Halloween
Halloween, 31 October, is a day in which candy is traditionally handed out to children. Some states have prohibited sex offenders from participating.[1]
History and traditions
Halloween or Hallowe'en a contraction of "All Hallows' Evening"),[2] also known as Allhalloween,[3] All Hallows' Eve,[4] or All Saints' Eve,[5] is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October.
According to many scholars, All Hallows' Eve is a Christianized feast initially influenced by Celtic harvest festivals,[6] with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic Samhain.[4][7][8] Other scholars maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.[9]
Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related "guising"), attending costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories and watching horror films.
References
- ↑ http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/halloween-sex-offender-laws.html
- ↑ Thomas Thomson, Charles Annandale (1896). A History of the Scottish People from the Earliest Times: From the Union of the kingdoms, 1706, to the present time. Blackie. http://books.google.com/books?id=YVgJAAAAIAAJ&q=Hallowe'en+contraction&dq=Hallowe'en+contraction&hl=en&ei=Y6i8TtXJOcargwe2lN28Bw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBDgK. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. "Of the stated rustic festivals peculiar to Scotland the most important was Hallowe'en, a contraction for All-hallow Evening, or the evening of All-Saints Day, the annual return of which was a season for joy and festivity."
- ↑ Palmer, Abram Smythe (1882). Folk-etymology. Johnson Reprint. p. 6.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Merriam-Webster's Encyclopædia of World Religions. Merriam-Webster. 1999. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZP_f9icf2roC&pg=PA408&dq=all+hallow's+eve+christian+origin&hl=en&ei=dUyvTrfhIYetgwen5YiCAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. "Halloween, also called All Hallows' Eve, holy or hallowed evening observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day. The pre-Christian observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows' Eve, celebrated on the same date."
- ↑ NEDCO Producers' Guide. 31-33. Northeast Dairy Cooperative Federation. 1973. "Originally celebrated as the night before All Saints' Day, Christians chose November first to honor their many saints. The night before was called All Saints' Eve or hallowed eve meaning holy evening.".
- ↑ "Halloween." History.com. Retrieved 24 October 2013.
- ↑ Nicholas Rogers (2002). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press. http://books.google.com/books?id=stWZ_UDteMIC&pg=PA22&dq=halloween+christian+holy+day&hl=en&ei=wCiwTu-tN8j00gGJ5bjGAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CG8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=halloween%20christian%20holy%20day&f=false. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. "Halloween and the Day of the Dead share a common origin in the Christian commemoration of the dead on All Saints' and All Souls' Day. But both are thought to embody strong pre-Christian beliefs. In the case of Halloween, the Celtic celebration of Samhain is critical to its pagan legacy, a claim that has been foregrounded in recent years by both new-age enthusiasts and the evangelical Right."
- ↑ Austrian information. 1965. http://books.google.com/books?id=9FU7AQAAIAAJ&q=all+hallow's+eve+wear+masks+Christian+souls+vengeance&dq=all+hallow's+eve+wear+masks+Christian+souls+vengeance&hl=en&ei=u1CvTtjjFOKHsAKEudDkAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA. Retrieved on 31 October 2011. "The feasts of Hallowe'en, or All Hallows Eve and the devotions to the dead on All Saints' and All Souls' Day are both mixtures of old Celtic, Druid and other pagan customs intertwined with Christian practice."
- ↑ Rogers, Nicholas (2003). Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. Oxford University Press. p. 22. ISBN 9780195168969. "Festivals commemorating the saints as opposed to the original Christian martyrs appear to have been observed by 800. In England and Germany, this celebration took place on 1st November. In Ireland, it was commemorated on 20th April, a chronology that contradicts the widely held view that the November date was chosen to Christianize the festival of Samhain."
