万圣节影响着我们每个人，在圣诞节中我们经常会看到各式各样的装饰和符号。南瓜灯、稻草人云云。你是否一度想知道这些标志性饰品是从何而来的呢？万圣节又是在什么时候起源的？为什么在这个节日里，我们必读得买糖果和盛装打扮呢？所有这些关于万圣节的问题都会在此给你一一答复哦。

　　Halloween as we know it today bears little resemblance to the Roman harvest festivals especially celebrated the apple harvest.

　　如今为大众所周知的万圣节与曾经古罗马的丰收节略有相似之处。当时丰收节这节日是专门为庆祝苹果树的大丰收而建立的。

　　The name Halloween comes from the 1500’s, and is a variation on “All-Hallows-Even”, the night before All Saints Day, or All Hallows Day.? As with many things, the Catholic Church had a holiday to coincide with a pagan celebration.?

　　万圣节名字的由来大约在1500年代。是由“All-Hallows-Even”演变而来。在天下圣徒之日（All Saints Day）即万圣节的前夕，天主教的教堂会以一个异教徒为批判对象举行一次集会。这就是万圣节的起源So what do witches, ghosts, goblins, and the like have to do with all this history? Read on to find out.

　　但是巫师、幽灵、鬼怪和其他诸类事物又对这段历史产生了怎样的影响？让我接着往下读。

　　Corn Husks and Stalks of Wheat谷壳和小麦的茎干The significance of corn husks and stalks of wheat is pretty straightforward.? Halloween comes in the autumn, the traditional festival celebrated the end of summer and the end of the harvest, so these images are meant to represent the end of harvest and the beginning of winter.? Corn and wheat are symbols of agricultural change, and the change of the seasons.?

　　稻谷的外壳还有小麦的茎干所传达的意思是非常鲜明的。万圣节深受在秋季时分庆祝夏日离去、丰收结束的传统节日的影响。所以谷壳和麦茎就是在传达着丰收的喜讯还有冬季即将到来的消息。稻谷和小麦是所有农作物从耕种到丰收阶段的变化，同时也在向人们传递着四季交替的信息。

　　The Colors Orange and Black主打橙色和黑色The colors orange and black are most likely further representations of the time of year, rather than any Halloween lore or mythology.? The color orange likely represents autumn, when the leaves change from green and orange pumpkins are ripe for the picking.? As mentioned earlier, the Celtic festival marked the transition between “light” days and “dark” days – so the black likely represents those dark days of winter when there are fewer daylight hours to attend to the fields and crops.? Of course, the modern secular Halloween retailers have certainly pushed the orange-and-black as official colors of Halloween, so such an explanation seems weak, but it’s true.? Sorry, to quote some movie somewhere, “orange is the new black.”? Or pink.? Or something.

　　万圣节之所以是橙色和黑色作为主打色，很可能是因为在某种深层次的角度而言，这俩颜色象征了一年之中时节的变化，没必要把颜色的问题上升到学术或者神秘学的高度来探讨。橙色很可能象征着秋季。当叶子从绿色变成了橘黄色，南瓜也是如此，好像在提醒人们“我已经成熟啦，快来采我吧”。在更早一些的年份，古代的凯尔特文化下的节日把时间标记为“白色”和“黑色”。而“黑色”代表的就是冬季的时间，因为凯尔特文化发源于北爱尔兰，众所周知秋冬交际，太阳向南回归线移动，白天的时间短了，自然而然，黑色成为了冬季的代表色。现在万圣节时期零售商们售卖的流行玩具大体都是这两种色调。尽管你可能会觉得关于主打色的解释有点牵强，但这可是真的。

　　Spiders蜘蛛As we move more into the “spooky” tales of the Halloween symbol, we’ll start with spiders.? Go to a Halloween party and you’re sure to see fake spider webs spread all over the place.? Forgoing a discussion of any potential mystical qualities a spider might have (because, ew), it is significant that spiders weave webs, which has long been associated with the passing of time, progress, and fate.? OK, so maybe that’s a little mystical too.? All in all, though, the spider’s spinning of its web is a great natural representation of the cycle of life – a spider spins its web, bugs fly into the web, nourish the spider, etc.? Also, spiders like dusty, dark places当我们一想起无奇不有的万圣节时，蜘蛛总是不可或缺的。如果你去参加一个万圣节晚会，我敢保证你能在墙上看到随意布置的假蜘蛛网。摒弃一切关于蜘蛛的潜在的神话故事，我想蜘蛛之所以出现在万圣节的舞台很可能是因为它编织的蜘蛛网，让人联想到了时间的流逝，生活的前进，还有命运的不可预知。好吧，我承认，讲到这里就有点神秘感了。总而言之呢，蜘蛛织网的行径在自然界是象征生命循环的伟大代表——蜘蛛编织它的网，昆虫粘在网上，成为蜘蛛的大餐等等，同时，蜘蛛喜欢满是灰尘而又黑暗的地方Bats蝙蝠Bats are nocturnal?creatures, so it’s natural that a celebration about the end of the light seasons and the beginning of the dark ones would incorporate them.? Additionally, in the old days Halloween meant big bonfires, which draw mosquitoes and moths, which would in turn draw bats,。Also, once vampire legends made their way into Halloween folklore, the position of the bat was set – since it was thought that vampires could transform into bats.?

