Can Do's Wonder Part 3

Research-
Halloween History

They celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

To commemorate the event, Druids built a huge sacred bonfire, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.



The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, and to the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that are practiced today on Halloween.

Borrowing from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.

Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating sweet treats.

Vocabulary:

Morphed
Change smoothly from one image to another by small gradual steps using computer animation techniques.

Artifact

An object made by a human being, typically one of cultural or historical interest.

Biracial
Concerning or containing members of two racial groups.

Sympathetic

Feeling, showing or expressing sympathy.

Illuminate

Light up.

Phony

Not genuine; fraudulent.

Technically

According to the facts or exact meaning of something; strictly.