Thought of
the week
Ever tried.
Ever failed. No matter.
Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.
Samuel Beckett
This last day of October celebrates Halloween.
Do you want to know some curious facts?
"October 31st is Halloween and is now celebrated in many countries
around the world. (...)
The origins of Halloween
If you think of Halloween, you probably think
of scary carved pumpkins, all kinds of fancy
dress and children asking for sweets.
And if you think of a country that celebrates
Halloween, you probably think of the
United States first.
Americans and Canadians
have adopted Halloween in a big way,
but Halloween traditions actually come
from 16th-century Ireland, Scotland and England.
The tradition of Halloween on 31st October
comes from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain.
Samhain was the Celtic New Year and they
celebrated it on 1st November because that
was the end of summer and harvest time (life)
and the beginning of winter (death).
It was also the time for ghosts to return
to earth for a day. People lit a big fire,
wore special clothes made of animal skin
and hoped to be safe from the ghosts
and the winter.
In AD 609, the Catholic Church put the Christian
celebration of All Saints Day on 1st November.
In AD 1000, the church added All Souls Day
on 2nd November, and All Hallows Eve –
or Halloween – moved to the night of the 31st. (...)
Trick or treat
This is another tradition that began in Europe,
this time in England. When the church introduced
All Souls Day, rich people gave poor people
‘soul cakes’, a small cake made with
spices and raisins. It replaced the Celtic
tradition of leaving food outside houses
for the ghosts.
‘Going a-souling’ was popular in
England for hundreds of years
until about the 1930s.
The Americans kept the tradition,
but today children knock on people’s doors
and ask for sweets. Going trick or treating is
so popular that a quarter of the sweets
for the year in the United States are sold
for this one day.
The rest of the world
Halloween has become the United States’
second-biggest commercial festival after
Christmas. Halloween is also celebrated in
other countries, but it’s not as big as
in the United States, even in the countries where
the traditions began.
Mexico celebrates the Day of the Dead from
31st October to 2nd November and some
of its traditions, like giving gifts of sugar skulls,
are starting to mix with Halloween.
In this way, the celebration of Halloween continues
to change as new traditions join the oldest
of the Celtic ones."
in https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/general-english/magazine-zone/halloween
Click HERE and have a spooky time watching this trailer. 👻 🎃 💀 🎃
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