NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Hallowe'en

Not the full sized version. Original is way too big. From stock.xchng, one of the PD image sources listed here. To complete all the requirements of uploading, this image is of a pumpkin lit up. [Origin of Image (http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id...

A jack-o'-lantern

Halloween is a In the United States, a holiday is a day set aside by a nation or culture (in some cases, multiple nations and cultures) typically for celebration but sometimes for some other kind of special culture-wide (or national) observation or activity. Based on the English words holy and day, holidays... holiday celebrated on the night of October 31 is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 61 days remaining, as the final day of October. October Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14... October 31, usually by children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door collecting candy. It is celebrated in much of the For alternative meanings for The West in the United States, see the U.S. West and American West. The term Western world can have multiple meanings depending on its context. Originally defined as Europe, most modern uses of the term refer to the societies of Europe and their genealogical, colonial... Western world, though most commonly in the For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). The United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., U.S., US, America¹, or the States, is a federal republic of fifty states, mostly in central North America. The U.S. has three land... United States, A true colour image of Ireland, captured by a NASA satellite on January 4, 2003. Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales are visible to the east. The island of Ireland is located west of the European landmass, and lies alongside Britain. The island of Ireland (Éire in Irish), is... Ireland, For other uses, see Scotland (disambiguation). Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country or nation and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. Scotland has a land boundary with England in the island of Great Britain and is otherwise bounded... Scotland and Canada is an independent This article discusses states as sovereign political entities. For other meanings, see state (disambiguation). In international law and international relations, a state is a geographic political entity possessing politicial sovereignty, i.e. not being subject to any higher political authority. In casual language, the idea of... Canada. Irish, For other uses, see Scotland (disambiguation). Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country or nation and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. Scotland has a land boundary with England in the island of Great Britain and is otherwise bounded... Scots and other immigrants brought older versions of the tradition to North America in the Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. In the sense of the Common Era... 19th century.

The form "Halloween" derives from Hallowe'en, an old contraction, still retained in Scotland, of "All Hallow's Eve," so called as it is the day before the This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. See Catholicism (disambiguation) for alternative meanings Catholicism has two main ecclesiastical meanings, described in Websters Dictionary as: a) the whole orthodox christian church, or adherence thereto; and b) the doctrines or faith of the Roman Catholic church, or adherence thereto... Catholic This article is about the Christian holiday. For other meanings see All Saints (disambiguation) The festival of All Saints, also sometimes known as All Hallows, or Hallowmas, is a feast celebrated in honour of all the saints and martyrs, known or unknown. The Roman Catholic holiday (Festum omnium sanctorum) falls... All Saints holy day, which used to be called "All Hallows," derived from All Hallowed Souls. In Ireland, the name was Hallow Eve and this name is still used by some older people. Halloween was formerly also sometimes called All Saints' Eve. The holiday was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan may refer to: A believer in Paganism or Neopaganism. One who practices idolatry. One who is not Christian, Muslim nor Jewish, or who does not worship the God of Abraham. Such usage, while traditional in the above three religions, may be considered derogatory. Pagan, Myanmar. Pagan Island, an island... pagan traditions, until it was appropriated by Christian missionaries (along with Joseph and Mary with baby Jesus, at the first Christmas Christmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a holiday in the Christian calendar, usually observed on December 25, which celebrates the birth of Jesus. According to the Christian gospels, Jesus was born to Mary in Bethlehem, where she and her... Christmas and Easter (also called Pascha) is generally accounted the most important holiday of the Christian year, observed March or April each year to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead (after his death by crucifixion; see Good Friday), which Christians believe happened at about this time of year, almost two... Easter, two other traditional northern European pagan holidays) and given a Christian reinterpretation. Halloween is also known as the This article needs cleanup. Please edit this article to conform to a higher standard of article quality. This article is about the Mexican holiday. See also: Day of the Dead (movie) Generic sugar skull given and eaten for the Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead (El D... Day of the Dead, and it is a day of celebration for For the book series Wicca see Sweep (book series) and Circle Of Three. Wicca is a popular Neopagan religion, originally founded by the British civil servant Gerald Gardner, probably in the 1940s, although it was first openly revealed in 1954. Since its founding, various related Wiccan traditions have evolved, the... Wiccans and other modern Pagan may refer to: A believer in Paganism or Neopaganism. One who practices idolatry. One who is not Christian, Muslim nor Jewish, or who does not worship the God of Abraham. Such usage, while traditional in the above three religions, may be considered derogatory. Pagan, Myanmar. Pagan Island, an island... pagan traditions, though the holiday has lost its religious connotations among the populace at large.

