Unit 40 Customs of Halloween Halloween is an annual celebration. How did this peculiar custom originate? The word "Halloween" comes from All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hallows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. It was believed that during the period from Oct. 31 through to Nov. 1, the boundaries between our world and the world of the dead were weakened, allowing spirits of the recently dead to cross over and hunt the living. In order to make themselves and their homes less appealing to these spirits, the ancient Celts put out fire in their homes to make them cold and undesirable, and built huge scared bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to Gods. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortune. When the celebration was over, they relit their hearth fires from the sacred bonfires to help protect them during the coming winter. They also dressed up in odd costumes and parade through their villages to scare off any recently departed souls who might be searching for bodies to inhabit. How did the custom of "trick-or-treat" come into being? On Nov. 2, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes", made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars received, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. The prayers, it was believed, could accelerate a soul's passage to heaven. The practice, once referred to as "going-a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given apples, buns or money. During the Pioneer days of the American West, the housewives would give the children candy to keep from being tricked. The children would shout "Trick or Treat!" The Jack-o'-lantern custom comes from Irish folklore. Jack, a notorious drunkard, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him with alcohol again, he would let him down the tree. After Jack died, he was denied entrance to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a hollowed-out turnips, with an ember inside, to light his way through the darkness. Originally, the Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns". But when immigrants came to America, they found pumpkins were far more plentiful and easier to carve out than turnips. So the jack-o'-lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.
李克强总理在第三次中国-中东欧国家领导人会晤时的讲话
佳士得拍卖乔布斯第一台电脑,36.5万!
2017年,电子产品靠边,我们要简单生活
秋裤的英文为什么是Long Johns?
老板要求:中国工人午餐后被允许再睡半小时
外媒看中国 女人二十岁最爱吃零食
婚前搞定钱 婚后更轻松
原价2500镑变350 英国优惠劵收集狂圣诞丰收
阿根廷法院判定猩猩有人权 应有自由
荷兰科学家发明智能自行车 可提出危险警报
如何建立职场信任?
花千金动刀50余次 卡戴珊男粉整容“致敬”偶像
帮我写简历的老师
资格不够,也能胜任职位?
2017谷歌年度热搜榜:有你搜过的关键词吗
研究发现:心态年轻的人寿命更长
调查发现人们最讨厌的圣诞礼物
告别肥胖 五日瘦身计划菜谱
研究表明:做饭时间越长 身体越不健康
卫星照片美得可以当壁纸
外媒看中国:《一步之遥》用力过猛
研究:纯电动汽车不一定比汽油车更环保
摒弃15条毁灭生活的“箴言”
自动售货机识面相 零食不是想买就能买
研究发现:大众脸更易博得信任
四年拍拖终成眷属 周杰伦求婚伦敦
运用IT提高公司文化三步走
神秘的肺部疾病大爆发或许与电子烟有关
酷炫手镯 把你的前臂皮肤变成触屏
研究:负面信息易导致女性增肥
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |