The Samain, ancestor of Halloween and All Saints' Day

Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Stories in English

Lecturas en inglés

The Halloween and All Saints' Day celebrations have their origins partly in the Feast of the Samain. This festival, the ancestor of Halloween, was timeless as it belonged neither to the old nor the new year.

According to tradition, this night belonged to the dead who dressed up as monsters and came to visit the living. We find in this festival the origin of Halloween costumes!

The Samain is a Celtic and therefore Gallic festival (since the Gauls were one of the Celtic peoples) which corresponds to the night of 31 October to the first of November in our Julian calendar. This day marked the end of summer and the beginning of the dark season.

La Samain: a Gallic festival

The Samain festival dates back more than 2500 years. The Saman festival is also called Saman, Samhna, Samhain or Samonios. To give you an idea of what this festival is all about, you should know that the year of the Celts was marked by 4 major events and each of these events was linked to the 4 seasons.

• IMBOLC celebrated Spring and took place at the beginning of February.
• BELTANE celebrated Summer and took place at the beginning of May.
• LUGNASAD celebrated Autumn and took place at the beginning of August.
• SAMAIN celebrated Winter and took place at the beginning of November.

The Samain was the day when the God of Death informed the dead of the year of their new destination or "reincarnation". The feast therefore had a cultural and religious dimension. This feast marked the beginning of the New Year and its celebration was obligatory! The feast of the Samain lasted 3 days, but the festivities could continue for 15 days:

• Day 1: the first day was dedicated to the memory of the great missing men.
• Day 2: This day was the feast of all the dead.
• Day 3: The last day was the day of revelry and celebration.

when the Samain became All Saints' Day

Traditions and beliefs travel through time and civilisations, they change, transform, evolve and are no longer quite the same. In the 11th century, the Samain, like the majority of pagan festivities, was banned. The church established the Feast of All Saints (All Saints), the date of which corresponds to the first day of the Samain, and the Feast of the Dead, which corresponds to the second day of the Samain.

While most historians agree that the Samain is the ancestor of Halloween, some believe that the Halloween festival practised today bears no resemblance to the Celtic Samain in either form or symbolism.

For historians, All Saints' Day is the real extension of the Samain and not Halloween. What is certain is that Celtic beliefs and practices are at the source of these two celebrations, but it is not certain that either one is the modern extension of the other.

The Irish Legend of the Samain

Another legend, Irish this time, gave birth to Halloween: Jack O Lantern! A very old legend that gave birth to the traditional Halloween pumpkin. It tells the story of a drunken and stingy young man who makes a pact with the devil in the hope of escaping from hell. Unable to go to heaven because of his lifelong attitude, he was turned into embers and trapped forever in a hollowed-out turnip. Do you want to know more about this story?

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What are the symbols of Halloween?

Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Stories in English

Lecturas en inglés

Pumpkins, witches and bats, are you sure you know all the Halloween symbols?

Are you looking for information on Halloween symbols? Here's something to feed your curiosity! Halloween symbols are numerous and start with the pumpkin: the symbol of this colourful holiday. Night animals such as the black cat, bats and owls are also very present. We don't forget the imaginary and fantastic creatures like the witch, the vampire or the ghost. But Halloween is also a party that has its own unique codes and colours. Orange, black, purple. Everything is explained in this article about the symbols of Halloween.

The pumpkin: a true symbol of Halloween

The most popular symbol of Halloween is undoubtedly the pumpkin! As October 31st approaches, it is everywhere. But the story could have been different. If you are told about turnip, you don't see what this vegetable comes here to do. And yet, the origin of Halloween, in symbolic terms, was none other than the latter. It is said that an old drunkard named Jack Stingy defied the devil several times. Satan, in order to take his revenge, refused Mr. Stingy entry to the gates of Hell when he died. He was condemned to wander between the world of the living and the world of the dead for all eternity. As a consolation, the devil offered him an ember that Jack hastily sheltered in a hollowed-out turnip. This is where the legend of Jack-O'-Lantern was born. When the Irish immigrants arrived in the United States, they replaced the turnips with pumpkins, which were much simpler to dig and carve. Thus, the pumpkin took the place of the Halloween symbol.

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The true story of Halloween

Recursos Educativos en Inglés - Stories in English

Cuentos cortos en inglés

The true story of Halloween

Does the story of Halloween have its origins, as is often believed from the United States? Or, on the contrary, does this festival, a tribute to monsters and deaths of all kinds, conceal other secrets? Our deciphering to reveal the true history of Halloween.
Halloween, a thousand-year-old and Celtic history!
It is often believed to have come straight from the United States... However, the tradition of Halloween, which originated in the British Isles, stems from a series of Celtic beliefs and rites that have been passed down through the ages. "Halloween" is a contraction of "All Hallow Ween", which means "Eve of the Feast of All Saints". It marks the transition to the Celtic New Year and the onset of winter.

