Halloween
Halloween is celebrated on the night of October 31st. Originally it was celebrated in Britain and in the USA, but now it is also celebrated in other countries, including Italy.
The word Halloween comes from All Hallows’ Eve; hallow means holy and eve means evening, and celebrates the eve of All Saints’ Day.
Halloween belongs to the old Celtic tradition, when people believed that on the night of 31st October, the dead came out of their graves and scared people on Earth.
No one is scared now, but in memory of the ancient tradition people, adults as well as children and teenagers, wear masks and costumes.
The most popular costumes are witches, ghosts, skeletons, clowns, bats, spiders, black cats, owls and pirates.
Children also like going trick-or-treating; that is to say, children go from door to door saying trick or treat, which means: if you don’t give me a treat - that is a small gift - I will play a trick on you.
Jack O’ Lantern is the most popular symbol of Halloween. The legend has it that an Irish ghost named Jack liked to play horrible tricks on people, and for this reason he was banished from both Heaven and Hell, and condemned to walk on Earth carrying a lantern.
If you want to make a Jack O’ Lantern, take a big orange pumpkin, carve two eyes, a nose and a mouth, then put a burning candle inside the pumpkin.
If you want to make a Jack O’ Lantern, take a big orange pumpkin, carve two eyes, a nose and a mouth, then put a burning candle inside the pumpkin.