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We know it's time for Halloween when the leaves start falling off the trees and the air starts getting a little chilly. The scariest day of the year is right around the corner and millions of people are gearing up for the holiday.
The festival originated over a thousand years ago and enjoys immense popularity even today. Over the years, the portrayal of Halloween in pop culture has shaped it such that it has lost its religious origins and has become kids' favorite holiday as it popularized trick or treating. Across the globe, people celebrate Halloween by decking up their homes with pumpkin lanterns and dressing up as all sorts of scary characters.
As everybody is mulling over what to wear and dress up as this year, we've got a few fun facts about Halloween that will help you understand the holiday better. It could also be one of the many 'treats' that you can offer people this scary holiday.
Halloween origin, folklore and more - quick fun facts about the spooky holiday
1) Halloween originated 2000 years ago
The ancient Celtics used to observe the New Year's, known as Samhain, on November 1 every year. However, the celebration would start a bit early, on the eve of October 31.
It was an auspicious occasion as it was the time when seasons changed. However, what made the holiday special was the belief that on the eve before New Year's, the veil between the living and dead thinned, and spirits could walk the face of earth.
So, people came up with certain rituals and traditions to connect with the dead souls each year. Over time, as the holiday evolved, it lost its pagan undertones and became a huge part of modern pop culture.
It is worth noting that the concept of the dead coming to earth finds connections in several other cultures as well.
2) The inspiration behind Trick or Treat
Trick or treat is undoubtedly a child's favorite thing about Halloween. Walking around the neighborhood dressed as little spooky characters and filling bags deep with candy. It just couldn't get any better!
While tradition is sacred, not all of us know what inspired it. As far as historians' knowledge on the subject extends, trick or treat found its roots in the ancient Celtic New Year's celebrations. It was believed that on this day, fairies, little demons and spirits of the dead walked on earth.
However, there's another inspiration behind the tradition. During the middle ages, people from poorer families would visit wealthy people to receive pastries known as "soul cakes." They would then make a promise to pray for the souls of the homeowners' dead relatives.
The tradition, known as "souling," has now refashioned itself into modern day trick or treating.
3) The legend of Jack o'lantern
During the Halloween season, Jack-o-lanterns are the most common sight of all. Originally, the Irish and Scots carved out turnips and lit them from inside to honor the legend of Stingy Jack.
It is believed that once Stingy Jack invited the devil over for a drink, however, he didn't wish to pay for it. He tricked the devil into turning it into a coin that can be used to pay for the drink.
As soon as the devil changed shape, Stingy Jack put him in his pocket and placed it next to a cross at home to keep him from changing shapes again. He demanded that the devil leave him alone for a year and that he would not claim his soul upon his death.
True to his word, upon Jack's death, the devil didn't throw him into hell. However, God was skeptical of admitting Jack to heaven so he was sent off into the night with only a burning coal to light his path.
Stingy Jack put the burning coal into a hollow turnip and is said to be roaming the earth ever since. When tradition traveled to America, natives replaced the turnip with pumpkins, and the Jack-o-lantern has become a favorite tradition since.
4) Scared of the scary holiday
Although there are a number of great things about Halloween, there are some people who are genuinely scared of it. For them, the holiday's jump scares and ghost stories are unappealing and send chills down their spines.
This is called Samhainophobia, the fear of Halloween.
The cause of the phobia can be found in the holiday's Celtic roots. The idea of Halloween, when the veil between the living and the dead is thin, might really scare some people. For some, the fear may stem from their other fears of things like ghosts, clowns, etc.
5) Spooky Valentine's Day
When European natives arrived in America, they brought the tradition of celebrating Halloween with them. It brewed an amalgam of weird yet interesting Halloween traditions that are long gone now but used to make up for a huge part of the holiday rituals hundreds of years ago.
The holiday used to be scarier than you think, as some people believed that it was a woman's last chance to find love. If she can't find a partner by Halloween, she will have to spend a year of spinsterhood before she got her chance again.
In a society obsessed with marriage, women would engage in several creepy traditions to find a partner. Legend has it that around 1800s to early 1900s, women would stand in a dark room and stare into a magic mirror until they saw their future partner's face peering back at them.
Another such tradition was roasting hazelnuts on fire. The tradition has its roots in Scotland, where single women would each assign a hazelnut for their potential love interests and toss them into fire. The hazelnuts that would burn to ash indicated their future husband.
