I've always loved Halloween. Something about the smell, color, and spirit of it is just so invigorating. Regardless of someones religious beliefs everyone can enjoy and participate in Halloween.
Here are some fun facts about Halloween
. The traditional colors of Halloween are black and orange because orange is associated with the fall harvest and black with darkness and death.
. The original "Jack o' Lanterns" originated in Ireland where people would hollow out turnips and put candles inside. They were meant to keep away spirits.
. The origin of Trick or Treating started began when Druids believed the dead would play tricks on mankind and cause panic and destruction. They had to give them food in order to get them to go away.
. Children go around in costume, to scare off evil spirits, saying "trick or treat." They say trick to threaten to perform mischief on the homeowners if no treat is given. Uh oh!
. We bop for apples because this Celtic holiday took to worshipping an ancient Roman God, Pomona. Pomona is the goddess of the harvest. Apples were the sacred fruit of the goddess. Originally bobbing for apples was done by young unmarried woman, the one who gets the apple first, is going to marry next!
. The holiday of Halloween, was originally called Samhain, which means summers end in Irish
. Halloween celebrates the end of the lighter half of the year and the beginning of the darker
. 1.5 billion pounds of pumpkin are harvested and sold every year, mostly during Halloween.
Do you know any other fun facts about Halloween?
4 comments:
Fascinating. I especially like the druids and giving the foods to the spirits.
“Halloween” is a contracted form of “Holy Evening” and refers to the evening of All Saints Day (November 1), when Christians traditionally remember believers of other times who are especially good role models of faith; many of whom were persecuted, tortured, and/or died rather than renounce Christ. The Christian Church kept the Jewish custom of marking a holiday (contracted form of “holy day”) for the twenty-four hours beginning with sundown and ending with sundown the following day.
When Christianity began to flourish in northern Europe and the British Isles. There Christians found well-entrenched pagan harvest/winter festivals. One of the best known was called Samhain. They determined that All Saints Day should be celebrated at the same time to directly challenge the sentiments of pagan festivals of the season, including Samhain.
Fire became associated with the pagan holiday and often symbolized the power of the sun or as a defense against trick-bent spirits. Spirits were believed to assume grotesque appearances, and some traditions developed that if one could costume himself to look like a spirit (or at least not to look like the guilty relative who had neglected his departed loved one), then the spirits would not plague him. Some said the spirits could be warded off by carving a grotesque face into a gourd or root vegetable (the Scottish used turnips) and setting a candle inside it.
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