Halloween is also called Pooky Night in some parts of Ireland, presumably named after the Púca ... pookah, a mischievous spirit.

In Great Britain is an island lying off the western coast of Europe, comprising the main territory of the United Kingdom. Great Britain is also used as a political term describing the combination of England, Scotland, and Wales, the three nations which together include all the islands territory. Great Britain... Great Britain in particular, the pagan This article is about the European people. For the tool, see celt (tool). For other uses see Celtic (disambiguation). In ancient times, the Celts were a number of interrelated peoples in central Europe sharing a branch of Indo-European languages indicative of a common origin. Today, Celtic is often used... Celts celebrated the Day of the Dead on Halloween. The spirits supposedly rose from the dead and, in order to attract them, food was left on the doors. To scare off the evil spirits, the Celts wore masks. When the Roman or Romans has several meanings, primarily related to the Roman citizens, but also applicable to typography, math, and a commune. Contents // 1 Roman 1.1 See also 2 Geometry 3 Typography 4 Christianity 5 Geography Roman The noun Roman means a citizen of Rome. The adjective Roman means pertaining... Romans invaded the Britain, they embellished the tradition with their own, which is the celebration of the harvest and honoring the dead. These traditions were then passed on to the For other uses, see United States (disambiguation) and US (disambiguation). The United States of America, also referred to as the United States, U.S.A., U.S., US, America¹, or the States, is a federal republic of fifty states, mostly in central North America. The U.S. has three land... United States.

Halloween is sometimes associated with the For other uses of this term, see occult (disambiguation). The word occult comes from Latin occultus (hidden), referring to the knowledge of the secret or knowledge of the hidden and often meaning knowledge of the supernatural, as opposed to knowledge of the visible or knowledge of the measurable, usually referred... occult. Many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the "liminal" times of the year when the spirit world can make contact with the natural world and when Look up Magic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary The term magic is a Persian loanword into English and may refer to: Magic (paranormal) deals with the manipulation of what the practitioner believes to be genuine paranormal phenomena. Magic and religion deals with the relationship of paranormal magic and religion. Magic... magic is most potent (see, for example, In Catalan popular culture, there are a large number of myths and legends about witches (Catalan bruixes). In the popular imagination, a witch is a woman who, by means of a pact with the Devil, has acquired supernatural power, which she uses for her own benefit and for evil purposes... Catalan mythology about witches).

Anoka is a city located in Anoka County, Minnesota. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 18,076. It is the county seat of Anoka County6. Anoka is also the self-proclaimed Halloween Capital of the World, with a large parade celebrating the holiday. Contents... Anoka, Minnesota, USA, the self-proclaimed "Halloween Capital of the World," celebrates with a large civic Marines on parade A parade is an organized procession of people along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by decorated vehicles called floats or sometimes large lighter-than-air balloons with complex shapes. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of some... parade.

Symbols

Download high resolution version (840x804, 96 KB)Photograph of a Jack-o-lantern Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections...

Jack-o'-lanterns may be carved with a funny face.

Halloween's theme is spooky or scary things particularly involving death, Magic (also called magick to distinguish it from stage magic) is a supposed way of influencing the world through supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means. This article provides an overview of specific magical traditions and practices. It also discusses the use of magic as a plot device in various kinds of... black magic, or mythical This article is about monsters as a kind of legendary creature. For other uses, see Monster (disambiguation). Saint George versus the Dragon, by Gustave Moreau (1880) Monster (lat. monstrum) is a term for any number of legendary creatures that frequently appear in mythology, legend, and horror fiction. The word originates... monsters. Commonly-associated Halloween characters include This article is about the paranormal. For other meanings, see Ghost (disambiguation). Reputed ghost of a monk. Taken in a church in England Ghosts are the supposed apparitions of the dead. A ghost is often thought to be the spirit or soul of a person who has remained on Earth... ghosts, This article is in multiple, independent sections. The duplicate sections should be merged. Please see the talk page. This article is part of the Witchcraft series. African witchcraft Asian witchcraft European witchcraft Middle-eastern witchcraft North American witchcraft South American witchcraft European Christians in the medieval era, some conservative Christians... witches, BAT is an abbreviation for: British American Tobacco Bangor Area Transit Baltic languages (other) (ISO 639 alpha-3, bat) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. If an article link referred you here, you might want to... bats, Black Cat can mean: Black cat, a symbol historically associated with witchcraft and evil. The Black Cat (short story), a story by Edgar Allan Poe The Black Cat (nightclub), a nightclub in Washington, DC Black Cat (manga), a manga (Japanese comic book) Black Cat (comics), a Marvel Comics character The... black cats, A goblin is an evil or mischievous creature of folklore, often described as a grotesquely disfigured, elf-like phantom. According to some traditions, their name comes from Gob or Ghob, the king of the gnomes, whose inferiors were obviously called Ghob-lings. However, according to The Concise Oxford Dictionary of... goblins, For other uses see Zombie (disambiguation) A zombie is a kind of undead, or figuratively, a very apathetic person. Contents // 1 Zombies in Vodun 2 Zombies in fiction 3 Zombies in philosophy 4 Zombies in history 5 See Also 6 External link Zombies in Vodun According to the tenets of... zombies and The demon Satan In folklore, mythology, and religion, a demon is a supernatural being that is generally described as an evil spirit, but is also depicted to be good in some instances. The Greek word daemon, δαίμων, appears in the works of Plato and many... demons, as well as certain fictional figures like Alternate meaning: Dracula (orchid genus) Dracula is a fictional character, arguably the most famous vampire in fiction. He was created by the Irish writer Bram Stoker in his 1897 horror novel of the same name. It is an epistolary novel, that is, told mostly in diaries and letters from the... Dracula and Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus is a novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. First published in London in 1818 (but more often read in the revised third edition of 1831), it is an early example of science fiction and steampunk. Some (led by Brian Aldiss) claim that it is the first... Frankenstein's monster. Homes are often decorated with these symbols around Halloween.

