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graves of the churchyard , a practice that continues to this day .
2.3 Spread to North America
Lesley Bannatyne and Cindy Ott both write that Anglican colonists in the South and Catholic colonists in Maryland “ recognized All Hallow ’ s Eve in their church calendars ”, although the Puritans of New England maintained strong opposition to the holiday , along with other traditional celebrations of the established Church , including Christmas . Mass Irish and Scottish immigration during the 19th century increased the holiday ’ s celebration in the United States . “ In Cajun areas , a nocturnal Mass was said in cemeteries on Halloween night . Candles that had been blessed were placed on graves , and families sometimes spent the entire night at the graveside .” Confined to the immigrant communities during the mid-19th century , it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the 20th century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social , racial and religious backgrounds .
The annual New York Halloween Parade , initiated in 1974 by puppeteer and mask maker Ralph Lee of the Lower Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village in New York City , is the world ’ s largest Halloween parade and America ’ s only major nighttime parade , attracting more than 60,000 costumed participants , 2 million in-person spectators , and a worldwide television audience of over 100 million .
At Halloween , yards and public spaces may be decorated with traditionally macabre symbols including witches , skeletons , cobwebs , and headstones
3 Symbols
Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time . Jack-o ’ -lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows ’ Eve in order to frighten evil spirits . There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o ’ -lantern , which in lore , is said to represent a “ soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell ”:
On route home after a night ’ s drinking , Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree . A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark , thus trapping the Devil . Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul . After a life of sin , drink , and mendacity , Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies . Keeping his promise , the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him . It was a cold night , so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out , since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest .
In Ireland and Scotland , the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween , but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin , which is both much softer and much larger – making it easier to carve than a turnip . The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837 and was originally associated with harvest time in general , not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century .
The modern imagery of Halloween comes from many sources , including Christian eschatology , national customs , works of Gothic and horror literature ( such as the novels Frankenstein and Dracula ) and classic horror films ( such as Frankenstein and The Mummy ). Imagery of the skull , a reference to Golgotha , in the Christian tradition , serves as “ a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life ” and is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions ; skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween , which touches on this theme . Traditionally , the back walls of churches are “ decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment , complete with graves opening and the dead rising , with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils ,” a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum . One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne , who , in 1780 , made note of pranks at Halloween ; “ What fearfu ’ pranks ensue !”, as well as the supernatural associated with the
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