Halloween
began 2000 years ago in Ireland, France, and England as a
celebration for the Celts to mark the beginning of winter.
It was on
October 31st that the Lord of the Dead allowed the dead to
return to earth from the other world.
Two
thousand years later, Halloween is a favourite holiday among
American children. This is no surprise because it is a holiday
that combines two things that children love: dressing up and
eating candy!
On Halloween, you will hear "Trick-or-treat"
everywhere.
Children dress in costume and go out on the streets
when it gets dark. Goblins and
ghosts wander
around and demand candy from the neighbours. Not everyone
chooses a scary costume; you can see a princess,
Superman, a movie star or a hippie.
In groups,
these "creatures of the night" search for chocolate bars and
other sweets.
Another ritual of Halloween is to buy a pumpkin,
hollow it out,
and carve a scary face on the front. With a candle in the center,
these pumpkins are transformed into "Jack O'Lanterns". Some
families decorate their houses for Halloween.
They play scary music, hang spider webs, and suspend
skeletons from their windows. But with their dancing
flame, the Jack O'Lanterns are the most frightening of
all!!
Pumpkin
carving is an art. People create pumpkins to greet the witches,
ghosts and vampires who come on Halloween night. But some people
today prefer to paint pumpkins, because it is safer with
children, anyway the fruit of the pumpkin can be used to make
Pumpkin Pie, very good!!!
Halloween is a holiday that people of all ages enjoy. Many
adults go to costume parties and balls. People don't know too
much about history but they generally know that this
pagan holiday signals the beginning of the long, cold winter.
But it is easy for children to forget the months of cold and
stormy weather when they return home with a bag full of "treats."