This article is about the color black; for other uses, see Black (disambiguation). Black is a color with several subtle differences in meaning. Contents // 1 Color or light 2 Human 3 Usage, symbolism, colloquial expressions 4 Color coordinates 5 See also Color or light #000000 Black can be defined as... Black and See also Orange (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word. #ffa500 The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 620-585 nanometres. It is the same colour as the fruit for which it was named. Before the orange fruit was introduced... orange are the traditional colors of Halloween. There are also elements of the Autumn colours at Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire, England. Fall redirects here. For other uses of that word, see Fall (disambiguation). Autumn, often called fall in North America, is one of the four temperate seasons, the transition between summer and winter. In the temperate zones, autumn is the season during which most... autumn season, such as Pumpkins A pumpkin is a gourd (Cucurbitaceae), most commonly orange in colour when ripe, that grows from a trailing vine. It is traditionally used to carve Jack olanterns for use as part of Halloween celebrations, but is also popular in cooking. Contents // 1 Introduction 2 Pumpkins and squashes 3... pumpkins and Scarecrows in a rice paddy in Japan For other uses, see Scarecrow (disambiguation). A scarecrow is a device (traditionally a mannequin) that is used to discourage birds like crows from disturbing crops. Not only do crows feed on recently cast seed, they also gather nightly, starting with groups of a... scarecrows, reflected in symbols of Halloween.

The jack-o'-lantern, a carved vegetable lit by a candle inside, is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols. In Britain and Ireland, a turnip was and sometimes still is used, but emigrants to America quickly adopted the pumpkin because it is much larger and easier to carve. Many families that celebrate Halloween will carve a pumpkin into a scary or comical face and place it on the home's doorstep on Halloween night for fun. Traditionally, something like this was done in order to scare evil spirits away.

Trick-or-treating

The main event of Halloween is This article needs cleanup. Please edit this article to conform to a higher standard of article quality. Trick or Treat, also known as Guising, is an activity for children on Halloween, in which they are dressed up in costumes, often of supposedly malevolent supernatural beings such as ghosts, demons... trick-or-treating, also known as guising in For other uses, see Scotland (disambiguation). Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country or nation and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. Scotland has a land boundary with England in the island of Great Britain and is otherwise bounded... Scotland, in which children dress up in A sligthly unconventional Halloween costume. The partygoer has placed fake black bar censors around his nether regions. Halloween costumes are outfits worn on October 31st, the day of Halloween. Halloween is a modern day holiday (spun off of the Gaelic/Druidic/Pagan holiday of All Souls Eve (see Day of... costume disguises and go door-to-door in their neighborhood, ringing the bell and yelling "trick or treat!" (or, less frequently, "Halloween apples!") The occupants of the house (who might themselves dress in a scary costume) will then hand out small candies, miniature A Chocolate bar is a bar of Chocolate, usually containing other ingredients as well, such as peanuts or caramel. The first chocolate bars were made by Joseph Fry of York during the early nineteenth century. They are now a common snack all over the world. Categories: Chocolate bars ... chocolate bars or other treats. Some parents opt to give "healthy" treats, such as small boxes of raisins, but this practice does not please the children. Homes sometimes use Sound effects or audio effects are artificially created or enhanced sounds, or sound processes used to emphasize artistic or other content of movies, video games, music, or other media. In motion picture and television production, a sound effect is a sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or... sound effects and fog machines to help set a spooky mood. Other house decoration themes (that are less scary) are used to entertain younger visitors. Children can often accumulate many treats on Halloween night, filling up entire pillow cases or shopping bags.

