   #copyright

Halloween

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Recreation

   Halloween
   Halloween
   A jack-o'-lantern
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   Also called Hallowe'en, All Hallows Eve, All Saints' Eve, Samhain,
   Spooky Day, Snap-Apple Night, Costume Day/Día de los Disfrazes, and
   Pooky Night
   Observed by Many Western nations, including the USA, Ireland, Scotland,
   Wales, England, Canada, sometimes Australia and New Zealand
   Type Religious, Cultural (celebrated mostly irrespective of religion)
   Significance There are many sources of Halloween's significance
   Date October 31
   Celebrations Trick-or-treating, Bobbing for apples, Costume parties,
   Carving jack-o'-lanterns

   Halloween is a tradition celebrated on the night of October 31, most
   notably by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door
   collecting sweets, fruit, and other treats. Apart from this
   trick-or-treating, there are many other traditional Halloween
   activities. Some of these include costume parties, watching horror
   films, going to "haunted" houses, and traditional autumn activities
   such as hayrides, some of these even "haunted". A more complete
   coverage of Hallowen customs can be found at Halloween traditions.

   Halloween originated under a different name as a Pagan festival among
   the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain with Irish, Scots, Welsh and
   other immigrants transporting versions of the tradition to North
   America in the nineteenth century. Most other Western countries have
   embraced Halloween as a part of American pop culture in the late
   twentieth century.

   Halloween is celebrated in most parts of the Western world, most
   commonly in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and with
   increasing popularity in Australia and New Zealand. In recent years,
   Halloween has also been celebrated in parts of Western Europe, such as
   Belgium, France and Spain.

   The term Halloween, and its older spelling Hallowe'en, is shortened
   from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening of/before "All Hallows' Day"
   (also known as " All Saints' Day"). The holiday was a day of religious
   festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Popes
   Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints
   Day from May 13 to November 1. In the ninth century, the Church
   measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the
   Florentine calendar. Although we now consider All Saints (or Hallows)
   day to be on the day after Halloween, they were, at that time,
   considered to be the same day.

   In Ireland, the name was All Hallows' Eve (often shortened to Hallow
   Eve), and though seldom used today, it is still a well-accepted label,
   albeit somewhat esoteric. The festival is also known as Samhain or
   Oíche Shamhna to the Irish, Calan Gaeaf to the Welsh, Allantide to the
   Cornish and Hop-tu-Naa to the Manx. Halloween is also called Pooky
   Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the púca, a
   mischievous spirit.

   Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the
   liminal times of the year when spirits can make contact with the
   physical world and when magic is most potent (e.g. Catalan mythology
   about witches, Irish tales of the Sídhe).

Halloween around the world

   Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise portrays a Halloween party in
   Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young people on the left play various
   divination games about future romance, while children on the right bob
   for apples. A couple in the center play snap-apple with an apple
   skewered on tongs hanging from a string.
   Enlarge
   Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise portrays a Halloween party in
   Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young people on the left play various
   divination games about future romance, while children on the right bob
   for apples. A couple in the centre play snap-apple with an apple
   skewered on tongs hanging from a string.
   Halloween in Dublin 2003
   Enlarge
   Halloween in Dublin 2003

Ireland

   Halloween is most popular in Ireland, where it is said to have
   originated, also known in Irish Gaelic as "Oíche Shamhna" or "Samhain
   Night". The Celts celebrated Halloween as Samhain ( pronounced
   /ˈsˠaunʲ/), "End of Summer", a pastoral and agricultural fire festival
   or feast, when the dead revisited the mortal world, and large communal
   bonfires would be lit to ward off evil spirits. (See Origin: Celtic
   observation of Samhain below.) In Ireland they continued to practice
   their deep-rooted, ancient pagan rites well after the arrival of
   Christianity in the middle of the sixth century. Pope Gregory IV
   standardized the date of All Saints' Day, or All Hallows' Day, on
   November 1 to the entire Western Church in 835. Since the day was
   reckoned to start at sunset, this coincided exactly with Samhain.
   Although there is no primary documentation that Gregory was aware of or
   reacting to Samhain among the Celts in the selection of this date, it
   is consistent with the then practice of leaving pagan festivals and
   buildings intact (e.g. the Pantheon) and overlaying a Christian
   meaning. While Celts were happy to move their All Saints' Day from its
   earlier date of the 20th of April, ("...the Felire of Oengus and the
   Martyrology of Tallaght prove that the early medieval churches
   celebrated the feast of All Saints upon 20 April.") they were unwilling
   to give up their existing festival of the dead and continued to
   celebrate Samhain.

