| In the end of October - early November, the British celebrate two of the most "English" festivals (or rather, nights) - Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night. In the dissimilarity of the origin of circumstances, these holidays are close to each other in format, but perhaps there is an alliance in their very nature.
According to notions of the British, on the eve of All Saints' Day - evil spirits are particularly active on the intervening Halloween night of October 31 and November 1. Witches sit on brooms and fly to the Sabbath, the devils rage, house spirits and ghosts do not give rest. Is it not strange that, the forces of hell are like they are mobilizing their forces against Christian armies? In ancient times, an ancient Celtic pagan holiday was celebrated on this night. After the baptism of Angles and Saxons, Celtic pre-Christian deities were declared evil spirits, but fear of them - fear of the features of traditional Christian demonology - did not occur in people. Moreover, good Christians do scare evil spirits, witches, vampires, dead men and sorceresses.
It is not surprising that the Halloween night is especially popular amongst children. Those, who are still afraid of the little devils of their neighbors, sought the help of the magic of wax candles, placed in lighting fixtures, made from pumpkins. The eyes and mouth, made on pumpkins, make them look like the head of strange monsters and therefore, could scare a neighbor. And in general, Halloween – is a festival of lights, in addition to pumpkin lights, people are armed with sparklers and organize fireworks. In those long and dark autumn nights, light scare off evil spirits from human habitation.
Alas, Halloween's popularity is not so great in the UK as it was before. On the other hand, after moving to the USA, Halloween found a warm reception and became one of the most popular holidays. And another holiday - Guy Fawkes Night - is exclusively an English holiday. How could it be otherwise, when it is inextricably linked with British history.
According to legend, the so-called "Gunpowder Plot" against the Catholic King James I was exposed on November 5, 1605. While the conspirators were real people and the personal items and autographs of the most famous amongst them - Guy Fawkes, are stored in the Oxford and London museums, the offence could not be proved. Nevertheless, this subject with the plot received the most fantastic continuation.
According to the version, known to every English schoolboy, Catholics, sought to revive their faith in Protestant Britain, and for this purpose had to assassinate King James I. They had kept a barrel of gunpowder under the parliament building with an aim to blow them on the opening day of parliament - it usually took place in early November. Someone called Guy Fawkes was prepared to carry out the explosion and he prepared himself conscientiously to execute the plan, which is so identical to the modern terrorist acts. However, one of the conspirators decided to warn his cousin, who worked in the Parliament. The relative issued the alarm and disrupted the plans of bombers. Guy Fawkes was tortured for a long time and then executed. It is noteworthy that though he was hanged, for some reasons, later they believed that the conspirators were burnt, and now a stuffed Guy Fawkes is burnt every year in the evening on November 5. Maybe the sparks from the fading candles of Halloween fell on the wick of the gunpowder barrel, since the British celebrate "Guy Fawkes Night" with fun in a big way, while the children are the main spectators and participants.
Children start the preparations well in advance to celebrate the holiday. Each gang prepares its own effigies and putting it on a trolley, the children collect money for the morning of November 5 for entertainment and on clothing for the effigy. At the same time, they read out funny poems and sing songs about Guy Fawkes. Denying small handouts to children is not acceptable. In the evening, the kids build large stacks of straw, place the effigy on it and set fire to it. Fireworks are organized in the vicinity of a bonfire. Immediately, hawkers start selling the special food of this evening - potatoes, baked on the fire in the norm, which is cut and stuffed with salad and cheese. Apparently, some ancient agricultural festival - probably, the old Celtic festival on the completion of the autumn agricultural works - was moved from the 31st of October to the 5th of November and happily took the name of the unfortunate Guy Fawkes day. And although, general opposition of Protestants and Catholics have long lost their sharpness in the UK, the holiday in Northern Ireland is unlikely to have such an inoffensive nature. |
Despite Halloween being just around the corner, movie theaters are offering virtually no horror this weekend.
