Page 27 - JPGS Magazine
P. 27
UNUSUAL EVENTS
Everyone already knows about On the night of 31st October
Christmas, Easter and they celebrated Samhain, when it
Halloween. Does anyone know is believed that the ghosts of the
about La Tomatina (the tomato dead returned to haunt earth.
battle) or Cheese Rolling They thought the sprits caused
festival? These weird yet trouble and damaged crops.
wonderful festivals are treated During some Celtic celebrations
in some parts of the globe as of Samhain, villagers disguised
importantly as Christmas. themselves in costumes made of
animal skins to drive away
Origins phantom visitors; banquet tables
All festivals have an origin. were prepared and edible
Halloween’s origins started at offerings were left out to
the time of the ancient Celtic appease unwelcome spirits. In
festival of Samhain (pronounced later centuries, people began
sow-in). The Celts celebrated dressing as ghosts, demons and
their New Year on 1st other evil creatures, performing
November. This day marked the antics in exchange for food and
end of summer and harvest and drink. This led to
the beginning of the dark, cold “trick-or-treating”.
winter, a time of year that was
often associated with human
death and famine. Celts believed
that on the night before the New
Year, the boundary between the
worlds of the living and the dead
broke.