In For other uses, see Scotland (disambiguation). Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba) is a country or nation and former independent kingdom of northwest Europe, and one of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom. Scotland has a land boundary with England in the island of Great Britain and is otherwise bounded... Scotland children or guisers will have to impress the members of the houses they visit with a song, trick, joke or dance in order to earn their treats.

Tricks play less of a role in modern Halloween, though the night before Halloween is often marked by pranks such as soaping windows, egging houses or stringing toilet paper through trees. Before indoor plumbing was so widespread, tipping over or displacing outhouses was a popular form of trick.

Typical Halloween costumes have traditionally been monsters such as For other uses, see Vampire (disambiguation). Further reading Christopher Frayling - Vampyres: Lord Byron to Count Dracula 1992. ISBN 0571167926 See also Erzsébet Báthory Chinese vampire List of vampire movies Maschalismos Medieval revenants Sharna Vampire bats The Mercy Brown Vampire Incident External links Staking Claims: The Vampires of Folklore... vampires, ghosts, witches, and The Devil is the name given to a supernatural entity who, in most Western religions, is the central embodiment of evil. This entity is commonly referred to by a variety of other names, including Satan, Lucifer, Mephistopheles and Beelzebub. In classic demonology, however, each of these alternate names refers to... devils. The stereotypical Halloween costume is a sheet with eyeholes cut in it as a ghost costume. In nineteenth-century Scotland and Ireland the reason for wearing such fearsome (and non-fearsome) costumes was the belief that since the spirits that were abroad that night were essentially intent on doing harm, the best way to avoid this was to fool the spirits into believing that you were one of them. In recent years, it has become common for costumes to be based on themes other than traditional horror, such as dressing up as a character from a A television program is the content of television broadcasting. The content of an individual broadcast may be referred to as a television program (US English), television programme (UK English) or television show. A program may be a one-off broadcast or, more usually, part of a periodically returning television series... TV show or For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as... movie. In 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of the Volunteer The United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations Years: 1998 1999 2000 - 2001 - 2002 2003 2004 Decades: 1970s 1980s 1990s - 2000s - 2010s 2020s 2030s Centuries: 20th century - 21st century - 22nd... 2001, after the The World Trade Center on fire Sep 11, 2001 attacks Timeline Background history Planning Execution September 11, 2001 Rest of September October Aftermath Victims Casualties Missing Persons Survivors Foreign casualties Rescue workers Effects U.S. government response World political effects World economic effects Airport security Closings and cancellations Movies and... September 11 attacks, for example, costumes of Firefighter with an axe A firefighter, sometimes still called a fireman though women have increasingly joined firefighting units, is a person who is trained and equipped to put out fires, rescue people and in some areas provide emergency medical services. The fire service, also known as the fire brigade or... firefighters, For the band, see The Police. For the Polish town, see Police, Poland. A car of the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, England Police forces are government organisations ostensibly charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order. The word comes from the French, and less directly from the Greek politeia... police officers, and United States Military (from Latin militarius, miles soldier) as an adjective describes anything related to soldiers and warfare, more specifically to do with land forces, the sea forces equivalent being naval. Used as a noun, it is equivalent to Armed force. See also Armed force Martial art Militaria Military history Military rule... military personnel became popular among children. In 2004, an estimated 2.15 million children in the United States were expected to dress up as Spider-Man swinging around his hometown, New York City. Art by J. Scott Campbell. Spider-Man (Peter Benjamin Parker) is a Marvel Comics superhero. He was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962). He has since become one of the worlds... Spider-Man, the year's most popular costume. [1] (http://www.nrf.com/content/default.asp?folder=press/release2004&file=costumes1004.htm&bhcp=1)

A program started by UNICEF logo The United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946. In 1953, its name was shortened to the United Nations Childrens Fund, but is still known by its popular acronym. Headquartered in New York City, UNICEF... UNICEF involves the distribution of small boxes by schools to trick-or-treaters, in which they can collect small change from the houses they visit for donation to the charity.

BIGresearch conducted a survey for the National Retail Federation in the US and found that 54.1 percent of consumers planned to buy a costume for Halloween 2004, spending $28.11 on average. An estimate of $3.12 billion was made for the holiday spending.

A child usually "grows out of" trick-or-treating by his or her teenage years. Teenagers and adults instead often celebrate Halloween with A costume party (also referred to as fancy dress party in the United Kingdom) is a type of party where the guests dress up in a costume. These are especially popular around Halloween—many teenagers have this instead of going out to trick-or-treat—and during the... costume parties or other social get-togethers.