   Unfortunately, there is frustratingly little primary documentation of
   how Halloween was celebrated in preindustrial Ireland. Historian
   Nicholas Rogers has written,


   Halloween

   It is not always easy to track the development of Halloween in Ireland
   and Scotland from the mid-seventeenth century, largely because one has
   to trace ritual practices from [modern] folkloric evidence that do not
    necessarily reflect how the holiday might have changed; these rituals
    may not be "authentic" or "timeless" examples of preindustrial times.


   Halloween

   On Halloween night in present-day Ireland, adults and children dress up
   as creatures from the underworld (ghosts, ghouls, zombies, witches,
   goblins), light bonfires, and enjoy spectacular fireworks displays
   (despite the fact that such displays are usually illegal). The children
   walk around knocking on the doors of neighbours, in order to gather
   fruit, nuts, and sweets for the Halloween festival. Salt was once
   sprinkled in the hair of the children to protect against evil spirits.

   The houses are decorated by carving pumpkins or turnips into scary
   faces and other decorations. Lights are then placed in side the carved
   head to help light and decorate. The traditional Halloween cake in
   Ireland is the barmbrack which is a fruit bread. Each member of the
   family gets a slice. Great interest is taken in the outcome as there is
   a piece of rag, a coin and a ring in each cake. If you get the rag then
   your financial future is doubtful. If you get the coin then you can
   look forward to a prosperous year. Getting the ring is a sure sign of
   impending romance or continued happiness. Usually these days only the
   ring is included in bought barn bracs.

   Games are played like 'ducking/bobbing for apples' where apples, monkey
   nuts (peanuts) and other nuts and fruit and some small coins are put
   into a basin of water. The apples and monkey nuts float. Coins are
   harder to catch as they sink. Everyone takes turns catching as much can
   be caught using only the mouth and no hands. In some households the
   coins are pushed into the fruit for the children to "earn" as they
   catch each apple. The Scottish and English have taken this tradition
   into their customs with a game named ducking, after the fast movement
   of a person's head under the water to try to get something without
   having the head under the water for too long. Another game involves
   trying to eat an apple on a string without using the hands.

   Children also have a week-long break from school for Halloween, and the
   last Monday in October is a public holiday given for Halloween even
   though they quite often don't fall on the same day. See Public holidays
   in the Republic of Ireland.

   As of 2006, several County and City Councils around Ireland have
   imposed bans on bonfires, citing apparent health and safety issues.

Scotland

   Scotland, having a shared Gaelic culture and language with Ireland, has
   celebrated the festival of Samhain robustly for centuries. Robert Burns
   portrayed the varied customs in his poem " Hallowe'en" (1785).

   Halloween, known in Scottish Gaelic as "Oidhche Shamhna", consists
   chiefly of children going door to door "guising" (disguising
   themselves), dressing up and offering entertainment of various sorts.
   If the entertainment is enjoyed, the children are rewarded with gifts
   of sweets, fruits, or money. There is no tradition in Scottish culture
   of 'trick or treat'.

   In Scotland a lot of folklore, including that of Halloween, is centered
   around the belief in faeries. Children dress up in costume and carry
   around a "scary" face carved into a swede turnip (rutabaga) to frighten
   away the evil faeries.

   Popular children's games played on this evening include "dookin" for
   apples (retrieving an apple from a bucket of water using only one's
   mouth), and eating, while blindfolded, a treacle-coated scone hanging
   from a piece of string.

England and Wales

   The Anglo-Saxon invasions of the 5th and 6th centuries AD pushed the
   native Celts north and westward in Britain, to present-day Wales and
   northern England, taking the festival of All Hallows Eve with them. All
   Saints Day (All Hallows Day) became fixed on the 1st of November in
   835, and All Souls Day on the 2nd of November circa 998. On All Souls
   Eve, families sat up, and little "soul cakes" were eaten by everyone.
   At the stroke of midnight there was silence with candles burning in
   every room to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes and a
   glass of wine on the table to refresh them. The tradition continued in
   some areas of northern England as late as the 1930s, with children
   going from door to door "souling" for cakes or money, by singing a
   song. The English Reformation in the 16th century de-emphasised
   holidays like All Hallows Day and its associated eve. With the rise of
   Guy Fawkes Night celebrations in 17th century England, many Halloween
   traditions, especially the building of bonfires, were transferred to 5
   November. Halloween celebrations in the UK were repopularised in the
   1980s with influence from America, and saw the reintroduction of
   traditions such as pumpkin faces and trick-or-treat.

   Today, adults often dress up to attend fancy dress parties, pubs and
   clubs on Halloween night.

   In various parts of England there is a similar festival called Mischief
   Night which falls on the 4 November. Children play tricks on adults
   which range from the minor to more serious such as taking garden gates
   off their hinges on this night. The gates were also often thrown into
   ponds, or taken a long way away. In recent years these tricks have, in
   some cases, turned into severe acts of vandalism and criminal damage
   including street fires and destruction of private property.

