What is halloween Answering this question is not that easy! Today we know the festival mainly from the USA – with pumpkins and costumes. Various theories try to explain the origins.
Costume parties, grimaces in pumpkins and lots of sweets – we have these images in mind when we think of Halloween. But the origin of the festival looked a little different … What the pope and turnips have to do with it, we explain here.
What is halloween The origin
It is believed that the custom originally developed from a Celtic festival called Samhain. Hundreds of years ago the Celts celebrated not only the harvest, but also the beginning of winter. While summer was the time of life, the time of winter was death. They believed in some kind of contact between these two worlds at this point in time and that the dead would then walk back on earth. To deter them and to mislead them, they dressed up themselves in creepy costumes and wandered the streets in them. The aim was to keep evil spirits away with fires along the way. It is also said that there were small gifts in front of the houses to appease them.
I see! That's why the festival is called Halloween …
A church derivation from Halloween is also possible as the origin. In the 9th century, Pope Gregory IV moved the feast day of All Saints from the Sunday after Pentecost to November 1st for the entire Western Church. On this day all saints will be venerated, while on All Souls one day later, i.e. on November 2nd, all the dead and all poor souls will be prayed in purgatory. The eve of All Saints' Day was called in English All Hallows' Eve, from which the name Halloween was derived over time. The previous evening was mainly celebrated in areas of the British Isles that remained Catholic, such as Ireland. With the wave of emigration in the 19th century, the Irish brought their traditions to the United States of America, where the custom evolved over time.
So the grimace got into the pumpkin
Here, too, the myth goes back to the Irish: A man named Stingy Jack outwitted the devil in order not to go to hell. When he died he was not accepted into heaven because of his sinful life, but the devil did not want him in hell either and only sent him into the dark night with a glowing piece of coal that could show him the way. He put this into a hollowed-out turnip and has always wandered around the earth. Therefore the figure is also called Jack O'Lantern (English Lantern = lantern). In Ireland and Scotland, people started carving scary faces in turnips or potatoes and putting them in windows to scare off Jack O'Lantern and other evil spirits.
Halloween in Germany
The custom is now known throughout Europe and increasingly came to Germany in the 1990s. In this country, the festival on October 31st is celebrated with costume parties and Halloween decorations such as decorated pumpkins or ghost figures are also very popular. Here we show you how you can make Halloween decorations, make Halloween costumes yourself and carve a pumpkin. Children especially enjoy the gruesome spectacle and love to dress up. So that the party is special for the little ones, exciting Halloween games should not be missing!
Sayings to the horror festival
When the small and large party guests are on a sweets foray, one often hears the well-known: "Trick or treat!" or, for short, "Trick or Treat?", in English it means: "Trick or treat!". We have collected more funny sayings like:
- We are the loud little monsters. Give us something and we'll stop screaming.
- Today all spirits are awake. All witches on the roof, monsters sneaking around the house. So quickly give out something sweet!
- Ghosts scream, witches laugh, give us sweets, otherwise it'll crack!
You can find these and more in the Halloween sayings.