Halloween: History & Superstitions
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October 26, 2011
Filed under Other, Student Life, Top Stories
By: Jessica Villatoro
When you think about Halloween you probably think about costumes, haunted houses, and trick-or-treating. It has changed in many ways since it started.
Halloween is a holiday celebrated on October 31st. Originated over 2,000 years ago from a Celtic festival, Samhain. This marked the end of harvest and the beginning of a dark, cold winter (a time associated with death.) The Celts believed that on that night the boundary between the worlds, living and dead, the boundary was blurred, so they lighted bonfires and wore costumes to ward off the ghosts.
Trick-or-treating originated from “souling”. Souling was when the less fortunate went door to door on November 1st, Hallowmas, asking for food and prayed for the dead on All Souls Day, November 2nd.
Many Christians believe that Halloween encourages witchcraft and leads to Satanism, so to scare them from this tradition they hold “Hell Houses” and encourage them to come to church. But many people just have haunted houses to have fun and get scared.
Superstitions:
- A woman could find out who her future spouse would be by staring into a mirror while in a dark room or by peeling an apple in one long strip then throwing it over her shoulder.
- Ringing a bell scares evil spirits away.
- If you see a spider on this night, it could be the spirit of a loved one watching you.
- While a candle is burning, if the flame flickers then turns blue it means there is a spirit in the room.
- A person born on Halloween could have a greater chance of being able to talk to the dead.
If you feel a chill on your spine, someone is walking on your future grave
This looks great Jessica!
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