   Throughout England, as is common in much of the British Isles, children
   carve faces or designs into hollowed-out pumpkins. Usually illuminated
   from within, the lanterns are then displayed in windows in keeping with
   the night's theme of fright and horror. (See article Jack-o'-lantern.)
   Before the introduction of pumpkin carving from the USA, it was usual
   to carve large swedes (aka neeps or yellow turnips) and this is still
   done in some areas.

   Bobbing for apples is a well-established custom on Halloween,
   synonymous with the Scottish "dookin". Apples were put into a barrel
   that had been filled to the brim with water and an individual would
   have to catch an apple by catching them in their mouth without using
   their hands. Once an apple had been caught, it was traditional to peel
   the apple and toss it over one's shoulder in the hope that the strips
   would fall into the shape of a letter. Whatever letter the peelings
   arranged into would be the first initial of the participant's true
   love. According to another superstition, the longer the peel, the
   longer the peeler's life would be. Some say that the first to get an
   apple would be the first to marry.

   Other festivities include fireworks, recounting of ghost stories, and
   playing children's games such as "hide and seek". Apple tarts may be
   baked with a coin hidden inside, and nuts of all types are traditional
   Halloween fare. Bolder children may play a game called "thunder and
   lightning", which involves knocking (like thunder) on a neighbour's
   door, then running away (like lightning). This game is known as
   "knock-door-run", "knock-and-run", "knock-knock-zoom-zoom",
   "ding-dong-ditch", or "postman's knock" in other parts of the country,
   and is also played on Mischief Night

   Tradition is slowly changing, however. The majority of children today
   will arrive at a door and intone "trick or treat" for money and sweets
   to be given out. In Northern Ireland bonfires are becoming less
   commonly lit for Halloween.

   There has been increasing concern about the potential for anti-social
   behaviour caused at Halloween, particularly as caused by older teens.
   Cases of houses being attacked by "egg-bombing" (especially when the
   occupants do not give children money or gifts) have been reported, and
   the BBC reports that for Halloween 2006 police forces have stepped up
   patrols to respond to such trouble making.

North America

   Halloween did not become a holiday in America until the 19th century,
   where lingering Puritan tradition meant even Christmas was scarcely
   observed before the 1800s. North American almanacs of the late 18th and
   early 19th centuries make no mention of Halloween in their lists of
   holidays. The transatlantic migration of nearly two million Irish
   following the Irish Potato Famine (1845–1849) brought the holiday and
   its customs to America. Scottish emigration from the British Isles,
   primarily to Canada before 1870 and to the United States thereafter,
   brought that country's own version of the holiday to North America.

   When the holiday was observed in 19th-century America, it was generally
   in three ways. Scottish-American and Irish-American societies held
   dinners and balls that celebrated their heritages, with perhaps a
   recitation of Robert Burns' poem "Halloween" or a telling of Irish
   legends, much as Columbus Day celebrations were more about
   Italian-American heritage than Columbus. Home parties would centre
   around children's activities, such as bobbing for apples and various
   divination games, particularly about future romance. And finally,
   pranks and mischief were common on Halloween.

   The commercialization of Halloween in America did not begin until the
   20th century, beginning perhaps with Halloween postcards, which were
   most popular between 1905 and 1915, and featured hundreds of different
   designs. Dennison Manufacturing Company, which published its first
   Hallowe'en catalog in 1909, and the Beistle Company were pioneers in
   commercially made Halloween decorations, particularly die-cut paper
   items. German manufacturers specialized in Halloween figurines that
   were exported to America in the period between the two world wars.

   There is little primary documentation of masking or costuming on
   Halloween in America, or elsewhere, before 1900. Mass-produced
   Halloween costumes did not appear in stores until the 1930s, and
   trick-or-treating became a fixture of the holiday in the 1950s,
   although commercially made masks were available earlier.

   In the United States, Halloween has become the sixth most profitable
   holiday (after Christmas, Mother's Day, Valentines Day, Easter, and
   Father's Day) for retailers. In the 1990s many manufacturers began
   producing a larger variety of Halloween yard decorations; prior to this
   a majority of decorations were homemade. Some of the most popular yard
   decorations are jack-o'-lanterns, scarecrows, witches, orange and
   purple string lights, inflatable decorations such as spiders, pumpkins,
   mummies, vampires and other monstrous creatures, and animatronic window
   and door decorations. Other popular decoration are foam tombstones and
   gargoyles. The sale of candy and costumes are also extremely important
   during this time period. Halloween is marketed not just to children but
   also to adults. According to the National Retail Federation, the most
   popular Halloween costumes for adults are, in order: witch, pirate,
   vampire, cat, and clown. On many college campuses, Halloween is a major
   celebration, with the Friday and Saturday nearest October 31 hosting
   many costume parties.