Games

There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. The most common is Bobbing for apples (known in some places as ducking for apples) is a game customarily played on Halloween. The game is played by filling a tub or a large basin with water and putting apples in the water. Because apples are less dense than water, they will float at the... bobbing for apples, in which For other uses, see Apple (disambiguation). Apple Fuji apple Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Rosales Family: Rosaceae Subfamily: Maloideae Genus: Malus Species Malus domestica Malus sieversii Apple is the fruit (pome) of the genus Malus belonging to the family Rosaceae, and is one of the most... apples float in a tub or a large For the term related to television programmes, see watershed (television). A watershed or catchment basin is the region of land that drains into a specified body of water, such as a river, lake, sea, or ocean. Rain that falls anywhere within a given body of waters watershed will eventually... basin of Drinking water This article focuses on water as we experience it every day. The water (molecule) article describes the water chemical and physical properties from a scientific and technical perspective. Water (from Low German or Old Saxon) is an abundant substance on Earth. It exists in many places and forms... water; the participants must use their Types of teeth Molars are used for grinding up foods Carnassials are used for slicing food. In carnivores only. Premolars are similar to molars but smaller and sometimes called bicuspids Canines are used for tearing apart foods and sometimes called cuspids Incisors are used for cutting foods Tooth, plural teeth... teeth to remove an apple from the basin. Another common game involves hanging up This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. If an article link referred you here, you might want to go back and fix it to point directly to the intended page. Treacle is an obsolete pharmaceutical term for... treacle or In cooking, Syrup (from the Arabian šarab via Latin siropus) is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugar, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals. The viscosity arises from the multiple hydrogen bonds between the dissolved sugar, which has many hydroxyl (OH) groups and the... syrup-coated Scones with honey. Jam is also a favoured topping. A scone is a bread thicker than a bannock. It is made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, usually with baking powder as leavening agent. The pronunciation in the United Kingdom is open to debate. Most British people pronounce it as sk... scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity which inevitably leads to a very sticky face.

Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of Divination is the occultic practice of ascertaining information by supernatural means. If a distinction is to be made with fortune-telling, divination has a formal or ritual and often social character, usually in a religious context; while fortune-telling is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Divination is often... divination. In Púicíní (pronounced "pook-eeny"), a game played in Ireland, a blindfolded person is seated in front of a table on which are placed several saucers. The saucers are shuffled and the seated person then chooses one by touch. The contents of the saucer determine the person's life for the following year. A saucer containing earth means someone known to the player will die during the next year, a saucer containing water foretells travel, a coin means new wealth, a bean means poverty, etc. In nineteenth-century Ireland, young women placed slugs in saucers sprinkled with flour. The wriggling of the slugs and the patterns subsequently left behind on the saucers were believed to portray the faces of the women's future spouses.

In North America, unmarried women were frequently told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before they married, a Symbols of death are the symbolic, often allegorical, portrayal of death in various cultures. For allegorical figures that portray death, see Death (personification). Contents // 1 Images that represent death 2 Religious symbols of death 3 Colours used to represent death 4 See also Images that represent death Various images are... skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on A greeting card is a folded card featuring a message of greeting or other sentiment. They are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas or other holidays. Hallmark Cards is the largest producer of greeting cards in the U.S. See also Cardmaking Categories: Stub | Stationery | Ephemera ... greeting cards from the late nineteenth century.

Foods

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Candy apples

Because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest, Candy apples are a common treat at Halloween because the holiday comes in the wake of the annual apple harvest. They are made by rolling whole apples in a sticky candy coating, and sometimes then rolling them in nuts or other small savories or confections, and allowing them to cool... candy apples (also known as toffee apples) are a common treat at Halloween. They are made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, and sometimes then rolling them in nuts. At one time candy apples were a common treat given to children, but this practice rapidly waned after widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples that they would pass out to children. The vast majority of the reported cases turned out to be hoaxes, and the few that were real caused only minor injuries, but many parents were under the assumption that the practice was common. At the peak of this hysteria, some hospitals were offering to x-ray children's Halloween haul at no cost in order to look for such items.

A Halloween custom which has survived unchanged to this day in Ireland is the baking (or more often nowadays the purchase) of a barmbrack (Irish "báirín breac"). This is a light Fruitcake is a heavy cake made of dried or candied fruits and nuts that are soaked in brandy or rum, often used in the celebration of weddings and Christmas. The earliest recipe from ancient Rome lists pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and raisins that were mixed into barley mash. In the... fruit cake into which a plain ring is placed before baking. It is said that whoever finds this ring will find his or her true love during the following year.

