History of Halloween
Halloween falls on October 31st each year in North America and other parts of the world.
What do you know about Halloween? Do you celebrate it in your country? Here is a little history about it.
Vocabulary
to evolve (v)- to change little by little
spirit (n)- ghost, some people believe the spirit and body separate when a person dies
holy (adj)- sacred, very good, related to religion. Hallow comes from the word holy.
saint (n)- an honored, holy person
evil (adj)- very, very bad
lantern (n)- lamp or enclosed light that can be carried around
turnip (n)- a purple and white vegetable that grows in the ground
Like many other holidays, Halloween has evolved and changed throughout history. Over 2,000 years ago people called the Celts lived in what is now Ireland, the UK, and parts of Northern France. November 1 was their New Year's Day. They believed that the night before the New Year (October 31) was a time when the living and the dead came together.
More than a thousand years ago the Christian church named November 1 All Saints Day (also called All Hallows.) This was a special holy day to honor the saints and other people who died for their religion. The night before All Hallows was called Hallows Eve. Later the name was changed to Halloween.
Like the Celts, the Europeans of that time also believed that the spirits of the dead would visit the earth on Halloween. They worried that evil spirits would cause problems or hurt them. So on that night people wore costumes that looked like ghosts or other evil creatures. They thought if they dressed like that, the spirits would think they were also dead and not harm them.
The tradition of Halloween was carried to America by the immigrating Europeans. Some of the traditions changed a little, though. For example, on Halloween in Europe some people would carry lanterns made from turnips. In America, pumpkins were more common. So people began putting candles inside them and using them as lanterns. That is why you see Jack 'o lanterns today.
These days Halloween is not usually considered a religious holiday. It is primarily a fun day for children. Children dress up in costumes like people did a thousand years ago. But instead of worrying about evil spirits, they go from house to house. They knock on doors and say "trick or treat." The owner of each house gives candy or something special to each trick or treater.
Check Your Understanding
True or False. Check your answers below.
1. The Celts thought the spirits of dead people returned to the earth on October 31st.
True
False
2. The Celts created All Hallows.
True
False
3. All Hallows is on October 31st.
True
False
4. The word Halloween comes from the word Hallows eve.
True
False
5. A thousand years ago Europeans wore costumes to get candy.
True
False
6. Americans still carve turnips to use as lanterns.
True
False
7. Today Halloween is especially for children.
True
False
8. Children get candy by saying "trick or treat."
True
False
spirit (n)- ghost, some people believe the spirit and body separate when a person dies
holy (adj)- sacred, very good, related to religion. Hallow comes from the word holy.
saint (n)- an honored, holy person
evil (adj)- very, very bad
lantern (n)- lamp or enclosed light that can be carried around
turnip (n)- a purple and white vegetable that grows in the ground
Like many other holidays, Halloween has evolved and changed throughout history. Over 2,000 years ago people called the Celts lived in what is now Ireland, the UK, and parts of Northern France. November 1 was their New Year's Day. They believed that the night before the New Year (October 31) was a time when the living and the dead came together.
More than a thousand years ago the Christian church named November 1 All Saints Day (also called All Hallows.) This was a special holy day to honor the saints and other people who died for their religion. The night before All Hallows was called Hallows Eve. Later the name was changed to Halloween.
Like the Celts, the Europeans of that time also believed that the spirits of the dead would visit the earth on Halloween. They worried that evil spirits would cause problems or hurt them. So on that night people wore costumes that looked like ghosts or other evil creatures. They thought if they dressed like that, the spirits would think they were also dead and not harm them.
The tradition of Halloween was carried to America by the immigrating Europeans. Some of the traditions changed a little, though. For example, on Halloween in Europe some people would carry lanterns made from turnips. In America, pumpkins were more common. So people began putting candles inside them and using them as lanterns. That is why you see Jack 'o lanterns today.
These days Halloween is not usually considered a religious holiday. It is primarily a fun day for children. Children dress up in costumes like people did a thousand years ago. But instead of worrying about evil spirits, they go from house to house. They knock on doors and say "trick or treat." The owner of each house gives candy or something special to each trick or treater.
Check Your Understanding
True or False. Check your answers below.
