Хэллоуин - канун Дня всех святых / Самайн
31 октября
Hallowe'en (Hallows Evening) - Хэллоуин
- ночь перед Днем всех святых. Говорят, Хэллоуину не менее двух
тысяч лет. Истоки этот противоречивый праздник берет из кельтской
культуры. У кельтов существовали "начала времен года". Их было
четыре. Самайн знаменовал собой приход зимы и отмечался 31 октября.
В VII веке Папа Бонифаций IV утвердил 1 ноября День Всех Святых,
желая отвлечь английский народ от языческих обычаев. Позже 2
ноября стало Днем Душ - когда поминали всех умерших. Однако
традиции сохранились в народной памяти, и победить их до конце
так и не удалось.
Сейчас праздник возвращается в Европу. Дети наряжаются в костюмы
чудовищ и ходят по соседским домам, требуя сладостей. Также
устраивают маскарады и выставляют в окно полую тыкву с вырезанными
глазами и ртом и свечкой внутри, чтобы отпугнуть духов. Кстати,
тыква - изобретение американцев. А до того в Ирландии и Шотландии
страшные рожи, в которые потом вставляли свечки, вырезали из
реп и картофелин, в Англии - из свеклы.
Halloween Date October 31
Halloween (or Hallowe'en) is an annual
holiday observed on October 31, which commonly includes
activities such as trick-or-treating, attending costume
parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, bonfires, apple bobbing,
visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary
stories, and watching horror films.
History
Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of
Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists have detected
its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of
fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called
Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic
festival of Samhain, whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced
sow-an or sow-in)". The name of the festival historically
kept by the Gaels and celts in the British Isles which is
derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end".
Origin of name
The word Halloween is first attested in the 16th century and
represents a Scottish variant of the fuller All-Hallows-Even
("evening"), that is, the night before All Hallows Day.
Although the phrase All Hallows is found in Old English (ealra
hālgena mæssedæg, mass-day of all saints), All-Hallows-Even
is itself not attested until 1556.
Symbols
Jack-o'-lanterns
Development of artifacts and symbols associated with
Halloween formed over time. For instance, the carving of
jack-o'-lanterns springs from the souling custom of carving
turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held
in purgatory. The turnip has traditionally been used in
Ireland and Scotland at Halloween, but immigrants to North
America used the native pumpkin, which are both readily
available and much larger – making them easier to carve than
turnips. The American tradition of carving pumpkins is
recorded in 1837 and was originally associated with harvest
time in general, not becoming specifically associated with
Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.
The imagery of Halloween is derived from many sources,
including national customs, works of Gothic and horror
literature (such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula),
and classic horror films (such as Frankenstein and The Mummy).
Among the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from
Scottish poet John Mayne in 1780, who made note of pranks at
Halloween; "What fearfu' pranks ensue!", as well as the
supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts),
influencing Robert Burns' Halloween 1785. Elements of the
autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows,
are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these
types of symbols around Halloween.
Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, the occult,
or mythical monsters. Black and orange are the holiday's
traditional colors.
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