Customs and traditions of Great Britain - Иностранные языки - Скачать бесплатно

 drunkard  and
trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image  of
a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the  tree.  Jack  made  a
deal with the devil that, if he  would  never  tempt  him  again,  he  would
promise to let him down the tree.
      According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he  was  denied  entrance
to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied  access  to  Hell
because he had tricked the devil. Instead,  the  devil  gave  him  a  single
ember to light his way through the frigid darkness.  The  ember  was  placed
inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.
      The Irish used turnips as  their  "Jack's  lanterns"  originally.  But
when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far  more
plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a  hollowed-out
pumpkin, lit with an ember.
      So, although some pagan groups, cults, and Satanists may have  adopted
Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did not  grow  out  of
evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new  year,
and out of Medieval prayer  rituals  of  Europeans.  And  today,  even  many
churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin  carving  events  for  the  kids.
After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it.
      Fire has always played an important part in Halloween. Fire  was  very
important to the Celts as it was to  all  early  people.  In  the  old  days
people lit bonfires to ward away evil spirits and in some places  they  used
to jump over the fire to bring good luck. Now we light  candles  in  pumpkin
lanterns.
      Halloween is also a good time to find out the  future.  Want  to  find
out who you will marry? Here are two ways you might try to find out:

- Apple-bobbing - Float a number of apples in a bowl of water,  and  try  to
catch one using only your teeth. When you have caught one, peel  it  in  one
unbroken strip, and throw the strip of peel over  your  left  shoulder.  The
letter the peel forms is the initial of your future husband or wife.
- Nut-cracking - Place two nuts (such as conkers) on a fire. Give  the  nuts
the names of two possible lovers and the one that cracks first will  be  the
one.

There are several unusual traditions:
"Wrong side of the bed"
      When people are bad tempered we say that they must have got out of
bed on the wrong side. Originally, it was meant quiet literally. People
believe that the way they rose in the morning affected their behavior
throughout the day. The wrong side of the bed was the left side. The left
always having been linked with evil.
"Blowing out the candles"
      The custom of having candles on birthday cakes goes back to the
ancient Greeks. Worshippers of Artemis, goddess of the moon and hunting,
used to place honey cakes on the altars of her temples on her birthday. The
cakes were round like the full moon and lit with tapers. This custom was
next recorded in the middle ages when German peasants lit tapers on
birthday cakes, the number lit indicating the person's age, plus an extra
one to represent the light of life. From earliest days burning tapers had
been endowed with mystical significance and it was believed that when blown
out they had the power to grant a secret wish and ensure a happy year
ahead.