第1个回答 2011-10-28
Next to Christmas, Halloween is the most commercialized celebration in the United States and Canada. This ancient festival originated far from North America however, and centuries before the first European set foot on the continent.
The ancient Druids 督伊德教(古代高卢人与不列颠人的一种宗教)的教徒 who inhabited what we now call Great Britain placed great importance on the passing of one season to the next, holding "Fire Festivals" which were celebrated for three days (two days on either side of the day itself).
One of these festivals was called Samhain (pronounced Sha-Von) and it took place on October 31 through to November 1. During this period, it was believed that the boundaries between our world and the world of the dead were weakened, allowing spirits of the recently dead to cross over and possess the living.
In order to make themselves and their homes less inviting to these wayward spirits, the ancient Celts（凯尔特人）would douse （插入水中, 把弄熄, 弄湿）all their fires. There was also a secondary purpose to this, after extinguishing all their fires, they would re-light them from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning at Usinach, in the Middle of Ireland.
Samhain was considered to be a gateway not only from the land of the dead to the land of the living, but also between Summer and Fall/Winter. For the Druids, this was the last gasp （喘息, 气喘）of summer (it was also the Celtic New Year), so therefore they made sure it went out with a bang before they had to button down （把...弄清楚）for the winter ahead.
They would dress up in bizarre costumes and parade through their villages causing destruction in order to scare off any recently departed souls who might be prowling （巡游）for bodies to inhabit, in addition to burning animals and other offerings to the Druidic deities（神, 神性）. It is also a popular belief that they would burn people who they believed to be possessed, but this has largely been debunked （揭穿, 拆穿假面具, 暴露）as myth.<
第3个回答 推荐于2017-12-16
Halloween Day 万圣节
Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday has had many influences from many cultures over the centuries. From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days. Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived the Celts (凯尔特人), who worshipped (崇拜) nature and had many gods, with the sun god as their favorite. They celebrated their New Year on November 1st which was made every year with a festival and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of "the season of darkness and cold." On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished (消失). The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). They would light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin. When the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their fires to each family who would then take them home to start new cooking fires. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from evil spirits. The November 1st festival was called Samhain (pronounced "sow-en"). The festival would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals. This festival would become the first Halloween. The Celtics would carry a lantern (灯笼) when they walked on the eve of October 31. These lanterns were carved out of big turnips (大头菜) and the lights were believed to keep the evil spirits away. Children would carve faces in the turnips. These carved turnips were called "jack-o-lanterns本回答被提问者采纳
第4个回答 2011-11-02
Halloween Day 万圣节
Halloween is one of the oldest holidays with origins going back thousands of years. The holiday has had many influences from many cultures over the centuries. From the Roman's Pomona Day, to the Celtic festival of Samhain, to the Christian holidays of All Saints and All Souls Days. Hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain and Northern France, lived the Celts (凯尔特人), who worshipped (崇拜) nature and had many gods, with the sun god as their favorite. They celebrated their New Year on November 1st which was made every year with a festival and marked the end of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of "the season of darkness and cold." On October 31st after the crops were all harvested and stored for the long winter the cooking fires in the homes would be extinguished (消失). The Druids, the Celtic priests, would meet in the hilltop in the dark oak forest (oak trees were considered sacred). They would light new fires and offer sacrifices of crops and animals. As they danced around the fires, the season of the sun passed and the season of darkness would begin. When the morning arrived the Druids would give an ember from their fires to each family who would then take them home to start new cooking fires. These fires would keep the homes warm and free from evil spirits. The November 1st festival was called Samhain (pronounced "sow-en"). The festival would last for 3 days. Many people would parade in costumes made from the skins and heads of their animals. This festival would become the first Halloween. The Celtics would carry a lantern (灯笼) when they walked on the eve of October 31. These lanterns were carved out of big turnips (大头菜) and the lights were believed to keep the evil spirits away. Children would carve faces in the turnips. These carved turnips were called "jack-o-lanterns .