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Halloween
Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. Ask any questions associated with Halloween such as jack-o'-lanterns, trick-or-treating, ghosts, bonfires, costumes, haunted houses, reading scary stories, and watching horror movies, to name a few.
2,632 Questions
Why does Halloween have a lot of scary decorations?
All Hallow's Eve -- or Halloween as we abbreviate it -- is a celebration of death. Death is always creepy.
Do they celebrate Halloween in Greece?
As with many Central European countries, Halloween has only recently caught on in Greece - since about 2005. Young children and teenagers DO go trick-or-treating there, though many elderly residents haven't a clue what they're talking about.
What two holidays were combined to create Halloween?
It is claimed but incorrect that the Holidays referred to are originally All Hallows Eve and the celebration of Guy Fawks Night (5th November) which occurs to celebrate The Gun Powder Plot when Fawks and a cohort attempted to blow up the British Parliment.
However, these two events are not classed as actual holidays. the first a a celebration of the end of summer and begining of winter which dates back to Pagan rights and were celebrated by the Celtic people of iremand Scotland Wales Cornwall in England and Brittany
How did Halloween become to be?
Halloween has had been around since medieval times in some form. The present Halloween customs came about in the year 1911.
When did the Halloween holidays originate?
The History Channel has a great Documentary that explains about the origination of Halloween which is a mixture of Celtic and Catholic tradition which began in Europe and was brought to America by the the European immigrants main y the Irish Catholics. This was the end of Summer and Oct 31 became All Hallows Eve which was believed to be a time when spirits roamed around looking for bodies to inhabit. Peoplewere superstitious at that time and believed this so much that they would dress up in costumes to disguise themselves to confuse and frighten spirits away and so they would not be selected by the spirits for "posession" of their bodies. Also animals were believed to be reincarniated from the souls fo the dead. Tradition has changed over the years replacing turnips with pumkins which was something americans chose to do and ruling out all other small animals stickin gwiht the only black cats displaying them in their windows to frighten celebrate Halloween along with spiders not necessarily to frighten off spirits as much as to entertain and frighten young tricker treaters.
The term Trick or Treat came from the same religious attempt to protect souls. Women, girls and pesants would go door to door seeking gifts or "soul cakes" to pay penance for their loved ones in purgatory so they could gain passage into heaven through this gift offering. There are numerous other translations of this "trick or treating" story and there are other variations where late on home invasion took place and men would rob the homes of families in Ireland saying "Trick or Treat". The treat was all the money and jewelry they had and the trick was if the family did not give enough to please the bandits they would torture and rape, or even kill the family. The bandits would still get their "treat" and then burn the house down. This is real. If you do your research you will find it. :o) Happy Hunting.
Do christians think Halloween is a holiday?
For the most part, yes. Halloween (also known as Hallows Eve) glorifies Satan Demons and Witchcraft.
Why do the evil spirits supposedly come out on Halloween?
Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1 (also known as All Saints Day) and believed that the night before, ghosts of the dead returned to earth. To ward off evil spirits, they would dress in costume so to not be recognizable.
Why do you think the pumpkin is a symbol of Halloween?
According to legend, the jack o'lantern was named after a reprobate Irishman called Stingy Jack who tricked the Devil into promising he wouldn't go to hell for his sins. When Jack died he learned he was barred from heaven, so he went down to the gates of hell after all to beg for a final resting place. Wouldn't you know it, the Devil kept his promise, dooming Jack to wander the earth for all eternity with only an ember of hellfire of to light his way. Thenceforth he was known as Jack O'Lantern.
How do people celebrate Halloween in Japan?
Obon (お盆) or just Bon (盆) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist-Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori.
Is the Halloween film based on a true story?
(The short of a long story) Halloween has a very deep history. Many think Halloween is derived from Samhain (pronounced sow-in/en/un), the Celtic celebration of the end of summer and harvest; also believed to be the end of their calendar year (think of New Year's Eve today). Many stories/beliefs say Samhain was the day that the gates between the worlds of the living and the dead were open allowing the dead be among the living. The living would offer food, wine and gifts to help the dead in their journey (back?) across. Other stories/beliefs go into dressing up in crazy, often elaborate costumes to scare away the dead instead. Not sure exactly where the Trick or Treat comes from. Some stories are of Faeries disguising themselves as beggars, begging for food. By giving them food you got a Treat; by not giving, it was Trick. Other stories are the people doing strange things such as cross dressing from both sexes, moving live stock or structures to different places and of course playing tricks on each other.
The more popular ideal comes from early Euro-Christianity. By that point it was believed Samhain to be a mostly Pagan holiday; there's a lot of cross over between Celtic history and Paganism. The Christian church, being against Pagan belief, replaced the holiday. In 834 or 835 A.D., Pope Gregory IV moved All Saint's Day to November 1, which had originally been designated by Pope Boniface IV in 609 AD, to be on May 13th. While sanctioned by the Church, many of the common people still practiced the more Pagan/Celtic traditions like bonfires, parades, and costumes. All Saints Day was also known as All Hallows, or Hallowmas; thus Oct 31 became All Hallows Eve and later Halloween.
What countries in latin America celebrate Halloween?
Mexico is Spanish speaking country that celebrate Halloween
How do you say Trick-or-treat in Navajo?
One way to say Pumpkin in Navajo is naayÃzÃ. The Pumpkin you see on Halloween are usually called naayÃzà łich'ÃÃ'ÃgÃÃ.
What are some cool designs for jack o lanterns?
There are many good patterns for Jack O- Lantern patterns and here are some of them,
an original pattern is good such as a spiral or a smile face. But something a little more original is a cat or a zombie... Etc.
How does Australia celebrate Halloween?
Halloween has not really taken off in Australia, and as such, Australians "should" not celebrate Halloween at all. It is largely an American cultural activity, and has no relevance to Australians at all.
A poll held on Australia's leading news site (news.com.au) at the end of October 2009 indicated that 85% of Australians think Halloween should be ditched as it is totally irrelevant, whilst 15% of Australians said they love it and wanted to keep it.
How do you make a dementor costume?
I would suggest buying or altering a black cloak that you do not mind ripping up a little. You can find patterns for a hood on the Internet. Tear up some black material and add it to the sleeves and tear up the bottom into shreds. Use black material to cover up your face and either make your own skeleton looking gloves or buy some of the Internet. Wear black boots under the cloak. If you want to make the ribcage you could make it out of paper mache and attach it to the cloak :)
Which Halloween words begin with the letter f?
There are a great many Halloween words that begin with the letter F. Examples include fang, fear, and of course Frankenstein.
No, you can't cancel Halloween. Get out and go beg people for candy already! ;)
I am not one to believe in ghosts but as the stories go the ghost of mrs.vanderbelt haunts the library, mr. Vanderbelt haunts the billiards room and a lady dress in black haunts the know drained pool. On top of this a headless orange cat has been reported inbetween the garden and the bass pond
Millions of people around the world, though there are still many nations that don't partake in Halloween.
All Hallows' Eve is the same as Halloween. It just has a different name. So All Hallow's Eve is on October 31.