The Feast of Samain (or Samhain, Celtic translation of "Halloween") was a time when the souls of all the dead of the year were gathered together to take them to Purgatory on November 1st. To welcome them, the doors of the houses had to be left open while a place by the fire and a bowl of porridge awaited them. And to guide their steps in the world of the living, lanterns made of turnips or cut-up pumpkins were erected on their way... The Celts also lit large fires to appease possible evil spirits, whose evil tricks they thwarted by disguising themselves as hideous monsters. Finally, sweets were stocked in order to be able to haggle over any bad luck! In 837, the Church, which was unable to get rid of this popular festival, decided to Christianise it, by instituting All Saints' Day...

The tradition of Halloween was taken over by the United States... and the children!
During the great Irish immigration, America discovers this tradition, appropriates it and perpetuates it assiduously with an "added value" for the children: that which consists in going to ring the doors to claim sweets! Thus, every year, bunches of little Americans dressed as witches, ghosts or the living dead assault the houses of their neighbourhood shouting: "Trick or treat, smell my feet or give me something good to eat!

The neighbours give in to the little monsters, small change and sweets... For a few years now, Spain has been following the Anglo-Saxon trend, for commercial reasons... But it is also the occasion, for young and old, to break the monotony and greyness of the long autumn evenings, the first signs of winter.

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Halloween ghost biscuits Recipe

Cooking recipes - Desserts - How to make Halloween ghost biscuits?

The ingredients of the Halloween ghost biscuits:

• 360g flour
• 200g butter
• 120g sugar
• Spreadable dough (Nutella, peanut butter, jam)
• 1 tbsp water

Steps for the Halloween biscuits:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Start by beating together the butter and flour with a little water.
3. Once the dough is smooth, let it rest for at least 60 minutes in the refrigerator.
4. Flatten the dough with a rolling pin.
5. On a sheet of paper, cut out a ghost shape that you can use to cut out the different shapes in the dough.
6. Bake the ghost shapes for 13 minutes.
7. Once the cakes have cooled down, you will need to put them together in pairs, putting some spread in the middle. You can also put jam in the middle.

🎃👻 More ⇒ Recetas para Halloween - Halloween recipes

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Pumpkin choc cake Recipe

Cooking recipes - Desserts - How to make Halloween cake?

Are you coming home from work and not dying to spend hours in the kitchen this October 31st? We've got your solution, with a really easy cake that mixes a seasonal vegetable, pumpkin, with the flavour of dark chocolate, an original and delicious marble cake. And this recipe is so simple, you can make it with your children!

The ingredients for this easy Halloween cake:

For 6 to 8 guests

• 300 g pumpkin
• 300 g dark chocolate
• 200 g flour
• 1/2 sachet of yeast
• 6 medium eggs
• 70 g butter
• 30 cl maple syrup
• 7 cl oil
• A little salt

The recipe for pumpkin choc cake:

Preparation time: 15 min
Cooking time: 50 min

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Peel the pumpkin and cut into large cubes, steam for 20 min.
3. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and add the maple syrup, melted butter and oil.
4. Mix the yeast and flour separately, and add to the previous mixture gradually, stirring well to avoid lumps.
5. Reserve half of this mixture in a bowl.
6. Blend the pumpkin in a blender or potato masher and add this pumpkin puree to the first half of your mixture.
7. In a small saucepan in a bain-marie, melt the chocolate and mix it with the second half of the mixture.
8. Butter a cake tin (it's best to use a non-stick tin) and pour a thin layer of pumpkin cake batter, then chocolate, then repeat.
9. Bake in the oven at half height for 50 minutes. Leave to cool before removing from the tin.
10. Serve the cake with a nice glaze or chocolate sauce.

Halloween desserts are often quite complex to prepare, but honestly, you don't always have the time to take on a baking workshop.

So we've come up with a recipe for an autumnal cake, which uses an essential seasonal vegetable: pumpkin, and an ingredient that all food lovers agree on: chocolate. The preparation takes only a quarter of an hour, the cooking time 50 minutes, and the result can be served as a snack or as a dessert on October 31st as well as for brunch on November 1st... or any other day for those who want to try this simple cake during the pumpkin season.

🎃👻 More ⇒ Recetas para Halloween - Halloween recipes

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Worksheets Halloween 01 - Fichas Halloween en Inglés

Recursos Educativos en inglés - Worksheets Halloween

Fichas Infantiles en Inglés Halloween

01. Trace.

Ficha en Inglés, para aprender Halloween, Ideal para facilitar el aprendizaje de este idioma, adquirir vocabulario, practicar la pronunciación, etc. Especialmente en Educación Infantil y Primaria.

Para Imprimir la lámina, se recomienda, guardarla primero en el PC.

👻🎃 Recursos educativos en inglés para halloween

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Worksheets Halloween 02 - Fichas Halloween en Inglés

Recursos Educativos en inglés - Worksheets Halloween

Fichas Infantiles en Inglés Halloween

02. Trace.

Ficha en Inglés, para aprender Halloween, Ideal para facilitar el aprendizaje de este idioma, adquirir vocabulario, practicar la pronunciación, etc. Especialmente en Educación Infantil y Primaria.

Para Imprimir la lámina, se recomienda, guardarla primero en el PC.

👻🎃 Recursos educativos en inglés para halloween

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