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I'm probably a moron for asking this, but do they celebrate halloween in europe?
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"Mal nommer les choses, c'est accroître le malheur du monde" - Camus (thanks Davout)
"I thought you must be dead ..." he said simply. "So did I for a while," said Ford, "and then I decided I was a lemon for a couple of weeks. A kept myself amused all that time jumping in and out of a gin and tonic." -
Ancient Origins
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas.Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
"Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ Braindead -
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In France, hardly. There do be a few kids who try to extort my sweets but I won't let them in.Clash of Civilization team member
(a civ-like game whose goal is low micromanagement and good AI)
web site http://clash.apolyton.net/frame/index.shtml and forum here on apolyton)Comment
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Spoken like the Frenchmen we've all come to admire and respect.
Most parents are taking their children to school, or other, functions. At least here they are.Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.
"Hating America is something best left to Mobius. He is an expert Yank hater.
He also hates Texans and Australians, he does diversify." ~ BraindeadComment
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Actually, when I left Germany in 1995, Halloween was actually starting to catch on with the locals...of course, I was then stationed in Kaiserslautern - which has a high population of U.S. servicemen/women - so it might have been an isolated situation...____________________________
"One day if I do go to heaven, I'm going to do what every San Franciscan does who goes to heaven - I'll look around and say, 'It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco.'" - Herb Caen, 1996
"If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God." - Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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those are lame. In response to Slowws post.
I remember when I was a kid they had a big scare one year about men putting razors and pins in the candy. So one year I ended up doing some school function. Lame.
Cool kids risk getting run over by a car, kidnapped, or poisoned by some lunatic.
I never went with my parents (it didn't help I had irresponsible parents). never wore reflective clothing (defeats the purpose of a costume), or did anything safe. And I turned out okay.
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Originally posted by Dis
I never went with my parents (it didn't help I had irresponsible parents). never wore reflective clothing (defeats the purpose of a costume), or did anything safe. And I turned out okay.
At least you are okay so far Dis.
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"One day if I do go to heaven, I'm going to do what every San Franciscan does who goes to heaven - I'll look around and say, 'It ain't bad, but it ain't San Francisco.'" - Herb Caen, 1996
"If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God." - Archbishop Desmond Tutu
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Can't speak for other Euro countries - in Germany "not officially" )like x-mas or so), but it became more popular in recent years and will probably continue to do so, although partly because of media hype and due to the fact it means good business.Originally posted by Kaak
I'm probably a moron for asking this, but do they celebrate halloween in europe?BlahComment
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Samhain (pronounced sow-in)
THEY!!111 OMG WTF LOL LET DA NOMADS AND TEH S3D3NTARY PEOPLA BOTH MAEK BITER AXP3REINCES
AND TEH GRAAT SINS OF THERE [DOCTRINAL] INOVATIONS BQU3ATH3D SMAL
AND!!1!11!!! LOL JUST IN CAES A DISPUTANT CALS U 2 DISPUT3 ABOUT THEYRE CLAMES
DO NOT THAN DISPUT3 ON THEM 3XCAPT BY WAY OF AN 3XTARNAL DISPUTA!!!!11!! WTFComment
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ahhh yes, soon the whole world will be americanized.
Yes I know the origins of halloween. But seriously, it was the americans who turned it into what it is.Comment
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Yeah, evil cultural imperialism it is!
BlahComment
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I have never dressed up or did anything for halloween.
A few times at parties I wore an Hawaii shirt and claimed I was dressed up.. so I should I say I never did any fancy dress up.
JMJon Miller-
I AM.CANADIAN
GENERATION 35: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social experiment.Comment
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hawaii shirt.
as an adult I have never dressed up. But then again, no one ever invites me to parties.Comment
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My favorite adult Halloween costume:
I had the chicken hat. So I painted my face white, and wore a white shirt and told everyone I got laid for Halloween.
The following year I wore a Kiss t-shirt (ya know the band) and a french beret, and went as a French Kiss.
Captain of Team Apolyton - ISDG 2012
When I was younger I thought curfews were silly, but now as the daughter of a young woman, I appreciate them. - RahComment
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