1. The Celts thought the spirits of dead people returned to the earth on October 31st.
True
False
2. The Celts created All Hallows.
True
False
3. All Hallows is on October 31st.
True
False
4. The word Halloween comes from the word Hallows eve.
True
False
5. A thousand years ago Europeans wore costumes to get candy.
True
False
6. Americans still carve turnips to use as lanterns.
True
False
7. Today Halloween is especially for children.
True
False
8. Children get candy by saying "trick or treat."
True
False
http://www.5minuteenglish.com/oct29.htm
ART AND CRAFTS FOR HALLOWEEN
The origins of Halloween go back a long way - there is evidence of a Roman festival for the goddess Pomona which might be one of the early examples. More likely, though, is that the beginnings of Halloween are buried deep in the history of the original settlers of the north western corner of Europe.
There is an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced "sah-win"), which combines a celebration of the end of harvest time with the belief that the boundaries of the living and the dead overlapped at this time of year.
The American tradition of pumpkin decoration nicely combines the harvest festival idea with the ghostly one.The origins of Halloween go back a long way - there is evidence of a Roman festival for the goddess Pomona which might be one of the early examples. More likely, though, is that the beginnings of Halloween are buried deep in the history of the original settlers of the north western corner of Europe.
There is an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced "sah-win"), which combines a celebration of the end of harvest time with the belief that the boundaries of the living and the dead overlapped at this time of year.
The American tradition of pumpkin decoration nicely combines the harvest festival idea with the ghostly one.
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/halloween/jolmask/
Jack-O'-Lantern Mask
More Kinder CraftsThis scary Halloween mask is simple to make from a paper plate.
- Supplies needed:
- A paper plate
- Crayons, markers, or tempera paint
- Scissors
- Hole punch
- Green yarn or elastic
 | Draw a jack-o'-lantern's face on the back of a paper plate. |
 | Cut out the eyes, nose, and mouth. Decorate the rest of the jack-o'lantern. |
 | Punch a hole in each side of the mask. |
 | Tie a length of green yarn to each side (or use elastic) of the jack-o'-lantern. |
 EGG CARTON BATS http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/eggcarton/bat.shtml
This is an easy way to make bats using egg cartons, crayons or markers, and scissors. Googly eyes are a nice touch.
|
- Separate 3 cups from an egg carton.
- Cut out part of the bottoms of the 2 outside cups to resemble bat wings.
- Add eyes, a mouth, and decorate.
- Hang it from a string or a rubber band.
The Halloween Story
The origins of Halloween go back a long way - there is evidence of a Roman festival for the goddess Pomona which might be one of the early examples. More likely, though, is that the beginnings of Halloween are buried deep in the history of the original settlers of the north western corner of Europe.
There is an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced "sah-win"), which combines a celebration of the end of harvest time with the belief that the boundaries of the living and the dead overlapped at this time of year.
The American tradition of pumpkin decoration nicely combines the harvest festival idea with the ghostly one.
Posted by Tess Egerton
It was Halloween night. All the children in the neighborhood were very excited and preparing to go trick or treating, bobbing apples and exchanging spooky stories. But near the end of the street at number 13, Veronica Snarklethorpe sat in her room glowering from underneath her glasses and plotting her next nasty plan.
Veronica was a horrid girl. She was lazy and naughty and loved nothing more than spoiling everyone else’s day. She disliked anything good. She hated healthy food and would throw dinner away after mum had made it.
She left sweet wrappers, doll’s clothes, books and bubble mixture all over her bedroom floor whenever she could and would leave toffee grow mouldy in her cupboards and boxes, just to upset mum and dad. She also didn’t believe in Halloween at all. The idea of other children getting to houses before her to pick up all those doorstep sweets was too much for her to bear so she cancelled it from her calendar and plotted to create her own mayhem instead.
Tonight Veronica Snarklethorpe would dress in a thick black cloak and hide in the shadows, then she would wait until the child with the fullest treat bucket trailed past and she would pounce! She would steal all the sweets and take them back to her den…Veronica sniggered eerily. She would make this night her own.
However, this was Halloween and Veronica was about to experience a night to remember.
Delighted with her plan, Veronica decided to wander downstairs and see what revolting food she could face from the kitchen. As it happened, tonight mum had made Veronica’s favourite. It was fish fingers and chips with red jelly. For once, Veronica was thinking of being a good girl and sat down to dinner happily. Mum brought the jelly out of the fridge and placed it on the table. As it was Halloween, mum had decided to place plastic spiders, cats and witches on the jelly to make it look spooky. Veronica took one look and exploded. First she turned as red as the jelly, then she went purple. Her hands made little fists and she stamped her feet as hard as she could.
