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HALLOWEENHalloween is celebrated on October 31st. Halloween was established from ancient new year's festivals. Its not certain, but possible that ancient festivals of the dead formed the original foundations of halloween traditions.Today, children dress in elaborate costume art and go door-to-door in the night to collect candy. Unfortunately, with growing and impersonal neighborhoods, this tradition is not always safe for children. In the United States, the Halloween holiday is gradually declining in popularity.  A photograph of an artistic jack-o-lantern. Pumpkin carving is a popular halloween craft. Jack-o-lanterns are pumpkins that are hollowed-out and carved with scary or funny faces and pictures. Candles are placed inside to light the jack-o-lantern at night.The artistic costumes that are a key part of the Halloween holiday can be traced back to the Celts who lived over 2,000 years ago in what is now Great Britain, France, and Ireland. The Celts observed a holiday that marked the start of winter, the period of death and decay, and eventually involved Human death. Celtic priests built large fires and burned animals and possibly even people as sacrifices to Samhain. People wore costumes made of robes and animal heads. About fifty years after the crucifixion of Christ, Christians began to influence people to end such practices. In A.D. 800, All Saints day was created by the Christian Church on November 1st as a festival celebrated by people who had become Christians. The Mass that was said on this day was called "Allhollowmas". Now here is the interesting part: The ancient festival began on the evening before All Saints Day (The eve of Allhollowmas). People accepted Christ as their savior and received eternal life. Thus, they passed from death on Allhollowmas eve to life on Allhollowmas. With old pronunciations being as they were, "Allhollowmas Eve" ultimately became "Halloween". Coincidentally, the honoring of the dead was practiced by the Romans in the autumn season, who offered fruit such as apples. Later, in England, bobbing for apples became popular. Sometimes coins were stuck into an apple as an extra reward. Customs were somewhat combined when the Romans conquered the Celts in about 48 A.D. Halloween declined in popularity due to Christian beliefs during the early period of the United States. But in the 1800's, a large number Irish immigrants reintroduced customs closer to the Roman origins. Today, most people in the United States celebrate Halloween as a light 'theatrical' costume holiday. On the other hand, heavy Anti-Christian practices sometimes remain a part of Halloween -- Some people believe that witches meet and worship the devil on Halloween. Halloween remains an unusual holiday of light-hearted naive 'theater' on the one hand, and of strong supernatural significance on the other. Positive and negative celebrations, supernatural practices, and beliefs remain symbols of Halloween. |
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