Halloween: a 2500-year-old tradition

Source: 

http://www.maganews.com.br 

For more information keep in touch with MAGANEWS and take a subscription, affordable prices, excellent for Brazilian teachers and students. 

Halloween: a 2500-year-old tradition

Learn a bit about the origin and symbols of this event held all over the world

 The Celts were people who lived over 2,500 years ago inEurope. On the 31st October they got together to commemorate the end of summer, the end of the harvest and the start of a new year. However, this date did not only signify happiness for the Celts. They also believed that on that date the spirits of dead people returned to the world to try to reincarnate in the bodies of people in that region. To face them, the Celts dressed in the most frightening manner possible and hit the streets carrying lit candles and making noise to scare away the bad spirits.

     In the modern world, Halloween appeared in the XIX Century, when the Irish took the party to the United States. But there this ancient European tradition ended up as a happy children's party, in which children dress up and ask for candy from house to house, saying trick or treat. It is such a party that October 31st is a holiday in the United States and stores register record sales.

“Day of the Witches” in Brazil
    Halloween is a traditional event in many countries, but only recently started to be popular in Brazilamong the young and old alike. Schools and even nightclubs now organize parties and fancy dress balls on this date, which is also known here as  “Dia das Bruxas”.

 The legend of Jack O’ Lantern      One of the most traditional symbols of Halloween is a pumpkin in the shape of a face, known as “Jack O' Lantern” – This tradition appeared through Irish folklore. The legend says that there was a man called Jack who could not get into heaven because he had been very bad and was also expelled from hell because he played tricks on the Devil. He was then condemned to prowl the earth eternally, carrying a lantern to light his way.

Fonte - Revista Maganews (www.maganews.com.br) 

 

Vocabulary

 1 harvest – colheita

2 to face – enfrentar

3 to dress – vestir

4 frightening – assustador

5 lit candle – vela acesa

6 noise – barulho
7 to scare away – assustar / afugentar

8 Irish – irlandês (irlandeses)

9 trick or treat - peraltice ou trato

10 fancy dress ball – baile à fantasia

11 pumpkin – abóbora

12 shape - forma

13 to expel – expelir / expulsar

14 hell – inferno

15 to prowl – perambular / vagar

Ilustração - Calberto