No other holiday causes so much controversy and discussion. Adherents of the traditional Russian holidays consider it a useless American tradition, incomprehensible and frightening.
Halloween Holiday: Pros and Cons
The history of Halloween is much more ancient and significant than opponents of frivolous fun "in American way" imagine. The origins of the holiday lie in Celtic beliefs, and not in the historical traditions of America. With the history of the Celts are associated and the traditions of Halloween.
Even before the 9th century, the territory of modern France, England and Ireland was inhabited by the Celtic tribes. People lived according to the laws and time frames of nature, not being able to prolong the fertility of the warm season by creating greenhouses. Natural phenomena Celts explained the will and the relationship of the gods. According to the beliefs of the Celts, winter colds, they were due to the god of the dead, who every year on October 31 took the sun god into captivity. With the onset of twilight on this day, the passage between the kingdom of the dead and the living was opened, and the sun god descended into the subterranean realms, and the inhabitants of the kingdom of the dead were given the opportunity to enter the earth. Together with the souls of deceased relatives, who are eager to visit their relatives, evil spirits came to the earth. To protect themselves from evil spirits, the Celts disguised themselves: they put on skins of animals, painted their faces. At home all the lights were turned off, so as not to entice the spirits, but gathered themselves at the sacred protecting fire, which was dissolved by the priests. After the animal sacrifice, the Celts danced and had fun, trying not to fall asleep: it was believed that evil spirits could take a sleeping soul with them. Then each family took the sacred fire to their house: burning coals were put in a pumpkin, the glowing "eyes" of which scared the spirits away from people throughout their journey to the house.
It would be possible to finish the history of Halloween, but the second title of this holiday has its own story. "All Saints' Day" does not coincide with the day of the exit of the spirits to the earth, and this has its own explanation.
All Saints' Day
Several centuries later, the conquerors brought Christianity to the Celts. A Christian religion characterized by tolerance for other religions today, in those days of cruel rulers was the tool of the Pope, "the governors of God on earth." Historical holidays of the lands were uprooted, they were replaced by Christian holidays. To the inhabitants of the conquered lands forever forgot about their holiday, in the 7th century the Pope Boniface IV introduced the Christian holiday on November 1, the Day of All Saints, hoping thus to displace one holiday with another. The name of the holiday sounded like this: All Hallows Eve. On this day, it was necessary to remember all the saints and martyrs. Soon the name of the holiday was reduced to Hallowen, but it was not possible to supersede the traditional Celtic holiday.
So how many people are celebrating Halloween and how to celebrate it: as a day of remembrance of all
From the Christian holiday, there was nothing left but the name. Halloween is celebrated at the same time that celebrated it and the Celts, that is on the night of October 31 to November 1. The traditions of the "All Saints Day" also remained pagan: on this day it is customary to disguise themselves under any "evil spirits" to merge with spirits strolling through the streets. True, the range of "evil forces" has increased significantly since the time of the Celts, now all the famous magical forces of different cultures take legal part in the celebration. And this is true, because Halloween has long ceased to be a holiday of one people, and has become international, incorporating images of the "evil spirits" of various peoples.