ハロウィン土夜に天気よし、となれば外に出るしかないでしょう、こんな10月31日の夜は。
そもそもハロウィンなんてものを日本では全く意識したことはなかったけど、シンガポールではクラスメイトの準備の周到さに驚かされた。
そしてエメラルドヒルズのBarあたりに行った時に仮装だらけだったのを、なんとなく覚えてる。
そういうところに、かの星の受容性や多様性、そしていかに外人が国に溶け込んでいるかがよく分かる。
てことで、最初で最後であろうロンドンで過ごすハロウィンは、この街がどうなってるのか見てみたい！！ってことで、夜な夜な街に繰り出す。
とりあえず、歩いていると、、、ほらほらやっぱり、みんな仮装しとる！
今宵のレスタースクエアは、いつもにまして大混雑。歩くのも困難。
けっこうよく行ってるPub Sussexも、この通りハロウィンモードである。
いやはや、すごいね、この勢いはね。
日本ってどんな感じなの？六本木あたりはすごいことになってるのか？いまだかつて、意識して外を歩いたことがないから、よく知らん。
去年、友人が送ってくれたハロウィンの起源の説明について、せっかくなので、もう一度貼っておきます。
/Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities./
/During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
/
/By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain./
/The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of "bobbing" for apples that is practiced today on Halloween./
/By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. It is widely believed today that the pope was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Even later, in A.D. 1000, the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. Together, the three celebrations, the eve of All Saints', All Saints', and All Souls', were called Hallowmas/
Tóg go bog é,
おまけ。天使も踊るハロウィン。
満喫。
テーマ:イギリス生活 - ジャンル:海外情報
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