   The National Confectioners Association reported, in 2005, that 80
   percent of adults planned to give out candy to trick-or-treaters, and
   that 93 percent of children planned to go trick-or-treating.

   Anoka, Minnesota, the self-proclaimed "Halloween Capital of the World,"
   celebrates with a large civic parade. Salem, Massachusetts, also has
   laid claim to the title, though Salem has tried to separate itself from
   its history of persecuting witchcraft. Despite that, the city does see
   a great deal of tourism surrounding the Salem witch trials, especially
   around Halloween. Nearby Keene, New Hampshire, hosts the annual Pumpkin
   Fest each October which previously held the record for most lit
   jack-o'-lanterns at one time and place.

   New York City hosts the United States' largest Halloween celebration,
   The Village Halloween Parade. Started by a Greenwich Village mask maker
   in 1973, the parade now attracts over two million spectators and
   participants as well as roughly four million television viewers each
   year. It is the largest participatory parade in the country if not the
   world, encouraging spectators to march in the parade as well. It is
   also the largest annual parade held at night.

   In many towns and cities, trick-or-treaters are welcomed by lighted
   porch lights and jack-o'-lanterns. In some large or crime-ridden
   cities, however, trick-or-treating is discouraged, forbidden, or
   restricted to staged trick-or-treating events within one or more of the
   cities' shopping malls, in order to prevent potential acts of violence
   against trick-or-treaters. Even where crime is not an issue, many towns
   in the US have established specific hours where trick-or-treating is
   permitted, e.g. 5-7 pm or 5-8 pm, to discourage late-night
   trick-or-treating.

   Those living in the country may hold Halloween parties, often with a
   bonfire or, in some years, the older Irish custom of building two
   bonfires, with the celebrants passing between them. These parties
   usually involve games (often traditional games like bobbing for apples,
   searching for candy in a similar manner to Easter egg hunting, or a
   snipe hunt), a haunted hayride (often accompanied by a scary story and
   one or more masked and costumed people hiding in the dark to jump out
   and scare the riders), and treats (usually a bag of candy and/or
   homemade treats). Scary movies may also be watched. Normally, the
   children are picked up by their parents at pre-determined times.
   However, it is not uncommon for these parties to include sleepovers.

   Trick-or-treating may end early at night, but the nightlife thrives in
   many urban areas on Halloween. Halloween costume parties are also an
   opportunity for young adults to get together and share a keg and a good
   time. The local bars are also frequented by people wearing Halloween
   masks and risqué costumes. Many bars and restaurants hold Costume
   Contests to attract customers to their establishment.

   In areas with a large Mexican population, Halloween has often merged
   with celebrations of "Dia De Los Muertos", the Day of the Dead.

   Further south, in Mexico, Halloween is primarily a 21st century
   phenomenon and also mostly confined to its largest urban areas. These
   celebrations have obviously been influenced by the American style and
   traditions which include children disguising themselves and visiting
   the houses of their neighbourhood in search primarily for candy. Though
   the "Trick or Treat" motif is also used, tricks are not generally
   played on those houses not giving away candy. Older crowds of teenagers
   and adults will sometimes organize Halloween themed parties though the
   observance of the Halloween party on the night of the 31st is sometimes
   changed for the nearest available weekend.

   Halloween in Mexico also starts off three days of consecutive holidays,
   as it is followed by All Saint's Day and then the Day of the Dead or
   the "Día de los Muertos". This might explain why some of the first
   explanations given to children on the holiday followed a more
   traditional, Catholic & Mexican theme. The explanation (which is also
   sometimes used by groups opposed to Halloween to discredit the holiday)
   is that during October 31 all of the evil spirits are welcomed into
   this world. Meanwhile, on November 1 all of the "saintly" spirits make
   a visit to this world and then on November 2 all of the spirits of
   those who have passed away. It is rare to find someone in Mexico that
   will be able to identify Halloween's primarily pagan roots and most of
   the population will actually give the U.S.A. credit for the holiday.

Australia and New Zealand

   In the southern hemisphere, spring is in full force at the end of
   October, and the days are rapidly growing longer and brighter. This
   does not mesh well with the traditional Celtic spirit of Halloween,
   which relies on the atmosphere of the encroaching darkness of winter.
   It has recently gained a measure of recognition, however, largely due
   to American cultural media influences.