Cultural history

Celtic observation of Samhain

In the Druidry or Druidism was the religion of the ancient druids, the priestly class in ancient Celtic and Gallic societies through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in the British Isles. Druidic practices were part of the culture of all the tribal peoples called Keltoi and Galatai by... Druidic religion of the ancient Celts, the new year began with the winter season of Samhain (pron: sow-Ain) is the winter season of the ancient Celts. The name is also used for one of the sabbats in the Neo-Pagan wheel of the year. Celts According to the Celtic calendar, the year was divided into two halves, the dark half, consisting of Samhain (winter... Samhain on November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. November Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20... November 1. Just as shorter days signified the start of the new year, sundown also meant the start of a new day; therefore the harvest festival began every year on the night of October 31. Druids in the British Isles would light fires and offer sacrifices of crops, animals and sometimes humans, and as they danced around the fires, the season of the sun would pass and the season of darkness would begin.

When the morning of November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. November Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20... November 1 arrived, the Druids would give an ember from their fires to each family who would then take it home to start a new cooking fire. These fires were intended to keep the homes warm and free from evil A spirit or spiritual being is a non-corporeal entity found in many religions and belief systems throughout the world. The word has many connections to the concept of the soul, with the difference that a spirit is not necessarily linked to a human or other corporeal being. As the... spirits such as " In Irish mythology, the sídhe (pronounced shee) are a supernatural race, quite distinct from humankind. There are a number of different types of sídhe: the sluagh sídhe, the fairy host or Wild Hunt, can fly through the air and shift shape at will, the sídhe who... Sidhe" (pronounced "shee," most notable of which are the beán sidhe or This article describes the banshee of Irish and Scottish mythology. For other uses, see A banshee is a woman in Irish mythology that made an appearance before a death in the family; well-known for a mournful cry or wail by which this death is heralded. Banshee is a comic... banshees), because at this time of year it was believed that the invisible "gates" between this world and the spirit world were opened and free movement between both worlds was possible.

A bonfire or balefire is a large controlled outdoor fire made from bales of straw or wood. The word is believed to be a corruption of bone fire deriving from a Celtic midsummer festival where animal bones were burnt to ward off evil spirits. In Great Britain, bonfires are particularly... Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. Villagers cast the bones of the slaughtered cattle upon the flames; the word "bonfire" is thought to derive from these " Bone fires is believed by some to be the origin of the word bonfires. Bone fires were fires lit with bones instead of wood and were used for pagan ceremonies. Categories: Religion stubs | Mythology stubs | Paganism ... bone fires." With the bonfire ablaze, the villagers extinguished all other fires. Each family then solemnly lit their hearth from the common flame, thus bonding the families of the village together. Hundreds of fires are still lit each year in Ireland on Halloween night.

Neopaganism (sometimes Neo-Paganism, meaning New Paganism) is a heterogeneous group of religions which attempt to revive ancient, mainly European pre-Christian religions. As such it is considered a subcategory of Paganism. The term is used by academics and many adherents to denote those Pagan traditions which are largely modern... Neopagans still celebrate the In neopaganism, a Sabbat is one of the eight major seasonal festivals which make up the Wheel of the Year. These include the solstices and equinoxes, and four additional festivals sometimes referred to as the cross-quarter days. The word derives from Old English sabat from Old French sabbat from... sabbat of Samhain on Halloween, as well as also taking part in secular Halloween activities.

Norse Autumn Blót

In the old Topics in Norse mythology Aesir (gods) Balder, Bor, Brage, Bure, Byleist, Dagr, Delling, Forseti, Heimdall, Hermod, Höder, Hönir, Kvasir, Lodur, Magni, Meili, Modi, Odr, Odin, Ríg, Thor, Tyr, Vali, Ve, Vidar, Vile Ásynjur (goddesses) Bil, Eir, Frigg, Fulla, Gefjon, Gna, Idun, Jord, Lin, Lofn, Nanna, Natt, Rind... Norse religion and its modern revival, Ásatrú, the day now known as Halloween was a blót which involved sacrifices to the gods and the blessing of food.

Halloween customs

Observance of Halloween faded in the South of England from the (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. During this period, the power of England and the United Provinces increased; while that of Spain and Portugal declined. Similarly, the power... 17th century onwards, being replaced by the commemoration of the The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 involved a desperate but failed attempt by a group of provincial English Catholic extremists to kill King James I of England, his family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy in one fell swoop by blowing up the Houses of Parliament during the State Opening. It... Gunpowder Plot on November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining. November Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20... November 5. However it remained popular in Scotland, Ireland and the North of England. It is only in the last decade that it has become popular in the South of England again, although in an entirely Americanized version.

