Happy Halloween! Hope you are having a spooky
day!
The word Halloween is merely a contraction
of All Hallows Eve – the evening before the Christian feast of All Hallows, or All
Saints Day, which falls on November 1st. This is followed on the 2nd of November with
All Souls Day, a day for remembering all who have departed. Therefore, this has traditionally become a
time of year for remembering all those who have died before us. Some scholars
argue that this is a Christian feast, whilst others insist it has its roots
long before Christianity and can be traced back to a pagan festival.
Whatever the origins, today it is
celebrated as a time of fun, with children dressing up as ghosts, witches and
vampires and visiting their neighbours homes “trick or treating”. The idea is
that the neighbours will pass them chocolates, sweets or money as a treat to
prevent them carrying out a trick, or bit of mischief! Sounds a bit sinister I
know, but all carried out in good fun. Another typical Halloween activity is to
make a lantern out of a pumpkin by scooping out the fruit and putting a candle
inside. Into the skin is cut the shape of eyes, nose and mouth. These are then placed
in windows or carried around by the youngsters, making a very eerie procession!
Traditionally the lanterns were carried to keep the devil away. Other traditions include telling ghost
stories, watching horror films and playing party games. One of my particular
favourites is apple dunking, where apples are placed in a big bowl of water on
the floor, and everyone takes turns to try and get an apple – using only their
teeth!
However, although Halloween is popular, (after all everyone likes an excuse
to wear fancy dress and watch scary movies), it is nothing compared to the
celebrations seen across Great Britain on the 5th November - Bonfire
Night! In cities, towns and villages huge bonfires and firework displays are
organised, filing the sky with a magnificent show of lights and colour. Some
people choose to have their own firework parties, lighting fireworks in their
gardens and inviting family, friends and neighbours to join them. Often a “guy”
is made, an effigy of a man, and placed on top of the bonfire to huge cheers. This is a time of laughter and fun.....but
what are we celebrating?
To find the root of this celebration we
have to travel back in history to 1605.
On November 5th of this year Guy Fawkes was arrested, whilst
guarding explosives, that it is believed were to be used to blow up the Houses
of Parliament when the king was due to attend. A group of thirteen men had
planned the event in the hope that they could replace the Protestant King James
1st with a Catholic king. Following the
capture of Guy Fawkes some of the king’s supporters celebrated that the king
was safe by lighting bonfires in the streets. All the conspirators were
captured and executed. The following January the “Observance of the 5th
November Act 1605” was passed which called for a public, annual thanksgiving
for the failure of the gunpowder plot. Hence, the celebration of Bonfire Night began,
and to date is still going strong!
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