Halloween originated from a Pagan festival celebrated among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain to indicate the end of the harvest season. The festival was a time used by the Gaelic culture to take stock of their supplies and to kill livestock in preparation for the long winter months. The Gaelic's believed that on October 31 the boundaries between the living and the dead overlapped and that the dead would come back to life to cause problems like sickness or to destroy the harvest.
Nowadays, the mention of Halloween is more associated children (and adults) getting dressed up in costumes. While it has always been a popular holiday in United States, Ireland, Scotland and Canada, it is now celebrated in many other countries around the world.
Traditional Symbols of Halloween
The most traditional symbol of Halloween is the pumpkin which is usually carved out and lit with a candle and placed on the home's doorstep after dark. This carved pumpkin is sometimes called a Jack-o'-lantern. In Ireland and Scotland a turnip was normally carved instead of a pumpkin.
Some things associated with Halloween are:
- bats
- black cats
- crows
- goblins
- haunted houses
- horror movies
- owls
- spiders
- spider webs
Now click on this Jack-o-lantern and try to answer some questions about Halloween. Good luck!
You can see this information and more about Halloween in Woodwardenglish
No comments:
Post a Comment