The custom survives most accurately in Ireland, where the last Monday of October is a public holiday. All schools close for the following week for mid-term, commonly called the Halloween Break. As a result Ireland is the only country where children never have school on Halloween and are therefore free to celebrate it in the ancient and time-honored fashion.

The custom of This article needs cleanup. Please edit this article to conform to a higher standard of article quality. Trick or Treat, also known as Guising, is an activity for children on Halloween, in which they are dressed up in costumes, often of supposedly malevolent supernatural beings such as ghosts, demons... trick-or-treating is thought to have evolved from the European custom called souling, similar to the Wassailing is the practice of going door-to-door singing Christmas carols and requesting in return wassail or some other form of refreshment. In modern times it is most commonly known through reference in various traditional Christmas carols (e.g., Here we come a-wassailing / among the leaves so green... wassailing customs associated with Yule is the winter solstice Blót (celebration) in Asatru, the pagan practices of the Germanic peoples prior to the arrival of Christianity. Today, it is also one of the eight solar holidays, or sabbats, of Neopaganism. In modern neopaganism, Yule is celebrated on the winter solstice: in the northern... Yuletide. On November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. November Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20... November 2, All Souls Day, Beggars would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes" - square pieces of bread with currants. Christians would promise to say prayers on behalf of dead relatives helping the soul's passage to heaven. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits at the Samhain. See Puck is a mischievous pre-Christian nature spirit, a woodwose in the archetype of the Horned God. The pagan trickster was reimagined in Old English puca (cf. Old Norse puki, Christianized as devil) as a kind of half-tamed woodland sprite, leading folk astray with echoes and lights in nighttime... Puck (mythology).

In Celtic parts of western Région Bretagne Details Information Capital: Rennes Population - Total - Density 2,906,197(1999 census) 3,011,000(1.1.2004 estimates) 107 /km² Area 27 208 km² Arrondissements 15 Cantons 201 Communes 1 268 President of the regional council Jean-Yves Le Drian Départements... Brittany. Samhain is still heralded by the baking of Kornigou are cakes baked in the shape of antlers to commemorate the god of winter shedding his cuckold horns as he returns to his kingdom in the Otherworld. ... kornigou. Kornigou are cakes baked in the shape of antlers to commemorate the god of winter shedding his "cuckold" horns as he returns to his kingdom in the Otherworld.

"Punkie Night"

"Punkie Night" is observed on the last Thursday is the day of the week between Wednesday and Friday. Its name is derived from the name of the Norse/Germanic god Thor. By some conventions (see ISO 8601), the Thursdays of a year determine the week numbering: week 1 is defined as the week that contains the first... Thursday in October Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 2005 October is the tenth month of the year in... October in the village of Hinton St. George in the Originally, a county was the land under the jurisdiction of a count (in Great Britain, an earl, though the original earldoms covered larger areas) by reason of that office. The term has since tended to represent a tertiary geographical unit of administration intermediate between the larger, secondary state or province... county of This page is about the county of Somerset in the United Kingdom. For other meanings of Somerset, see Somerset (disambiguation). Somerset Geography Status: Ceremonial & (smaller) Administrative County Region: South West England Area: - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area Ranked 7th 4,171 km² Ranked 12th 3,451 km² Admin HQ... Somerset in England (In detail) (In detail) Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Official language None; English is de facto Capital London Capitals coordinates 51° 30 N, 0° 10 W Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (2001... England. On this night, children carry lanterns made from hollowed-out Mangelwurzel or Mangold wurzel is a type of root vegetable of the family Chenopodiaceae, genus Beta (beets). It has a history in England of being used for sport (mangold hurling), for celebration (mangold lanterns at punkie night in Somerset) and for animal fodder. It is also the source of the... mangel-wurzels (a kind of A beet (called beetroot in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, as well as table beet, garden beet, blood turnip or red beet) is a plant of the genus Beta of which both the leaves and root are edible. There are many varieties. The word beet often refers to... beet; in modern days, pumpkins are used) with faces carved into them. They bring these around the village, collecting money and singing the punkie song. Punkie is derived from Pumpkins A pumpkin is a gourd (Cucurbitaceae), most commonly orange in colour when ripe, that grows from a trailing vine. It is traditionally used to carve Jack olanterns for use as part of Halloween celebrations, but is also popular in cooking. Contents // 1 Introduction 2 Pumpkins and squashes 3... pumpkin or punk, meaning From Old English tynder, easily combustible material used for starting a fire. French Amadou. See also: punk, spunk, punkwood, touchwood, char, fire, campfire, kindling Categories: Procedural knowledge | Stub ... tinder.

