Halloween is coming

Trick or Treat?

The word 'Halloween' is short for All Hallows Even and means 'The Eve of the Feast of All Hallows' [even is eve in Scots]. It has its roots in the Samhain festival, when the Celts, in Ireland and Britain, celebrated the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter.

It is celebrated every year on the 31st of October and according to traditions, on this day, contact can be made with the world of spirits, a bridge to the 'upper' and 'lower' worlds and therefore the connection with magic, and in general anything supernatural is pretty intense.

On Halloween, children wear scary costumes, hold lanterns and go from house to house asking for treats, asking 'Trick or Treat?' The dominant colors are orange and black. Orange symbolizes the autumn harvest and black death.

The hallmark of Halloween is the jack-o'-lanterns, which are carved out of pumpkins and are used to ward off evil spirits. The pumpkin custom has its roots in an Irish legend of Stingy Jack.

The Irish Barmbrack, a fruitcake, is the traditional Halloween sweet with a ring or coin hidden inside, which predicts the future to whoever finds it.

It is celebrated mainly in the USA, Ireland and the UK but in recent years it has spread to many countries, including Cyprus.