“You know I hate Halloween! You’ve spoilt my jelly!! I won’t eat anything else for the rest of the night! “She screamed. Then she raced upstairs to her room in a rage.
After slamming her door very very hard, Veronica flew around her room like an angry hurricane, pulling clothes out of drawers onto the floor, stamping on toys and pouring lemonade all over her carpet. Mum was knocking her door agitated and upset, so Veronica put on her black cloak, climbed out of her bedroom window and down the drainpipe into the night.
Still holding onto her tantrum, Veronica vowed to catch the biggest loot of the night and soon found a garden-side bush to nestle in. She waited for a few minutes and saw a small group of children run past with a few small goodie bags.
“No, too many children “she thought “I’ll wait a bit longer”.
Within a couple of minutes she heard some more voices. She waited and waited. The voices were approaching laughing and muttering and Veronica peeked around the bush. But no-one was there.
“Odd” she thought. So she crept forward a little more. But there was still no sign of a single person. Where WAS that laughing coming from when it was so close?
Suddenly Veronica felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and there stood a small boy, very pale… almost transparent really. Veronica jumped a little, but defiantly refused to show it.
“Hahahhaah!! “Laughed the little boy. “You don’t believe in me do you?”
“Who are you?” asked Veronica indignantly. “ I DON’T believe in you because I don’t know who you are!”.
“I’m Casey” echoed the boy in a ghostly voice “ I am here every year but you never see me. Tonight it’s your turn to follow me on an important Halloween trail.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Veronica scoffed and she started to move away. As she turned to walk something grabbed her ankle and something else held tightly onto her arm.
“Arrgh!” Veronica shrieked. “What’s THAT?” Casey shook himself into a glow and shed some light on Veronica’s arm. The bush had kept hold of her. It started to talk.
“Not so fast missy! How many times have you thrown sweet wrappers into me on the way to school? How many times have you snapped my poor branches for fun? Tonight is my night to get my revenge on you. You must go with Casey and follow his lead straight away… OR ELSE!”
Veronica flinched and shook her head a few times to make sure she wasn’t somehow stuck in an awful nightmare. She closed her eyes and opened them, but Casey was still there….
“BOO!” he shouted, then laughed loudly and heartily.
Veronica didn’t like this at all, but had no choice.
“Come on” coaxed Casey, “I have to take you back home... it’s time”.
“Time for what?” asked Veronica
“You’ll see….” said Casey mysteriously.
The journey back seemed to take ages and ages as Casey floated ahead of Veronica. Every Jack-o-Lantern frowned and grimaced at Veronica, every cat hissed and arched its back, and bats flew out from no-where and fluttered angrily in her face.
They finally arrived at Veronica’s house. The door was wide open, mum and dad had gone to look for their cross little daughter around the neighborhood.
Casey led the way as they entered the house.
“Ok, you can go now” snapped Veronica nastily.
“Not yet” said Casey. He grabbed her hand and shrieking all the way Veronica was transported into her room. Casey stood in the middle of the room, made a jangling sound and shouted to the room;
“Ok, now!!”
All of a sudden a cacophony of noise started as drawers opened and closed madly, chanting and complaining, the carpet started moaning, the lemonade rattled and danced about angrily , making a horrid clattering sound. Veronica’s bedroom door slammed shut, then open again and green sludgy goo ran from the bottom of her bed.
“We don’t like you” they all shouted.
“You are nasty and mean” they screamed.
“Aaaagggh! Stop! Stop!” howled Veronica. “I’ll do anything, just please stop”.
The mayhem subsided and Casey began with the “new girl “rules.
“Pick the clothes up and put them away, close your door-don’t slam, clean the carpet, pick up the sweet wrappers and above all, BE NICE!”
Veronica had had such a fright, she did as she was told and apologized to all the grumbling objects in her bedroom. Just as she was finishing the last of the cleaning, she could hear her mum’s voice calling her. Casey gave Veronica an approving wink and disappeared back into the night.
Exhausted from her night’s exploits, Veronica flopped onto her newly clean bed and fell fast asleep.
When she woke up in the morning, mum was standing over her asking if she’d had a bad dream.
“I had an awful night mum, there was a ghost and the drawers were being nasty to me and … didn’t you go looking for me?”
“No dear, we all had a quiet night last night. You must have had a nightmare, poor thing. Now come and have some healthy breakfast before school”.
“Yes mum, that’ll be lovely” smiled a new, happy and well behaved Veronica Snarklethorpe.
Halloween would never be the same again.
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