Though the custom is only attested over the last century, and the mangel-wurzel itself was introduced into English agriculture in the late 18th century, "Punkie Night" appears to be much older even than the fable that now accounts for it. The story goes that the wives of Hinton St. George went looking for their wayward husbands at the fair held nearby at Chiselborough, the last Thursday in October, but first hollowed out mangel wurzels in order to make lanterns to light their way. The drunken husbands saw the eerie lights, thought they were "goolies" (the restless spirits of children who had died before they were baptized), and fled in terror. Children carry the punkies now. The event has spread since about 1960 to the neighboring village of Chiselborough.

Sources: on-line report from the Western Gazette and a National Geographic radio segment. Chiselborough Fair is memorialized by Fair Place in the village. The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) reported that there was "a fair for horses and cattle on the last Thursday in October."

"Mischief night"

The night before Halloween, known in some areas as "Mischief night" or "Devil's Night," is often associated with destructive activities performed by A separate article is about the punk band called The Adolescents. Adolescence is the transitional stage of development between childhood and full adulthood, representing the period of time during which a person is biologically adult but emotionally not at full maturity. The ages which are considered to be part of... adolescents. Some of the acts range from minor For Vandalism on Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Dealing with vandalism Vandalism is an act motivated by hostility to the arts and literature of a culture, or willful destruction or defacement of its built environment, construed to be in the spirit of the Germanic Vandals in their attacks on buildings of the... vandalism to Theft (also known as stealing) is, in general, the wrongful taking of someone elses property without that persons willful consent. In law, it is usually the broadest term for a crime against property. It is a general term that encompasses offences such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery... theft, or even Violence is a general term to describe actions, usually deliberate, that cause or intend to cause injury to people, animals, or non-living objects. Violence is often associated with aggression. There are essentially two kinds of violence: random violence, which describes small-scale acts of random or targeted violence, and... violence. Many youths involved in mischief night would be considered too old for traditional This article needs cleanup. Please edit this article to conform to a higher standard of article quality. Trick or Treat, also known as Guising, is an activity for children on Halloween, in which they are dressed up in costumes, often of supposedly malevolent supernatural beings such as ghosts, demons... trick-or-treating. The most common wrong-doing is trashing people's houses, lawns, and trees within property with tons of Toilet paper is a tissue paper product designed for the cleansing of the anus after defecation or the genitals after urination. A roll of toilet paper. Toilet paper possesses a different composition than facial tissue. Toilet paper is designed to break apart when wet so as to not clog drain... toilet paper.

A dialect survey (http://hcs.harvard.edu/~golder/dialect/staticmaps/q_110.html) begun in 1999 by This article is about the institution of higher learning in the United States. For other uses of the name Harvard, see Harvard (disambiguation). Harvard University Motto Veritas (Truth) Established September 8, 1636 School type Private President Lawrence H. Summers Location Cambridge, Mass., USA Campus Urban Enrollment 6,650 undergraduate, 13... Harvard University indicates that there are a number of terms for this particular day of the year, but that the vast majority (70.38%) have no special word for it.

Religious viewpoints

The majority of Christians ascribe no doctrinal significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely secular entity devoted to celebrating imaginary spooks and handing out candy. The secular celebration of Halloween may loom larger in contemporary imagination than does All Saints Day.

The mingling of Christian and pagan traditions in the early centuries following the founding of the Christian Church have left many modern Christians uncertain of how they should react towards this holiday. Some The neutrality of this article is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. Fundamentalist Christianity is a fundamentalist movement, especially within American Protestantism. The term, Fundamentalist, tends to have a variable meaning. Historically, and for those who use the name to describe themselves, a Fundamentalist Christian is... fundamentalist Christian groups consider Halloween a Pagan holiday and may refer to it as "the most evil day of the year," refusing to allow their children to participate. Among these groups it is believed to have developed Alternate meaning: Satan is also the name of a genus of catfish. See: Satan eurystomus. Satan (שָׂטָן Standard Hebrew Satan, Tiberian Hebrew Śāṭān; Aramaic שִׂטְנָא Śiṭnâ: both words mean Adversary; accuser... Satanic influences. In some areas, complaints from these fundamentalist Christians that the schools were endorsing a Pagan religion have led the schools to stop distributing UNICEF boxes.

Other Christians, however, continue to connect this holiday with All Saints Day. Some modern Christian churches commonly offer a "fall festival" or harvest-themed alternative to Halloween celebrations. Still other Christians hold the view that the holiday is not Satanic in origin or practice and that it holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children.

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