幽灵，面具，南瓜灯笼， 永远神秘的万圣节。只是，这些都是怎么来的呢？

Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of? And how did this peculiar custom originate?

Q: Where does the word "Halloween" originally come from?
A: The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hallows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints.

Q: Why is Halloween celebrated, and how?
A: It was believed that during the period from October 31 through to November 1,the boundaries between our world and the world of the dead were weakened, allowing spirits of the recently dead to cross over and possess (缠绕） the living.

In order to make themselves and their homes less inviting to these spirits, the ancient Celts (凯尔特人) extinguished the fires in their homes to make them cold and undesirable, and built huge sacred （神圣的) bonfires (篝火), where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices (祭品) to the Celtic deities (神). During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth (壁炉) fires from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.They also dressed up in bizarre (古怪的) costumes and parade through their villages causing destruction in order to scare off any recently departed souls who might be prowling (搜寻) for bodies to inhabit.

Q: How did the custom of "trick-or-treating" come into being?
A: The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants (醋栗). The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors (赠送人). At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo （地狱的边境) for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite (促进，加速) a soul's passage to heaven.

The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as "going-a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale(麦芽酒), food, and money.

Q: And what about the jack-o?lantern (把南瓜挖空并雕成人面形的杰克灯） custom?
A: The jack-o?lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore (民间传说). As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster(臭名昭著的酒鬼和骗子), tricked Satan (撒旦) into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping (困住) the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.

According to the folktale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his mischievous (有害的) ways in life, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember (余火未尽的煤块或木块) to light his way through the frigid (寒冷的) darkness. Theember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip (萝卜) to keep it glowing longer.

Q: But why people use pumpkins instead of turnips nowadays?
A: The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful and easier to carve out than turnips. So the jack-o?lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.