The legend of Halloween

Legend 1:
There are many versions of the legend about the origin of Halloween. The most common belief is that it originated from the ancient Western European countries before the birth of Christ, mainly including Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The ancient Western Europeans in these places were called Celts. The Celtic New Year is on November 1st, New Year’s Eve. The Celtics let young people assemble in teams, wearing all kinds of weird masks, and carrying carved carrot lanterns. Pumpkin), they wandered between the villages. This was actually a celebration of the autumn harvest at the time.

It is also said that it is the "Ghost Festival". It is said that the souls of those who died that year will visit the world on the eve of Halloween. It is said that people should let the ghosts who visit see a successful harvest and show the ghosts a rich hospitality. All bonfires and lights are used to scare away the ghosts, but also to illuminate the route for the ghosts and guide them to return.

In Middle Europe in the Middle Ages, there was a history of Christianity destroying pagans. However, the sacrificial celebration before New Year’s Eve has never really been eliminated, but it has appeared in the form of witchcraft. This is why we still have traces of witches' broomsticks, black cats, and spells in our Halloween. It is said that meeting a black cat that day is equivalent to meeting a witch, and it will be bad luck for a year, so on that day, everyone has to dress up to drive away those unlucky symbols.

Legend 2:

More than two thousand years ago, the Catholic Church in Europe designated November 1 as "ALL HALLOWS DAY" (ALL HALLOWS DAY). "HALLOW" means saint. Legend has it that since 500 BC, Celts (CELTS) living in Ireland, Scotland and other places moved the festival one day forward, that is, October 31. They believe that this day is the day when the summer officially ends, that is, the day when the harsh winter begins at the beginning of the new year. At that time, it was believed that the dead souls of the deceased would return to their former residence on this day to find creatures in the living people, thereby regenerating, and this is the only hope for a person to be reborn after death. The living people are afraid of the dead souls to take their lives, so people put out the fire and candlelight on this day, so that the dead souls can't find the living people, and they dress themselves up as demons and ghosts to scare away the dead souls. After that, they will reignite the candlelight and start a new year of life.

Legend has it that Celtic tribes still had the custom of killing the living on October 31 to pay homage to the dead. By the 1st century AD, the Romans who occupied the territories of Celtic tribes also gradually accepted the custom of Halloween, but since then the barbaric practice of burning the living and offering sacrifices to the dead was abolished. The Romans celebrated harvest festivals combined with Celtic rituals, wearing terrible masks, dressed up as animals or ghosts, to drive away the demons wandering around them. This is why most people in the world today celebrate Halloween in quirky dresses. As time passed, the meaning of Halloween gradually changed, becoming positive and happy, and the festive meaning became the mainstream. The saying that the dead soul is looking for a substitute to return to the world has gradually been discarded and forgotten. Today, most of the images and pictures symbolizing Halloween, such as witches and black cats, have friendly, cute and funny faces.