当提到万圣节,你能想到什么呢?或许是美剧里经常出现的南瓜灯、变装party以及那些精心装扮过的“鬼房”。当然,还有糖。美国人每年万圣节会消费6亿磅糖果。据美国零售联合会的一项调查,美国人每年要花费74亿美元庆祝万圣节。
为此,波士顿大学校报采访了学者Regina Hansen,请她讲讲有关万圣节的起源。
万圣节起源于什么?根据Hansen的解释,万圣节起源于不列颠群岛的凯尔特异教以及他们所庆祝的名为夏末节的新年。他们相信这是鬼魂出来作怪的日子,而凯尔特人通过给他们糖果来平息和安抚他们。
同时,万圣节也受到了罗马人的影响,用于庆祝果树女神波摩娜。这类似于是庆祝丰收,今天的万圣节同样有类似的内容。比如人们会尝试用牙咬住悬挂的苹果。
此后,基督教来到英国,并将自己融入到了万圣节中。11月1日是所有基督教圣徒的庆典,而第二天是万灵节(All Souls' Day)。10月31日因此成为万圣夜(All Hallow's Eve)。可以说,现在的万圣节吸收了基督教的元素。
提起万圣节,很多人首先让它看作是一个美国假期。而万圣节也确实是一个非常美国的节日,它在美国发扬光大。也因此,人们往往忘记了它起源于欧洲的凯尔特人。
以下是Regina Hansen的回答原文:
The practices of Halloween mostly come from Celtic paganism in the British Isles, and their feast of Samhain, the new year. They believed it was the time when ghosts and spirits came out to haunt, and the Celts would appease the spirits by giving them treats. The feast was celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and parts of Britain.
Halloween also has some elements of the Romans celebrating Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. That was like a harvest feast, and we have elements of that today in our Halloween celebration—we bob for apples, for instance.
When Christianity came to Britain—just like what happened when Christianity came to other cultures—they figured the best way to convert people was to incorporate their practices instead of banning them. It just so happened that November 1 was the Christian Feast of All Saints and the next day is All Souls’ Day. October 31 became the Eve of All Saints, or All Hallows’ Eve. So the modern practice of Halloween incorporates Christianity and pagan rituals.
A lot of people think of Halloween as an American holiday. In some ways it is a very American holiday, because we’ve made it big, but because of that, people don’t remember that its roots are Celtic-European.
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