關於Halloween

關於Halloween,後悔沒有早把資料放上來。我個人不支持慶祝這個「節日」。如果我們考察歷史，就知道這個節日是與evil spirit有關的。人們害怕鬼，用燈籠等來嚇跑鬼。世界上的確有鬼，但人們不知道要敬畏哪一位，以至於向Evil Spirit屈服。欣慰的是，女兒今年不再吵著要去要糖了，因為她知道我們只應當敬畏耶和華神。希望這些資料對朋友們有幫助。

Dear Lord,May your Kindom come,Amen!

Traditions

In Scotland, folklore, including that of Halloween, revolves around the ancient Celtic belief in faeries (Sidhe, or Sith, in modern Gaelic). Children who ventured out carried a traditional lantern (samhnag) with a devil face carved into it to frighten away the evil spirits. Such Halloween lanterns were made from a turnip, or 「Neep」 in 「Lowland Scots,」 with a candle lit in the hollow inside. In modern times, however, such lanterns use pumpkins, as in North American traditions, possibly because it is easier to carve a face into a pumpkin than into a turnip. Due to this, the practice of hollowing out pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns may have its roots in this practice.

Houses were also protected with the same candle lanterns. If the spirits got past the protection of the lanterns, the Scottish custom was to offer the spirits parcels of food to leave and spare the house another year. Children, too, were given the added protection by disguising them as such creatures in order to blend in with the spirits. If children approached the door of a house, they were also given offerings of food (Halloween being a harvest festival), which served to ward off the potential spirits that may lurk among them. This is where the origin of the practice of Scottish 「guising」 (a word that comes from "disguising"), or going about in costume, arose. It is now a key feature of the tradition of trick-or-treating practised in North America.