趣味閱讀 萬圣節編年史

Halloween， or All Hallows’ Eve， a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31， is a mix of ancient Celtic practices， Catholic religious rituals and European folk traditions that blended together over time to create the holiday we know today at last.

萬圣節，或圣徒日前夜，是每年10月31日晚上慶祝的節日，在其形成過程中逐漸融合了凱爾特習俗、天主教儀式和歐洲民間傳統，最終形成了我們今天所見的這樣一個節日。

Shades: Throughout ancient history， Shades were regarded as the spirit of a dead person， residing in the underworld.

Carving gourds into elaborately decorated lanterns dates back to Africa thousands of years ago.

幽靈：遠古時期，人們認為幽靈是生活在地下世界的死者的靈魂。

將葫蘆精雕細刻、做成燈籠的習俗可追溯到幾千年前的非洲。

The ancient Celts believed that wearing masks would ward off evil spirits.

古凱爾特人相信戴上面具可以避開邪靈。

Samhain: The Festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the Gaelic (Celts of Scotland and Ireland) harvest season.

薩溫節：薩溫節是蓋爾人（蘇格蘭和愛爾蘭的凱爾特人）慶祝豐收季節結束的節日。

Gaels believed that the border between this world and the other world became thin on Samhain; because animals and plants were dying， it allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living.

Bonfires played a major role in the Festival of Samhain. Celebrants wore costumes， mostly made from animal skins and heads， and danced around bonfires.

By A.D.43， Romans had conquered most of the Celtic territory. Two Roman festivals were then combined with the Celtic celebration of Samhain: Feralia， a day in late October when Romans commemorated the passing of the dead， and a day to honor Pomona， Roman goddess of fruit and trees.

Werewolf: The original werewolf of classical mythology， Lycaon， a king of Arcadia who， according to Ancient Roman Poet Ovid’s The Metamorphoses， was turned into a ravenous wolf by Zeus because of provoking him. Possibly the source of the term “lycanthropy” is derived from this story.

蓋爾人相信，在薩溫節，現世與冥界的邊界會逐漸消失。動物和植物紛紛死去，而死者將穿過把他們同生者隔開的面紗重回世間。

篝火對于死神節來說是必不可少的。參加慶典的人們穿上動物的皮毛和頭顱做成的服裝，圍著篝火舞蹈。

公元43年，羅馬人占領了凱爾特人的大部分領土，并將兩個羅馬節日與薩溫節的傳統結合起來：一個是羅馬人紀念死者的Feralia節（十月末的一天），另一個是紀念羅馬的果樹女神Pomona的節日。

狼人：古羅馬詩人奧維德在他的《變形記》中描繪了古典神話中狼人的原型——阿卡迪亞王呂卡翁，由于觸怒天神宙斯而被變成了一匹狼。也許“變狼妄想狂”一詞就是來源于這個故事。

In the Roman Catholic church， a commemoration of “All Martyrs” was celebrated between mid-April and early May.

在每年四月中旬到五月初這段時間，羅馬天主教會慶祝一個名為“眾殉道者節”的紀念性節日。

The festival of All Siants dates to May 13 in 609 or 610， when Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon in Rome.

This date was an ancient pegan observation—the end of the Feast of the Lemures， in which the evil and restless spirits of all the dead were appeased.

眾圣人節要追溯到公元609或610年的5月13日，教皇卜尼法斯四世為羅馬萬神殿祝圣。

這一日期原本是古老的異教節日——勒姆瑞斯節（夜游魂節）的末尾，在這一節日期間人們會安撫那些邪惡且永不安寧的亡魂。

Pope Gregory III designated November 1st All Saints’ Day， a time to honor saints and martyrs.

Many believe the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related， but church-sanctioned holiday.

教皇格列高利三世將每年11月1日定為“眾圣人節”，以此紀念圣人和殉道者。

人們相信，教皇此舉是為了用一個教會認可的節日來替代凱爾特的亡者之節日。

The Catholic church made November 2nd All Souls’ Day， a day to honor the dead.

The three Catholic celebrations—the Eve of All Saints’ Day， All Saints’ Day， and All Souls’ Day， were called Hallowmas ever since.

天主教會將每年11月2日定為“萬靈節”，以紀念亡者。

至此，天主教的三大節日——眾圣人節前夜，眾圣人節，萬靈節，被統稱為“Hallowmas”（即“萬圣節”之意）。

Carved turnips in Ireland and Scotland are used as candle lanterns in windows to ward off evil spirits.

Another tradition involved in “Soul Cakes”: Soul cakes， often simply referred to as souls， were given out to soulers (mainly consisting of children and the poor) who would go from door to door on Hallowmas singing and saying prayers for the dead， and people would give them pastries named “Soul Cakes” as their rewards. It is said that each cake eaten would represent a soul being freed from Purgatory.

在愛爾蘭和蘇格蘭，人們將蕪菁（形似蘿卜）雕刻成燈籠放在窗臺上，以此抵擋邪靈。

另一項傳統習俗涉及“靈魂餅”：靈魂餅，通常簡稱為靈魂。在萬圣節期間，靈者（主要是小孩和窮人）會挨家挨戶地唱歌并為死者祈禱，人們則給他們一種被稱作“靈魂餅”的點心作為報酬。據說每吃掉一個“靈魂餅”，就會有一個靈魂被從煉獄中拯救出來。