Halloween is a well-known holiday all over the world even though it is not celebrated in every country. The main traditions of Halloween are wearing costumes,
carving pumpkins, telling stories, and going trick-or-treating1. But how did they start? Like Halloween itself, the traditions began from older customs in Ireland, Scotland, and England. Different religions have also helped
shape Halloween
into the holiday we know today.
Modern Halloween began as Samhain, an Irish festival that celebrates the end of harvest2. During the festival, people would wear costumes or masks to make themselves look like evil spirits.
Carving pumpkins started long ago with the Celts, who
were rumored to be head hunters. They believed that on October 31, spirits walked among the living. Skulls3 of enemies were taken out and
displayed on this day to scare away any evil spirits that came to the house. After the Celts stopped collecting skulls, they began carving faces out of gourds4. When their descendents5 went to North America, they discovered that pumpkins were larger and easier to carve. The tradition of the jack-o'-lantern6 has been
carried on ever since.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow7 tells the tale of a headless ghost that rides a horse. It
wandered around the countryside with a pumpkin on its shoulder. Every Halloween, children enjoy being frightened by this scary story.
即使不是每個國家都會慶祝萬聖節，它仍是個舉世聞名的節日。萬聖節主要的傳統活動為變裝、刻南瓜、說故事及討糖果。不過它們是怎麼開始的？正如同萬聖節本身一樣，這些傳統源自於愛爾蘭、蘇格蘭與英格蘭境內更古老的習俗。不同的宗教信仰也有助於使萬聖節成為我們今日所熟悉的節日。
現代的萬聖節起源於Samhain節，這是一個慶祝收割結束的愛爾蘭慶典。在慶典當中，人們會變裝或戴面具，試著讓自己看起來像惡靈一般。
雕刻南瓜是許久以前由凱爾特人所起，據說他們皆為獵頭族（編按：凱爾特人是歐洲古老民族之一，其分佈地甚廣）。他們認為在十月三十一日這天，鬼魂會現身於人間。凱爾特人會將敵人的頭骨拿出來展示，用以嚇走任何接近民舍的惡靈。凱爾特人停止蒐集頭骨之後，便開始在葫蘆上刻出人臉。當凱爾特人的後裔到了北美洲時，他們發現南瓜更大也更易於雕刻。自此以後，南瓜燈籠的傳統也就這麼延續下去。
《斷頭谷傳奇》述說著關於一位無頭幽靈騎士的故事。它的肩上頂著一顆南瓜，在鄉間到處縱馬馳騁。每年萬聖節，孩子們都喜歡被這恐怖故事嚇得直打哆嗦。
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