   Participation levels are so low, especially when compared to Ireland or
   the United States, that Halloween can be considered not generally
   celebrated in Australia and New Zealand. A visitor from overseas
   expecting to enjoy an Australian or New Zealand Halloween would need to
   prepare in advance, since most events are private parties.
   Trick-or-treating, as it is not an established custom, is generally
   practiced by pre-arrangement with nearby neighbours. If trick or
   treaters do go round it is mainly to cause destruction by egging houses
   that refuse to give sweets. These vandals also target school buildings
   or places of worship. Some in Australia feel that this is a distinctly
   American custom and refuse to have anything to do with what they feel
   is senseless Americanism

   From an Irish-Australian perspective, Halloween has been celebrated
   every year by some sections of the Irish community in Australia since
   at least the early 1950s. Many Australians believe that Halloween in
   Australia has come about because of the influence of American culture,
   including American expatriates in Australia, without fully realising
   the Celtic roots of the festival. The opposite seasons in the southern
   hemisphere combined with British suppression of Irish culture may have
   been responsible for Halloween not becoming established in Australia.
   Many older Irish-Australians have stated that Halloween celebrations
   were held at Irish pubs and clubs and within Irish enclaves in
   Australia before television broadcast began in 1956. The recognition of
   Australia's convict past and the corresponding rise of the
   Irish-Australian identity in the 1970s is a possible source of
   Halloween celebrations in contemporary Australia.
   The children of the largest town in Bonaire all gather together on
   Halloween day.
   Enlarge
   The children of the largest town in Bonaire all gather together on
   Halloween day.

The Caribbean

   Halloween is largely uncelebrated in the Caribbean. However, like
   Australia and New Zealand, the event is not unheard of in the Caribbean
   and is seeing some increase in popularity.

   In some parts of the British West Indies, there are celebrations in
   commemoration of Guy Fawkes Night that occur during and around the time
   of Halloween. These celebrations include using firecrackers, blowing
   bamboo joints and performing other fiery activities.

   On the island of Bonaire, all the children of a town gather together in
   a group, and unlike most places, instead of trick-or-treating at
   people's houses, they trick-or-treat for sweets in the town shops.

Symbols

   Jack-o'-lanterns are often carved into silly or scary faces.
   Enlarge
   Jack-o'-lanterns are often carved into silly or scary faces.

   The carved jack-o'-lantern, lit by a candle inside, is one of
   Halloween's most prominent symbols. Although there is a tradition in
   the British Isles of carving a lantern from a rutabaga, mangelwurzel,
   or turnip, the practice was first named and associated with Halloween
   in North America, where the pumpkin was available, and much larger and
   easier to carve. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin
   into a frightening or comical face and place it on their home's
   doorstep after dark.

   The jack-o'-lantern element of the Halloween tradition can be traced
   back to the Irish story of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard
   drinking old farmer who tricked the devil into climbing a tree and
   trapped him by carving a cross into the trunk of the tree. In revenge,
   the devil places a curse on old Jack which dooms him to wander the
   earth at night for eternity. For centuries, this bed time parable was
   told by Irish parents to their children. At Halloween time, the
   children carved out turnips, placing a candle inside to symbolize
   Jack's curse. But in America the tradition of carving pumpkins is known
   to have preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration, and the
   tradition of carving vegetable lanterns may also have been brought over
   by the Scottish or English; documentation is unavailable to establish
   when or by whom. The carved pumpkin was associated generally with
   harvest time in America, and did not become specifically associated
   with Halloween until the mid to late 19th century.

   The imagery surrounding Halloween is largely an amalgamation of the
   Halloween season itself, nearly a century of work from American
   filmmakers and graphic artists, and a rather commercialized take on the
   dark and mysterious. This art generally involves death, magic, or
   mythical monsters. Commonly-associated Hallowe'en characters include
   ghosts, ghouls, witches, vampires, bats, owls, crows, vultures, haunted
   houses, pumpkinmen, black cats, spiders, goblins, zombies, mummies,
   skeletons, werewolves, and demons. Particularly in America, symbolism
   is inspired by classic horror films, which contain fictional figures
   like Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, The Wolf Man, and The Mummy.
   Homes are often decorated with these symbols around Halloween.

   Black and orange are the traditional colors of Halloween. In modern
   Halloween images and products, purple, green, and red are also
   prominent.

   The use of these colors is largely a result of advertising for the
   holiday that dates back for over a century. They tend to be associated
   with various parts of Halloween's imagery.

   CAPTION: Colour ASSOCIATIONS

   Colour                          Symbolism
   Black  death, night, witches, black cats, bats, vampires
   Orange pumpkins, jack o' lanterns, Autumn, the turning leaves, fire
   Purple night, the supernatural, mysticism
   Green  goblins, monsters
   Red    blood, fire, evil, the devil

   Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins and scarecrows, are
   also reflected in symbols of Halloween.

