|
|
|
|
Trick or TreatTrick or Treat, in North America, is an activity for children on Halloween, in which they are dressed up in costumes, often of supposedly malevolent supernatural beings such as skeletons, ghosts, monsters, or witches, and proceed from house to house, asking for sweets with the phrase "trick-or-treat?" with the implied threat that, if their demands for confectionery are not met, they will perform some "trickery".
For many children, trick-or-treating makes Halloween the most beloved of holidays.. Regardless of the financial state of the parents, the child can be assured of plenty of sweets. Children can often accumulate quite a lot of treats on Halloween night, filling up entire pillow cases or shopping bags. Trick-or-treating originated in the British Isles, and is still popular in many parts of Scotland, England, and Ireland. Like many Halloween traditions, it appears to derive from the ancient Celtic fesitival of Samhain, which marked the beginning of winter. This was the most magical time of the year, when the invisible "gates" between this world and the Other World were open and movement between the two worlds was possible, with malevolent spirits from the Other World freely walking the Earth. People would wear masks when they went outside, in an attempt to disguise themselves as spirits so they could travel unharmed. As the superstition faded, the practice became more tradition and the requisite spirit disguise gradually gave way to a variety of costumes, worn for trick-or-treating or guising. In the British Isles, there are subtle differences from the way trick-or-treating has developed in the United States: In Scotland and the North of England, it is called guising because of the disguise or costume worn by the children.In Scotland, the children are only supposed to receive treats if they perform party tricks for the households they go to. These tricks normally take the form of a simple joke, song or funny poem which the child has memorised before setting out. Occasionally a more talented child may do card tricks, play the mouth organ or something even more impressive, but most children will earn plenty of treats even with something very simple. However, guising is falling out of favour somewhat, being replaced in some parts of the country with the American form of trick-or-treating. In Ireland there is no "trick" involved, (neither the British party trick nor the American jocular threat), just "treats" -- in the form of apples or nuts given out to the children.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Halloween" and from ShiningRise.com
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Click on a book for more information and reviews [an error occurred while processing this directive] |
