Dating back to ancient times, Halloween is one of the world’s oldest holidays. Today, it is celebrated more than ever before for a simple reason: it is fun for young and old alike!
The origins of the day go back to between 1000 and 100 B.C. The Druids, the ancient habitants of modern day France, celebrated the new year when Baal, the Celtic god of Spring and Summer, went to rest after the harvest. It was also when the Lord of the Dead, Samhain, came back to reign. It used to be the time to hallow and venerate the dead.
In ancient France, festivities began on the eve of November 1, when the souls of the departed presumably revisited their old homes to comfort themselves with food or drink provided by their relatives. The Druids believed that the dead would play tricks on the living and cause panic and destruction. To appease the ghosts, the people would offer them food: “Trick or Treat!”
As for costumes, people used to wear masks on Halloween because they believed that the demons would be frightened off. Eventually, it became a children’s game of scaring the neighbors, who would offer “treats” to visitors.
Halloween is not widely celebrated in France. However, Halloween festivities in Quebec began with the arrival of Scottish and Irish immigrants in the 1800s. In ancient times, Irish children used to carve out potatoes or turnips and light them for their Halloween gatherings. When the Scotch and the Irish came to the North America they found pumpkins, which made a perfect Jack-O’-Lantern. These traditions were passed on to French immigrants settling in Quebec, who were arriving in North America around the same time.
Today, we normally associate Halloween with pumpkins, kids, costumes and candy. In Quebec, children also go door to door on Halloween. In French speaking neighborhoods, however, instead of “Trick or treat” they are more likely to say “La charité s’il-vous-plaît!” (Charity, please).
There’s lots to do on Halloween in Quebec. Besides trick-or-treating, Quebeckers and celebrate the holiday by joining parties and Halloween events such as… The Great Pumpkin Ball at the Montreal Botanical Garden the Halloween Fright Fest Ghost Walking Tour in Montreal or Quebec City— both of which are supposedly full of haunted places!
Halloween Vocabulary
une araignée spider
l'automne fall, autumn
un balai broom
des bonbons candy
une bougie candle
un cimetière cemetery
un chat noir black cat
une chauve-souris bat
une citrouille pumpkin
un déguisement costume
un diable devil
un épouvantail scarecrow
un fantôme ghost
un feu follet jack-o'-lantern
une feuille leaf
hanter to haunt
jouer un tour (à qqun) to play a trick (on someone)
un lutin goblin
un masque mask
une momie mummy
un monstre monster
une sorcière witch
un squelette skeleton
le trente et un the thirty-first
un vampire vampire