Trick-or-treating and guising

   A "trick-or-treater"
   Enlarge
   A "trick-or-treater"

   The main event of modern US-style Halloween is trick-or-treating, in
   which children dress up in costume disguises and go door-to-door in
   their neighbourhood, ringing each doorbell and yelling "trick or
   treat!" Although this resembles the older tradition of guising in
   Ireland and Scotland, ritual begging on Halloween does not appear in
   English-speaking America until the 20th century, and may have developed
   independently. The occupants of the house (who might themselves dress
   in a scary costume) will then hand out small candies, miniature
   chocolate bars, and sometimes even soda pop. Some American homes will
   use sound effects and fog machines to help set a spooky mood. Other
   house decoration themes (that are less scary) are used to entertain
   younger visitors. Children can often accumulate many treats on
   Halloween night, filling up entire pillow cases or shopping bags.

   In Ireland, great bonfires were lit throughout the breadth of the land.
   Young children in their guises were gladly received by the neighbors
   with some "fruit, apples and nuts and of course sweets" for the
   "Halloween Party", whilst older male siblings played innocent pranks on
   bewildered victims.

   In Scotland, children or guisers are more likely to recite "The sky is
   blue, the grass is green, may we have our Halloween" instead of "trick
   or treat!". They visit neighbours in groups and must impress the
   members of the houses they visit with a song, poem, trick, joke or
   dance in order to earn their treats. Traditionally, nuts, oranges,
   apples and dried fruit were offered, though sometimes children would
   also earn a small amount of cash, usually a sixpence. Very small
   children often take part, for whom the experience of performing can be
   more terrifying than the ghosts outside.

   In England, trick or treating does take place, particularly in working
   class neighbourhoods. On the whole, however, it is frowned upon as at
   best a nuisance and at worst a menacing form of begging, and as a
   negative part of American global culture. In some areas households have
   started to put decorations on the front door to indicate
   'trick-or-treaters' are welcome, the idea being that
   'trick-or-treaters' don't approach a house that isn't 'participating'.
   Tricks play less of a role in modern Halloween, though Halloween night
   is often marked by vandalism such as soaping windows, egging houses or
   stringing toilet paper through trees. Before indoor plumbing was so
   widespread, tipping over or displacing outhouses was a popular form of
   intimidation. Casting flour into the faces of feared neighbors was also
   done once upon a time.

   Typical Halloween costumes have traditionally been monsters such as
   vampires, ghosts, witches, and devils. In recent years, it has become
   common for costumes to be based on themes other than traditional
   horror, such as dressing up as a character from a TV show or movie, or
   choosing a recognizable face from the public sphere, such as a
   politician (in 2004, for example, George W. Bush and John Kerry were
   both popular costumes in America). In 2001, after the September 11
   attacks, for example, costumes of, firefighters, police officers, and
   United States military personnel became popular. In 2004, an estimated
   2.15 million children in the United States were expected to dress up as
   Spider-Man, the year's most popular costume.

   "'Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" has become a common sight during Halloween
   in North America. Started as a local event in a Philadelphia suburb in
   1950, and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the
   distribution of small boxes by schools to trick-or-treaters, in which
   they can solicit small change donations from the houses they visit. It
   is estimated that children have collected more than $119 million ( US)
   for UNICEF since its inception. In 2006 UNICEF discontinued their
   Halloween collection boxes in parts of the world, citing safety and
   administrative concerns.

   BIGresearch conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation in
   the USA and found that 53.3% of consumers planned to buy a costume for
   Halloween 2005, spending $38.11 on average (up 10 dollars from the year
   before). They were also expected to spend $4.96 billion in 2006, up
   significantly from just $3.29 billion the previous year.

   A child usually "grows out of" trick-or-treating by his or her teenage
   years. Trick-or-treating by teenagers is accepted, but generally
   discouraged with genial ribbing by those handing out candy. Teenagers
   and adults instead often celebrate Halloween with costume parties,
   bonfire parties, staying home to give out candy, listening to Halloween
   music, watching horror movies or scaring people.

Games and other activities

   There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween
   parties. The most common is dooking or bobbing for apples, in which
   apples float in a tub or a large basin of water; the participants must
   use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant involves
   kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to
   drop the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up
   treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without
   using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity which
   inevitably leads to a very sticky face.

   Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination.
   In Puicíní (pronounced "pooch-eeny"), a game played in Ireland, a
   blindfolded person is seated in front of a table on which several
   saucers are placed. The saucers are shuffled and the seated person then
   chooses one by touch. The contents of the saucer determine the person's
   life for the following year. A saucer containing earth means someone
   known to the player will die during the next year, a saucer containing
   water foretells travel, a coin means new wealth, a bean means poverty,
   etc. In 19th-century Ireland, young women placed slugs in saucers
   sprinkled with flour. The wriggling of the slugs and the patterns
   subsequently left behind on the saucers were believed to portray the
   faces of the women's future spouses. An Irish and Scottish form of
   divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip,
   then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in
   the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name. This
   tradition has also survived among Irish and Scottish immigrants in the
   rural United States.

