HALLOWEEN

Halloween, also called All Hallows' Evening is the eve of All Saints' Day, October 31st. In ancient Britain and Ireland, a Celtic festival was held at the end of the summer with huge bonfires set onhilltops to frighten away evil spirits. The date was connected with the return of herds from pastures. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnalfestival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds roaming about.
But Halloween was also thought to be the most favourable time fordivinations concerning marriage, luck, health and death. It was the only day of the whole year on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes.
Gradually, Halloween has become a secularobservance, and many customs and practices have derived into commercial motives such as ghost disguises, pumpkins of all sizes, and plastic witches that are sold at department stores and small shopseverywhere. Our consumer society has appropriated the traditional motives of Halloween, very much like it did with Christmas traditions, and turned them into designs for the decoration of homes. Children havebeen used as potential consumers of all these objects by society.
HALLOWEEN (TRADUCCION)
Halloween, también llamado de Todos los Santos de la tarde es la víspera de Todos los Santos, 31 de octubre.En la antigua Bretaña e Irlanda, un festival celta se llevó a cabo a finales del verano con grandes hogueras establecidos en las colinas para ahuyentar a los malos espíritus. La fecha en que se conectacon el regreso de los rebaños de los pastos. Se suponía que las almas de los muertos para volver a sus hogares en este día, y el festival de otoño adquieren significación siniestra, con losfantasmas, brujas, duendes, gatos negros, hadas, y demonios de todo tipo vagando.
Pero de Halloween también se cree que es el momento más favorable para adivinaciones sobre el matrimonio, la suerte, la salud...