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Halloween Superstitious Custom That Never Change
Halloween may seem like it’s all about costumes and candy, but the holiday — which is relatively new to America, having only become popular in the early 1900s — has its roots in pagan beliefs. Dating back about 2,000 years, Halloween marked the Celtic New Year and was originally called Samhain, which translates to “summer’s end” in Gaelic.
Halloween may seem like it’s all about costumes and candy, but the holiday — which is relatively new to America, having only become popular in the early 1900s — has its roots in pagan beliefs. Dating back about 2,000 years, Halloween marked the Celtic New Year and was originally called Samhain, which translates to “summer’s end” in Gaelic.
Some Halloween traditions, such as carving Jack-o’-lanterns, are based on Irish folklore and have been carried on throughout the centuries, while others, such as candy corn, are more modern Halloween additions.
1. Black Cats
What can be more “Halloweeny” that a black cat? These dark, sly animals have always been a part of the dark side. In the dark ages, people would hunt for witches. Old, poor women were usually associated with being witches and their pets, cats, were called evil as well. People believed that these black cats were given to the witches by Satan. It was even rumoured that the devil would take the form of a black cat when he would meet these witches. Nowadays, these black cats are used as a staple decoration in and around a house on Halloween.
2. Jack -O’- Lanterns
One of the favourite kid’s activities on Halloween, carving pumpkins with scary faces has a brilliant story to this ancient ritual. It is believed that a drunken farmer named Jack would play pranks on the devil. These tricks stopped him from entering heaven as well as hell which meant he was left to wander in darkness. He then carved a turnip and used some burning coal from hell, that the devil gave him, and made a lantern to guide his soul. The Jack -O’- Lantern is kept outside a house and is basically a way to guide the dead back home. Originally, turnips were used by the Irish but when they fled to America, the tradition was changed to pumpkins because turnips were rare.
3. Bats
Bats have always been associated with evil and the dark side for hundreds of years. The very sight of a bat sends a shiver down the spine of many people. Many films portray bats as a vessel of transformation for vampires and witches. It is even believed that if a bat is seen flying around a house 3 times, a person in that very house would die. Another popular belief is that if a bat flies into a house, that home is haunted and it is those spirits that have let the bat inside. Toy bats are used as house decorations on Halloween to add that extra bit of “spooky” to the celebration.
4. Spiders
These eight-legged freaks are a favourite vessel when it comes to pranks so it is only just that it plays a big part in Halloween as well. Spiders are considered creepy and that is the message people want to send out on this outrageous festival. But spiders are not included in the festival just because they are eerie. The fact is that people believed that spiders were used by witches to conduct evil rituals. In fact, in the early years of the festival, people believed that if a spider fell into a lamp and burned completely, the witches were close. Folklore was that if a spider was seen on an auspicious night, a dead family member was watching.
5. The Witch
We have seen their toys but now we look at the owner. The witch is actually a new addition to the festival of Halloween. It was initially believed that the now-called “witch”, was called “the crone” who was a peace-loving, all-knowing woman. She was celebrated during the pagan festival. Many children dress in witch costumes and attend parties or trick-or-treat around the neighbourhood. It is a very common sight during Halloween to see “witches” walking around with a broom in hand or standing at a cauldron serving “magic potion” lemonade.
6. The Cauldron
This is an object we have all seen in witch movies and in some cartoons as well. The witches stand over the cauldron, mixing in different ingredients like lizard toes, frog’s legs and mermaid tears to create some ungodly potion. But these cauldrons were originally seen as the womb of Mother Earth. The souls of all the dead were collected in this “womb” and waited to either pass on or get reborn as newer souls get added. The cauldron can be seen outside many homes as decoration during Halloween. Some parties even have a cauldron and use it as a bowl for serving snacks or punch.
Funny witches with pot. Cartoon and vector illustration. Proportions in A3 – A4 – 50×70
7. The Witches Broom
Remember “The Wizard of Oz”? The cackling of the evil witch while she rides on her “flying” broomstick? Well, Halloween is the perfect time to see witches everywhere (in a costume of course). When you see a witch, the first three things that catch your eye are the broom, the pointy hat, and the long pointy nose. But the broom is most prominent and it came about when the festival first took off.
The elderly poor women would usually walk around with sticks as they could not afford horses. These sticks were occasionally replaced with brooms. These women lived in the woods because of their poverty. During some nights, these women would cover themselves in an ointment that would cause their hearts to beat faster, would give them a sense of confusion and numbness. This hallucinogenic medicine made these women feel like they were flying through the woods.
8. Trick-or-Treat?
This is probably one of the most well-known rituals on Halloween. Trick-or-treat has become a fun and lovable way for children to gather candy from different houses. They dress up in costumes and visit homes in their neighbourhood to collect treats. But this tradition was not always just about sweets. In fact, people believed that the partition between the world of the dead and our world was at its weakest on Halloween. This would allow spirits to enter our world in the form of beggars. These spirits would visit homes and ask for money or food and if they were refused, these spirits would curse the residents of the house. Another belief is that people would dress up like monsters so that the spirits would mistake them as their own and leave them alone.
9. The “Colors”
Across the world, the colours that are associated with the “festival of death” are black and orange. The reason behind the orange is the colour of the leaves and crops during autumn. The black symbolizes the end or “death” of the summer months. These colours have come down through the generations. Recently the colours yellow, purple and green have made their entrance into the festival. Although the introduction of the new colours has brought a certain modernization to the holiday, the classic colours remain the prominent ones today.
10. A Night of Mischief
When it comes to Halloween, teenagers seem to enjoy themselves the most. They take this opportunity to play pranks on others, toilet-paper houses and cause havoc on the streets. From the very beginning, Halloween has been a favourite for youngsters but has slowly calmed down. Ever since the adults handed out candy to the kids, the pranks have died down. But there are a few teens that still have that “mischief” spark and that spark gets ignited just before Halloween. That is the reason the 30th of October is now kept for pranks instead of ruining the 31st.
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