HALLOWEEN Essay Example For Students

HALLOWEEN Essay Have you ever wondered about the origins of children in costumes roaming door-to-door for treats, or why we carve pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns? The word HALLOWEEN Essay actually comes from the Celtic language of Ireland. It comes from a contraction of All Hallows Eve, the evening before All Saints Day, November 1, which is celebrated in the Catholic religion in honor of saints. All Saints Day also coincided with the Celtic New Year, which began November 1st and the celebration of the harvest. On All Hallows Eve, the Celts observed Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween). It was the largest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year. The immigrants brought their own customs as well as making new customs in America. In Ireland people lit candles and placed them in turnips as jack-o-lanterns, but when coming to the new world they found that carving pumpkins and putting candles in them was a much better way to make a jack-o-lantern. The original jack-o-lantern came to be when a man named Jack made a deal with the devil to treat him kindly throughout the year. Well Jack died and was turned away from the gates of heaven, but he was also turned away from the gates of Hell because the devil had promised to treat him well. Instead the Devil gave Jack a lantern made with a candle put into a turnip. Ever since then people say Jack has roamed the earth carrying the lantern and that is how the Jack-o-lantern got its name. The witch is the universal symbol of Halloween. The name witch comes from saxon wica meaning wise one. When setting out for a sabbath witches rubbed a sacred ointment onto their skin, this gave them the feeling of flying, if the witch was fasting they got an even better feeling of flying. Some witches rode horses but the poor ones carried a broomstick to help them keep balanced when jumping over rivers. When a witch was being initiated they were blindfolded, had flying ointment put on their face and placed on a broomstick. The ointment confused the mind, sped up the pulse and numbed the feet. The soon to be witch was told she was flying over land and sea and always took the initiators word for it. Until the end of World War two Halloween was a time for adults to party and teenagers to play pranks. After the war parents saw Halloween as a fun holiday to include their children. Except in 1970 a child was killed after eating a pixie stix poisoned with cyninde. It turned out that the childs father poisoned the pixie stix so he could collect money from the childs insurance policy. Even after this and other fatal incidents Halloween is still enthusiastically celebrated, in fact it is the second most celebrated holiday next to Christmas. The House On Mango Street Essay Today Halloween is celebrated for the fun of dressing up in costumes and going around to collect candy. There is no real purpose to celebrate this holiday other than to follow tradition. Just because we are not trying to prevent spirits from roaming the earth does not mean that they are resting peacefully in there grave. .