Avery: Blog Of The Day

       A long time ago in England, Halloween was a Christian holiday known as All Saints' Day.  It was a day where many people in England (almost all) would go to a graveyard somewhere and pray.  They would pray to the dead people from their families, their friends and many other people.  They thought that their prayers would comfort the dead and they would feel better.  It also made the living people feel good, because they thought they were comforting others (living and dead).
        Later on, the day picked up more traditions from Samhain, a Celtic festival that celebrates the start of winter.  Much, much later on, in the 20th century, the holiday came to North America.  North America added on lots of other traditions like trick-or-treating, pumpkin carving, dressing up in amazing costumes, etc.  Now All Saints' Day is called Halloween.  The "een" in Halloween is old English for "Saint".  Soon the completely new traditions went back to England and they started celebrating Halloween too.  Some people still celebrate All Saints' Day in other countries.
       The first jack-o-lanterns where not made out of pumpkins.  They were turnips.  People would carve small faces into turnips and people put miniature candles inside of them.  Here is a picture of a jack-o-lantern made out of a turnip.

      As you can see, the first jack-o-lanterns were not as creative as they are now.  It must have been very difficult to carve faces into a small turnip.  According to an Irish legend, Jack-o-lanterns were named after a scary man named Jack.  He was once known as the man that tricked the devil, so he wasn't allowed into Heaven or Hell.

       Most people would say that the Halloween colors are orange and black.  They are correct, but there is also gold and brown.  The orange stands for strength and endurance, while the black stands for death and darkness.  Brown and gold colors would stand for harvest.  Mostly the harvest of pumpkins, for people to carve.

       A long time ago, girls thought that they could see their "future husband" on Halloween night.  They would hang up a wet sheet or cloth on a line in front of a fire.  They would see the shadow of their future husband.  They would think of one person and say that it's their shadow.  It is just their shadow hanging over the cloth when they step back.  If they are up close and their shadow is big they think they are going to meet a big man.