THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

By Cammie

Multimedia Design

3rd period

October 25, 2012

HOW DID HALLOWEEN GET ITS NAME?

Halloween is a contraction of All Hallows

Even, which means the day before All Hallows Day.

All Hallows Day is a Catholic holiday honoring

Christian martyrs and saints. It has been observed

on the first of November since the early Middle

Ages.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/halloween/a/History-Of-Halloween.htm

WHEN DID HALLOWEEN START TO BE CELEBRATED?

http://www.holybible.com/resources/halloween.htm

During the Middle Ages the Roman Catholic Church wanted to make the change from pagan religion to Christianity simpler so they allowed the new converts to continue to celebrate some of their pagan feasts. In spite of their effort to make the celebration a "holy evening," the pagan customs continued. Consequently, we now have Halloween.

W HAT IS THE CON NECT IO N BETW EEN S ALEM AND HALLOW EEN?

There is no connection between Salem and

Halloween. Salem is a town in Massachusetts that is

famous for its Witch Trials in the 1600’s. This has

nothing to do with Halloween, though Salem is

known for their week-long celebration of the holiday.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111023173248AAKDDay

HOW OLD IS TOO OLD TO GO TRICK-OR-TREATING?

There is no age limit for trick-or-treating, but

if you are thirty years old and still going door to

door, you will probably receive many questioning

looks. Moms and Dads are the exception. If you are

an adult that loves Halloween, try a costume party. It

is much better suited to your age.

W H Y A R E B L A C K A N D O R A N G E T H E C O L O R S T H AT A R E U S E D T O R E P R E S E N T H A L L O W E E N ?

Halloween was at one time was a festival of the

dead. Death is usually indicated by the color black to

represent darkness. Thus, the use of black. On the other

hand, the Celtics are given credit for the festival of the

harvest. Autumn colors are used to represent this festival.

Orange is used to signify autumn. Hence, the use of orange.

The combination of the two is used to represent Halloween

today.http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/origin-of-halloween-colors-faq.htm

W H AT I S T H E S T O RY B E H I N D T H E L E G E N D O F J A C K- O - L A N T E R N A N D

W H E R E D I D I T G E T I T S N A M E ?

The tradition of the jack-o-lantern around

Halloween originated with the legend of Stingy Jack.

The full story is found on the following slide. People

began referring to “Stingy Jack” as "Jack of the

Lantern," and the term was shortened to "Jack O‘

Lantern.“ They created their own lanterns and found

that pumpkins worked best.

http://www.history.com/topics/jack-olantern-history

THE LEGEND OF “STINGY JACK”

According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his

name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into

a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the

money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing

back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would

not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next

year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was

up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not

come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years. Soon after, Jack

died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil,

upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not

allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way.

Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since.

http://www.history.com/topics/jack-olantern-history

WHAT DO PUMPKINS HAVE TO DO WITH HALLOWEEN?

The significance of pumpkins originated from

the legend of Stingy Jack. People began to make

their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary

faces into vegetables and placing them around their

houses to scare away evil spirits. Since Halloween

could be described as an night of evil, the lanterns

were popular.http://www.history.com/topics/jack-olantern-history

W H Y C O U L D N ’ T C A RV E D P U M P K I N S B E U S E D F O R H A L L O W E E N I N I R E L A N D I N

T H E 1 4 T H C E N T U RY ?

Carved pumpkins couldn’t be used for

Halloween in Ireland in the 14th century because

pumpkins are native to America and were not

introduced in Europe until the 16th century.

http://seanbanville.com/2011/10/14/100-questions-for-halloween/

WHAT VEGETABLE WAS ORIGINALLY USED FOR JACK-O -LANTERNS?

The vegetable originally used to create jack-o-

lanterns was the turnip.

http://www.history.com/topics/jack-olantern-history

FUN FACTS

Owls are a widespread Halloween image. In

Medieval Europe, people thought that owls were

witches. If you were to hear an owl, they thought it

meant someone was going to die.

http://facts.randomhistory.com/halloween-facts.html

FUN FACT

Dressing up started from the ancient Celtic

tradition of disguising themselves as demons and

spirits. They believed that disguising themselves

would trick real spirits wandering the streets into

passing by.

http://facts.randomhistory.com/halloween-facts.html

FUN FACT

Scottish girls believed they would see the

image of their future husband if they hung wet

sheets in front of a fire on Halloween night.

http://facts.randomhistory.com/halloween-facts.html

THE END