   In North America, unmarried women were frequently told that if they sat
   in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face
   of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they
   were destined to die before they married, a skull would appear. The
   custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards from
   the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

   The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common
   fixtures of Halloween parties. Television specials with a Halloween
   theme, usually aimed at children, are commonly aired on or before the
   holiday while new horror films are often released theatrically before
   the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.

   Visiting a haunted house or a dark attraction are other Halloween
   traditions. Notwithstanding the name, such events are not necessarily
   held in houses, nor are the edifices themselves necessarily regarded to
   possess actual ghosts. A variant of this is the haunted trail, where
   the public encounters supernatural-themed characters or presentations
   of scenes from horror films while following a trail through a heavily
   wooded area or field. One of the largest Halloween attractions in the
   U.S.A. is Knott's Scary Farm in California, which features re-themed
   amusement park rides and a dozen different walkthrough mazes, plus
   hundreds of costumed roving performers.

Foods

   Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest,
   candy apples (also known as toffee, taffy or caramel apples) are a
   common treat at Halloween. They are made by rolling whole apples in a
   sticky sugar syrup, and sometimes then rolling them in nuts. At one
   time candy apples were a common treat given to children, but this
   practice rapidly waned after widespread rumors that some individuals
   were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples that they
   would pass out to children. While there is evidence of such incidents
   occurring they are very rare and have never resulted in any serious
   injuries. Nonetheless, many parents were under the assumption that the
   practice was common. At the peak of this hysteria, some hospitals were
   offering to x-ray children's Halloween haul at no cost in order to look
   for such items. Almost all of the very few Halloween candy poisoning
   incidents on record involved parents who poisoned their own children's
   candy, while there are occasional reports of children sticking needles
   in their own candy (and that of other children) more in an effort to
   get attention than cause any harm.

   A Halloween custom which has survived to this day in Ireland is the
   baking (or more often nowadays the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish
   "báirín breac"). This is a light fruit cake into which a plain ring is
   placed before baking. It is said that whoever finds this ring will find
   his or her true love during the following year. See also king cake

   Other foods associated with the holiday:
     * candy corn
     * Báirín Breac (Ireland)
     * Colcannon (Ireland)
     * bonfire toffee (in the UK)
     * Toffee Apple (England, Wales and Scotland, instead of "Candy
       Apples")
     * hot apple cider
     * roasted or popped corn
     * roasted pumpkin seeds
     * pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread
     * "fun-sized" or individually wrapped pieces of small candy,
       typically in Halloween colors of orange, and brown/black.
     * novelty candy shaped like skulls, pumpkins, bats, worms, etc.

Cultural history

Origin: Celtic observation of Samhain

   According to what can be reconstructed of the beliefs of the ancient
   Celts, the bright half of the year ended around November 1 or on a
   Moon-phase near that date, or at the time of first frost. The day is
   referred to in modern Gaelic as Samhain ("Sow-in" or alternatively
   "Sa-ven", meaning: End of the Summer). After the adoption of the Roman
   calendar with its fixed months, the date began to be celebrated
   independently of the Moon's phases.

   As October 31st is the last day of the bright half of the year, the
   next day also meant the beginning of Winter, which the Celts often
   associated with human death, and with the slaughter of livestock to
   provide meat for the coming Winter. The Celts also believed that on
   October 31, the boundary separating the dead from the living became
   blurred. There is a rich and unusual myth system at work here; the
   spirit world, the residence of the " Sídhe," as well as of the dead,
   was accessible through burial mounds. These mounds opened at two times
   during the year, Samhain and Beltane, making the beginning and end of
   Summer highly spiritually resonant.

   The Celts' survival during the cold harsh winters depended on the
   prophecies of their priests and priestesses ( druids), and the accurate
   prediction of how much food would be needed to sustain the people
   before the next harvest. They believed that the presence of spirits
   would aid in the ability to make accurate predictions about the coming
   year.

   The exact customs observed in each Celtic region differ, but they
   generally involved the lighting of bonfires and the reinforcement of
   boundaries, across which malicious spirits might be prevented from
   crossing and threatening the community.

   Like most observances around this season, warmth and comfort were
   emphasized, indulgence was not. Stores of preserved food were needed to
   last through the winter, not for parties.

