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| Sunday, 31 October 2004 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Halloween - a time of terror then, a time of fun now
Do you know how this holiday originated? Halloween was first celebrated long before the birth of Christ by the Celts, who lived in the British Isles and northern France. Those days they didn't know how the earth moved round the sun and how the seasons occurred. So when winter approached they thought the sun they worshipped would be killed by the powers of darkness. To get the sun back, they burned some of their crops and animals to please the evil powers. The Celts believed that all the witches with their cats on their broomsticks would ride to a secret meeting place on this night. Christians tried many things to change these beliefs. The Roman Catholic Church decided to set aside November 1 to honour the saints who don't have a special day of their own. This was known as All Saints' or All Hallows' Day and the night before it was called All Hallows' Even, which became Halloween. After many years, although people stopped believing in witches and evil powers, the day continued to be celebrated. The event, which was once a time of terror and grief has now become a day of fun, but some of the earlier customs are still observed. In most countries, families visited graves and churches on this day to pray for the dead to rest in peace. A curious custom called 'going-a-souling' started in England. Men and women went from house to house chanting "A soul cake, a soul cake, a penny or a soul cake!" Little cakes called 'soul cakes' were given to them by housewives; in return they said prayers for the souls of the dead. This would have been the birth of the custom "Trick or Treat" observed by children in these countries even today. The carved pumpkins with candles lit inside them known as Jack-o-lanterns became a Halloween tradition only around the 1840s. |
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| Politics | Produced by Lake House |
Halloween is celebrated in the USA and most European countries on
October 31 (today). In Sri Lanka too, Halloween celebrations are
increasingly catching up. Many parties are organised to celebrate it and
people attend them dressed as witches, ghosts and skeletons.
