About Halloween...

Another story says that Halloween originated in Ireland in the 5th century BC when Celts celebrated New year. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were stopped during that time, allowing ghosts to mix with the living. Naturally, the living did not want to mix with the ghosts, so on the night of October 31, Celts made their houses cold and unwelcoming. They dressed up in horrifying costumes and noisily walked around the neighborhood to frighten away the ghosts. The Romans continued the tradition, but they blended it with some other Roman traditions that took place in October, such as the day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which explains the origin of bobbing for apples on Halloween. Bobbing apples is a game children and adults play at Halloween. They try to grab a floating or hanging apple with the teeth and even try to bite a piece off the apple. Of course, the person who takes bigger bites off the apple wins. Once there was a holiday on November 2 called the All Souls Day. They Poor used to walk from on village to another begging for “soul cakes,” made out of pieces of bread with raisins. The relatives of a dead person would give out soul cakes to beggars. The more cakes the beggars received, the more prayers they promised to say to help a soul go to heaven. The custom of trick-or-treating originated in the ninth-century. Nowadays children dressed in fancy costumes go around the neighborhood and say trick or treat at each door. They usually ask for sweets and chocolates. Neighbors usually treat them to the sweets and chocolates to avoid tricks. The origin of modem Jack-o-lantern goes back to people who were out in the night imitating fairies. Now it is represented by the symbolic pumpkin with a candle placed inside and pieces cut out on the sides to make it look like a mischievous face. Enjoy Halloween!