Samhain mistaken as New Year

   Popular literature over the last century has given birth to the near
   universal assumption that Samhain/Hallowe'en was the "Celtic New Year".
   However, more recent research by some scholarly historians and Neopagan
   writers have begun to scrutinize this assertion. Historian Ronald
   Hutton, in his study of the folk calendar of the British Isles writes
   that there are no references which attest to this usage earlier than
   the 18th century, neither in church nor civic records. Although [I LIKE
   PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]it may be generally correct to refer to Samhain as
   "Summer's End", this point of descent into the year's darkness may
   require better proof for us to cite this "end" as also being a
   "beginning". There is a huge volume of proof that the western world,
   including late Celtia, began their calendars either at the end of
   December or around March 25th, this is seen at various periods back
   through and before Medieval times. Whether or not the ancient Celts
   considered Samhain to be the beginning of the new year, or just one
   point in the cycle of the seasons, the living traditions in the Celtic
   lands and the diaspora do generally regard it as the "Celtic New Year"
   and it continues to be celebrated as such. For instance the calendars
   produced by the Celtic League begin and end at Samhain/Halloween.

Norse Elven Blót

   In the old Norse religion an event believed to occur around the same
   time of the year as Halloween was the álfablót (elven blót), which
   involved sacrifices to the elves and the blessing of food. The elves
   were powers connected to the ancestors, and it can be assumed that the
   blót related to a cult of the ancestors. The álfablót is also
   celebrated in the modern revival of Norse religion, Ásatrú.

Religious perspectives and controversies

   The ways that Christian churches feel about Halloween are various. Most
   churches ignore Halloween and treat it as a merely secular tradition.
   For other Christians, the fact that Halloween, the vigil of All Saints
   Day, is celebrated with elements of pre-Christian rituals, has at times
   left them uncertain of how they should react towards this holiday. In
   the Anglican Church some dioceses have chosen to focus more on the
   Christian traditions of All Saints Day, while some Protestants
   celebrate the holiday as Reformation Day, a day of remembrance and
   prayers for unity. Celtic Christians may have Samhain services that
   focus on the cultural aspects of the holiday, in the belief that many
   ancient Celtic customs are "compatible with the new Christian religion.
   Christianity embraced the Celtic notions of family, community, the bond
   among all people, and respect for the dead. Throughout the centuries,
   pagan and Christian beliefs intertwine in a gallimaufry (hodgepodge) of
   celebrations from October 31st through November 5th, all of which
   appear both to challenge the ascendancy of the dark and to revel in its
   mystery."

   The secular celebration of Halloween may loom larger in contemporary
   imagination than does All Saints Day. Some Christian churches commonly
   offer a fall festival or harvest-themed alternative to Halloween. Most
   Christians ascribe no significance to Halloween, treating it as a
   purely secular entity devoted to celebrating "imaginary spooks" and
   handing out candy. Celebrating Halloween is common in Catholic
   parochial schools throughout North America, and in Ireland, the
   Catholic Church sees it as a "harmless ancient custom." Father Gabriele
   Amorth, a Vatican-appointed exorcist in Rome, has said, "[I]f English
   and American children like to dress up as witches and devils on one
   night of the year that is not a problem. If it is just a game, there is
   no harm in that." Most Christians hold the view that the tradition is
   far from being "satanic" in origin or practice and that it holds no
   threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and
   mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a
   valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners'
   heritage. A response among some fundamentalist Christians in recent
   years has been the use of Hell houses or themed pamphlets (such as
   those of Jack T. Chick) which attempt to make use of Halloween as an
   opportunity for evangelism. Some fundamentalists consider Halloween to
   be completely incompatible with the Christian faith, due to "its
   preoccupation with the occult in symbols, masks and costumes," its
   origin as a Pagan "festival of the dead", and the fact that it is also
   observed, albeit in a non-traditional form, by Satanists. The tradition
   of discouraging Pagan celebrations and focusing attention on
   Christianity can be traced back to the eighth century when Pope Gregory
   III designated November 1st as All Saints' Day, a time to honour saints
   and martyrs. Some Christians even believe that All Saints was moved to
   November 1 "to counteract the ghouls, demons, and devils that were
   celebrated on October 31." In more recent years, The Roman Catholic
   Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest" on the holiday.
   Additionally, some Catholic churches have instituted the days before
   Nov. 1 as days of special devotion such as the tradition of "40 hours
   of adoration and prayer."

   People of many diverse religions, or no religion at all, may be
   concerned about the vandalism and destructive behaviour that can occur
   on the holiday. Halloween is a prime time for vandalism, sometimes
   targeting sites considered sacred such as places of worship or
   cemeteries.

   Objections to celebrating Halloween are not always limited to those of
   the Abrahamic religions. Some Wiccans feel that the tradition is
   offensive to "real witches" for promoting a stereotypical caricature of
   a wicked witch. Some Neopagans and Wiccans also object to Halloween
   because they perceive it to be a "vulgarized, commercialized mockery"
   of the original Samhain rituals. However other Neopagans, perhaps most
   of them, see it as a harmless holiday in which some of the old
   traditions are celebrated by the mainstream culture, albeit in a
   different way.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween"
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