny, especially if you are walking around the city in carnival costumes. Observe safety precautions: do not get drunk, behave yourself and in no case ask the police for sweets or nasty things.

As you can see, Halloween can be celebrated not only in America, but also in Russia. There is nothing criminal, immoral, or occult in this tradition. So head to the party with peace of mind if you want to have some fun. Happy Halloween!

Halloween is a bright and cheerful holiday that came to us from America and quickly won the sympathy of many people. Of course, the history of this celebration and its traditions are somewhat alien to us, but the positive emotions associated with it perfectly "dilute" the gray everyday life. Original masquerade costumes, house decoration and general fun are the essential attributes of Halloween.

Today's Halloween is a modified celebration of the ancient Celts called Samhain. Once upon a time they inhabited a rather vast territory of Europe, but they left a particularly significant mark on the lands of what is now Great Britain, Ireland and Northern France. From there, a holiday called Halloween went on.

What is the date of Halloween in 2018?

As mentioned earlier, All Saints' Eve is celebrated every year at the same time, namely, on the night of October 31st to November 1st.

As for our country, Halloween in Russia has not yet had time to “grow” with characteristic traditions similar to those that exist in the United States and Europe. As a rule, it is celebrated at the club level. Many nightlife venues in the capital and other cities of our country organize themed costume parties for visitors, in the program of which popular performers and DJs often take part.

Separately, it is worth noting the ambiguous attitude of representatives of the Orthodox clergy to Halloween. And this is not at all surprising, because Celtic Samhain is nothing more than a cult pagan holiday, the main message of which directly contradicts the traditional evangelical tenets. However, many residents of our country perceive this holiday not as a ritual, but as a secular one. For most Russians, Halloween is just another reason to diversify their leisure time and have fun with friends.

How Halloween came to be

Halloween, celebrated on October 31st, is the last day of the Celtic calendar. At first, it was considered a pagan holiday in honor of those who left our world. Halloween has been called All Hallows Eve (hence the name Halloween), and the holiday is about 2,000 years old!

There are many versions of the origins and ancient traditions of Halloween. Different cultures view the holiday in slightly different ways, but the traditions of Halloween remain the same.

Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northern Europe. The roots lie in the celebration of Samhain, which is held annually on October 31 to honor the dead.

Samhain means "the end of summer." Samhain is a harvest festival. People lit huge sacred fires, which marks the end of the Celtic year and the beginning of a new one. Many of the practices associated with this holiday are full of superstitions.

The Celts believed that the souls of the dead roam the night streets and villages. Since not all spirits were considered friendly, gifts and treats were left to pacify evil. This ensured that crops would be plentiful in the years to come.

It was believed that on this day you should not leave your home. And so that the ghosts would not recognize them, people put on costumes and masks, which were made from the skins and heads of killed animals.

What Halloween attributes do I need to purchase?

The first tradition of the festival of the dead is, of course, Jack's Lantern. This is an artistic pumpkin carving. The round shape of the vegetable is given the appearance of a skull. Eyes, frighteningly open mouth with a frightening grin. A candle is placed inside the pumpkin. In addition to the skull, you can carve anything out of a pumpkin. It all depends on the imagination of the carver.

The next tradition, of course, is costumes. Basically, frightening outfits are chosen for the holiday. Ghosts, Dracula, vampires, witches, zombies, etc. Various characters from horror films. The choice can just turn your head! And be sure to put on special makeup for Halloween.

"Purse or death". On Halloween, children put on costumes and masks, take baskets and go from door to door, “demanding” sweets. This tradition has been developed so far only in the United States.

Decoration of the house and the area around the house. Various "horror stories" are used for decoration, garlands of skulls of bones, figures of monsters, bats, giant spiders and all the same Jack's pumpkin lanterns.

How is Halloween celebrated?

In the homeland of Halloween, this holiday is taken seriously: many people prepare for it several weeks in advance, carefully thinking over costumes, home decorations and treats for guests. In our country, they treat him more simply, because for many he remains a curiosity. So, we have not got accustomed to the main tradition of Halloween - to walk in costumes from neighbors with the ultimatum "sweet or nasty".

However, every year more and more people are throwing themed parties, trying to make the evening memorable. To celebrate Halloween really brightly, it is important to take care of the main attributes of the holiday.

What to wear for Halloween?

Halloween costumes can be very different - in this regard, you can show your creativity as much as possible and give free rein to your imagination. Recently, it is considered the most relevant to dress up as heroes of famous films. So, you can appear at a party in the form of Batman, Gandalf, Catwoman, etc.

Wanting to stay in trend without attracting too much attention, you can choose an ageless classic - a ghost outfit or a witch with a broom and a pointed black hat. If the main goal is to attract as many glances as possible, then you should give preference to non-standard images, for example, zombies.

Paired costumes always look very impressive: Cinderella and Prince Charming, Fiona and Shrek, Aladdin and Jasmine, Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood.

What to put on the festive table?

For the party, it is best to prepare a variety of snacks and light meals. Treatments can be made to look sinister, for example, by making drinks look like witch's potions, or by carving monsters out of fruits and vegetables. The main thing is not to "go too far", because the snacks should be appetizing.

In addition, it is important not to forget about sweets for visitors. Of course, it is not customary for us to "carol" on Halloween, asking for goodies, but tradition is a tradition, and with a company of friends a plate of sweets will definitely not be lost.

Halloween in our country has not yet taken root as a common holiday and often causes a lot of controversy. Today there are people who call for its ban, pointing out that it will re-read the accepted traditions and norms. But in fact, Halloween is nothing wrong with it and is an excellent excuse to have fun with friends. If you want to bring some bright emotions into autumn weekdays - feel free to celebrate this scary fun holiday in 2018!