Attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, going to haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror or Halloween-themed movies are all popular Halloween activities.
All Hallows’ Eve is celebrated by some as a secular holiday, while others observe the Christian religious custom of attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the deceased. On All Hallows’ Eve, some Christians have traditionally avoided eating meat, which is reflected in the consumption of vegetarian foods like soul cakes, potato pancakes, and apples.
It marks the beginning of Allhallowtide, a time in the liturgical year when people remember the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and everyone else who has passed away.
Here are some interesting facts about Halloween:
Days of the Dead:
In Mexico and a few other Hispanic nations, October 31 to November 2 is the Day of the Dead or Dia de Los Muertos. On November 1, known as Dia de Los Inocentes, relatives pay tribute to children who have passed away by putting baby’s breath and white orchids on their graves. Orange marigolds are laid on the graves of adults who have passed away on November 2, or Dia de Los Muertos.
When Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico in the 16th century, they merged the Aztec festival with the Catholic All Saints’ Day. The original Aztec celebration actually lasted for a month. Today’s celebration combines Catholic masses and prayers with Aztec rituals involving skulls, altars for the dead, and food.
Beggars’ Night:
Beggars’ Night is celebrated by young people in Des Moines the night before Halloween. The event started around 1938, according to an article in the Des Moines Register, as a way to prevent vandalism and provide younger children with a safer way to celebrate Halloween.
Beggars’ Night is similar to regular trick-or-treating, with the exception that children are required to perform a “trick” or tell a joke in exchange for a treat. What’s better? The jokes, like “If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flower bring?” are well-known for making people groan.
Where does Halloween come from?
Samhain, an ancient Celtic harvest festival, is where we get our current version of Halloween. To ward off evil spirits, people would light bonfires and dress up during Samhain.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III declared November 1 All Saints’ Day and incorporated some Samhain rituals in an effort to spread Christianity. The night before the traditional Samhain festival used to take place in Celtic regions, All Hallows’ Eve, was also known as All Saints’ Day.
Halloween folklore:
Bobbing for apples and avoiding black cats are two examples of superstitions and fortune-telling that can still be found in Old English Halloween folklore. According to folklore, if a young single person holds a mirror and walks back down the stairs at midnight, the face in the mirror will be their next lover.
Candy corn:
Despite the fact that many people would argue that candy corn tastes like chicken feed, this is not how the candy was originally referred to. It was developed by George Renninger in the 1880s and made available to the general public by the Goelitz
Confectionery Company, which is now Jelly Belly Co., at the turn of the century. The product was labeled “Chicken Feed” and featured a vibrant rooster because corn was used to feed chickens.
The White House Or The White Haunt?
Even in election years, the most well-known address in the United States has received numerous reports of eerie sounds and ghostly appearances! Sir Winston Churchill, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands have all reported seeing Abraham Lincoln, the most common ghost. Abigail Adams, David Burns, and Andrew Jackson are among the other paranormal guests.
30,581 “Jack o’lantern”:
The City of Keene, New Hampshire in 2013 had 30,581 lit jack o’lanterns on display, according to Guinness World Records. Since the initial attempt, Let it Shine-represented Keene has broken the record eight times. That’s quite a number of pumpkins!
What’s the secret behind Michael Myers’ mask?
In just one image, the classic 1978 horror film “Halloween” can be easily identified. The psychotic Michael Myers in his well-known mask with his pale face. In slasher films, it is without a doubt one chilling look that has terrorized partying teens.
The crew actually used the cheapest mask they could find because the movie was made on such a limited budget. A Captain James Kirk mask for $2 from Star Trek. They gave William Shatner an extremely creepy appearance by spray painting it white and reshaping the eye holes.
What is “Jack o’lantern”?
According to legend, Stingy Jack invited the devil to a drink with him, but Jack refused to pay for the drink and persuaded the devil to become a coin. He kept the coin in his pocket and kept it close to a silver cross in his house so that the devil wouldn’t come back to life. He didn’t buy the drink.
He said that if Jack died, the devil wouldn’t take his soul and that he would let the devil go as long as he left Jack alone for a year.
Jack fooled the devil once more after a year to let him be alone and not take his soul. God didn’t want Jack to be in heaven, and the devil, true to his word, wouldn’t let him into hell when he died.
With only a burning coal to guide him, Jack was sent out into the night. Since he put the coal inside a turnip that had been cut out, he has been roaming the earth.
In Ireland and Scotland, turnips, beets, and potatoes were used to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns. Immigrants brought the custom with them to the United States, where people started making lanterns out of pumpkins that were native to North America.
Trick-or-treating:
It’s kind of weird to have kids dress up in costumes and go door to door asking for treats like little beggars. The custom, like a number of other Halloween activities, is rooted in the Samhain rituals of the Middle Ages.
On the night of Samhain, it was believed that phantoms roamed the earth, so people would dress up in costumes to ward off evil spirits.
Poor children and adults would go door-to-door dressed as spirits and accept food in exchange for prayers as the Catholic Church began replacing pagan festivals with their own holidays, such as All Souls’ Day.