Halloween or All Saints' Day is one of those holidays, the history of which is more than one millennium. Of course, during such a long time period some traditions of celebration changed, and some even disappeared altogether. But the essence of Halloween remained unchanged - this is the day of worship of the spirits of the dead. This mysterious holiday and its mystical traditions will be discussed in our today's article.
What date is Halloween celebrated?
All over the world, All Saints' Day is celebrated on the night of October 31 to November 1. This date is not accidental. The Celts also celebrated New Year's Day on this day and believed that it was on New Year's Eve that the border between the world of the living and the dead was erased, and spirits could safely walk among people. In ancient Rome, in the same numbers worshiped the goddess Pomona - the patroness of plants, the harvest and celebrated the feast of the memory of the deceased. Over time, the Catholic Church also chose November 1 as the official church holiday - the All Saints' Day, and on November 2 made the Day of Remembrance of the Dead.
The main symbols and traditions of Halloween
If we consider that Halloween is a centuries-old combination of the harvest festival, the New Year and the memory of the dead, its symbolism becomes much clearer. For example, one of the main attributes of this day is the pumpkin, which is a symbol of harvest and prosperity. Gradually, she received another meaning: the terrible pumpkin lanterns were designed to scare away evil spirits from the houses of living people. But Halloween costumes are nothing more than a variation of the carnival New Year costumes. However, due to the specificity of the holiday, the costumes and masks also changed and became awesome. This was done so that evil spirits and monsters could not distinguish living people from such monsters.
In addition, on Halloween it is customary to decorate your home with paraphernalia of the other world, in order to scare away evil from it. And it is important that the whole atmosphere was thought through to the smallest detail and even the dishes of the festive table were "awesome".
Popular images for Halloween
There are among the numerous Helluinsky images and especially popular ones, which have already become a kind of symbol of this eerie holiday. Virtually no party on the night of November 1 is not complete, for example, without disguised vampires, zombies, monsters, ghosts and witches. And the more realistic and terrifying the chosen image will look, the better and more fun. Sometimes, even very difficult to believe that this is just a good make-up and costume, and not a real monster. Also very popular are "dumb" images: comic characters, characters of famous films and books, public people.
