Where does Halloween come from?
We celebrate Halloween every year on October 31st. But where does this holiday come from?
The holiday originally comes from a people called the Celts. The Celts lived in Europe more than 2000 years ago. On November 1st they celebrated the end of summer and the new year. They thought ghosts visited the living on October 31st. They dressed up like ghosts so the spirits would not harm them.
Today, many countries remember the dead on November 1st. It is called All Saints Day. Another name for it is All Hallow’s Day. The day before, October 31st, is called All Hallow’s Eve, or Halloween for short.
Halloween is an old tradition in Ireland and Scotland. In those countries, people dressed up and carried lanterns made of turnips and potatoes. When people moved from Ireland and Scotland to the United States, they started using pumpkins. This is where the jack-o’-lantern comes from.
They also had a tradition of giving food to the spirits. If the spirits didn’t find food in front of a house, they did something evil. This is where trick-or-treating comes from.
Halloween has changed a lot since its origins. New people have brought new traditions and changed the old ones. What do you think Halloween will be like in another two thousand years?
Vocabulary:
to celebrate – ünnepelni
Celts – kelták
spirit – lélek, szellem
to harm – bántani, ártani
lantern – lámpás
turnip – tarlórépa
pumpkin – tök
jack-o-lantern – töklámpás
evil – gonosz
trick-or-treating – a gyerekek házról házra járva édességet kérnek (treat), de ha nem kapnak, gonosz csínyt követnek el (trick)
origin – eredet