　　蝙蝠是昼伏夜出的动物。庆祝丰收原本就是在白色季节（秋季）的结束和黑色季节（冬季）的开始期间。于是蝙蝠自然而然成为“步入夜色”的代表动物。除此之外，万圣节曾经流行的庆祝方式是在篝火旁进行。这样无疑吸引了许多蚊子和蛾子，因此也间接吸引来了蝙蝠。同时，吸血鬼传说一度曾是民间最流行的热点话题。自从古人认定吸血鬼能够变成蝙蝠在天空中飞舞的时候，蝙蝠在人们心中的地位便再也无法动摇了。

　　Black Cats黑猫OK, so while Halloween started out to be about the end of harvest, etc., there are some ancient cultures who also believed that, on Halloween night, the veil between the living world and the spirit world was, if not lifted entirely, at least a little thinner.? Ancient Celtic religions taught that cats were reincarnated souls of humans, and that they were able to see the future.? Also, it was thought (as mentioned earlier) that witches could turn into cats.? Truth be told, most single ladies were thought to be witches, and, just like today, many of the single ladies had?cats.? So, in the 1600’s or so, the local cat lady would have probably been tried for witchcraft.

　　大众普遍接受的是万圣节是由庄家丰收之后举办的庆祝活动演变而来，但依然还有一些远古的文化被人们所接受：在万圣节的晚上，人间和冥界的关系会发生微妙的变化，即使两者没有实际上联通，但还是有可能通过某种方式来接触的。古代凯尔特宗教认为，猫是能够被人类的灵魂所附体。通过猫的眼睛，我们可以看到未来。而且在此之前，人们还认为巫师能够附体在猫的身上。实话说，当时许多单身的女士被看作是女巫。就算时至今日，许多单身的女士还是会养猫相伴，所以在十五世纪，养着猫的单身女士都被认定其具有某种可怕的巫术。

　　Skeletons骷髅The Druids and the Celts believed that the skull was the “psychic seat” of the human soul.? All in all, skulls and skeletons are associated with Halloween because they represent the end of the physical part of life, something that is connected to Halloween both because of the death of the “light” seasons and because of the perceived connection to the spirit realm.

　　以前的祭司和凯尔特人相信头骨是人类灵魂的寄居地。总的来说头骨和骷髅之所以与万圣节有关是因为他们代表着生命在肉体层面的消亡。这与万圣节是在庆祝白色季节（秋季）的终结之意在精神层面而言，又是不谋而合。

　　Ghosts鬼怪The idea of ghost plays into this idea that Halloween night is the one night that the spirits of the ancestors are able to walk among the living.?

　　人们认为在万圣节之夜，那些死去的人的鬼魂能够在人间游走。目的不用多说，肯定是在找还魂的机会！

　　Masks and Costumes面具和服饰Speaking of ghosts, what is Halloween without costumes Back in Celtic times, it was thought that if you could trick the spirit, the spirit would refrain from bothering you about pesky things like tributes and respect.? On a night that the “veil” between the spirit world and the natural world was so thin, it’s best to pretend to be someone else.? In the 1950’s, trick-or treating became all the rage in the United States (can you believe it was that late?)一说起鬼怪，万圣节不能缺少的当然是鬼怪的服饰啦！追溯到凯尔特时期，凯尔特人认为如果你能够捉弄鬼魂，那么它将不再有胆量去骚扰你，反而会更加敬重你。在万圣节当晚，人间和冥界的隔膜会变得非常单薄，防止鬼上身的最好的办法就是戴上面具假装成另一只鬼。1950年后，“不招待就使坏”的习俗才开始在美国流行起来。（你能想象到这种习俗竟然是近代的产物？）Pumpkin lanterns南瓜灯Originally, the beggars put candles inside them to light their way from house to house to beg and pray.? Eventually, the tradition changed to carving pumpkins, and Jack-o-Lanterns as we know them were born.? One legend sticks out above all others in regards to the Jack-o-lantern tradition.? An Irishman named “Stingy Jack” was a?drunk?and a prankster, and he managed to make both God and the Devil angry.? He died, and neither heaven nor hell wanted him, so he was stuck wandering around on earth.? He carried a turnip, hollowed out, with a candle inside, to light his way, and to keep him from knocking on their door, the Irish would carve scary jack-o-lanterns to put around their houses to keep him away. Or, so they believed, and a tradition was born.

　　最初，乞讨者们把南瓜扣个洞，然后放进蜡烛用来照明，以此能够在晚上向人家行乞或者是替他们祷告。最后，该传统逐渐演变成了雕刻南瓜，杰克·奥的南瓜灯由此诞生。这里有个传说，曾经有个叫做“有次的杰克”的爱尔兰人是个地道的酒鬼，也是个爱搞恶作剧的人。最终他的行径惹怒了上帝和魔鬼。他死了之后，天堂和地狱都不愿意收留他，他只能游走于尘世之间，夜幕低垂时分，他就把大南瓜抠个大洞，并将点燃的蜡烛放置其中以此照明，去敲每家每户的大门。爱尔兰人为了能够驱赶走杰克，都在自家门口做同样的南瓜。做南瓜灯的传统因此诞生。