1、History Halloween has origins in the ancient festival known as Samhain which is derived from Old Irish and means roughly summers end.This was a Gaelic festival celebrated mainly in Ireland and Scotland. The festival of Samhain is sometimes regarded as the Celtic New Year.The celebration has some ele

2、ments of a festival of the dead. The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through.,The familys ancestors were honoured and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off. It is b

3、elieved that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.,Samhain was also

4、a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. Bonfires（篝火） played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused（熄滅） and each home lit their hearth（爐臺(tái)） from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. Sometimes two bonfi

5、res would be built side-by-side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.,Trick-or-treating and guising Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. Children go in costume from house to house, asking for treats such as candy or sometime

6、s money, with the question, “Trick or treat?” The word “trick” refers to a threat to perform mischief （惡作?。﹐n the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. In some parts of Ireland and Scotland children still go guising.,Games and other activities There are several games traditionally assoc

7、iated with Halloween parties. One common game is dunking or apple bobbing, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin.A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and tryi

8、ng to drop the fork into an apple.,Another common game involves hanging up treacle (糖漿餡餅)or syrup-coated（涂了糖漿的） scones（烤餅） by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a very sticky face. Some games traditionally p

9、layed at Halloween are forms of divination(占卜). A traditional Irish and Scottish form of divining ones future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over ones shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouses name.,Unmarried wome

10、n were 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 marriage, a skull would appear. The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fi

11、xtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of TV series and specials with Halloween themes (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before the holiday, while new horror films, are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.,Symbols of

12、Halloween Halloween originated as a celebration connected with evil spirits. Witches flying on broomsticks with black cats, ghosts, goblins（小精靈）and skeletons have all evolved as symbols of Halloween.,They are popular trick-or-treat costumes and decorations for greeting cards and windows. Black is on

13、e of the traditional Halloween colors, probably because Halloween festivals and traditions took place at night. In the weeks before October 31, Americans decorate windows of houses and schools with silhouettes（輪廓）of witches and black cats. Pumpkins are also a symbol of Halloween. The pumpkin is an orange-colored squash, and orang