Halloween activities are dripping with superstitious history. Although the holiday appears to be all about dressing up, telling ghost stories, and enjoying candy and other sweet treats, there are many activities we take part in without knowing the rationale and many others from around the world which may just seem downright ridiculous. Most people remain unaware of the various traditions and superstitions followed on the 31st of October; they remain unaware of just how unusual Halloween, with its Celtic roots, can be. Listed below are just a few cherry-picked superstitious reasons why this holiday is so peculiar and wacky.
Jack O’ Lanterns
Carving a pumpkin may seem like a fun activity but have you ever wondered how the Jack O’ Lanterns got their name?
There are many variations of this Irish legend but the most popular one dictates that Jack was a drunken farmer who tried to trick the Devil and as a result was banned from Hell. Once Jack died, he was denied entry into both Heaven (due to his trickster lifestyle) and Hell (again, due to his trickster lifestyle) and was doomed to roam about forever in the dark Netherworld. He placed an ember from Hell inside a turnip to create a makeshift lantern to guide his way.
Irish families believed that placing Jack O’ Lanterns would guide lost spirits home. When many of them immigrated to the US, they used pumpkins as substitutes for the turnips. They even started carving scary faces into the pumpkin as a way to keep away evil spirits.
2. Trick or Treating in Costumes
It was believed by the Celts that Halloween was the time when the veil between the living world and the dead world was the thinnest and spirits could cross over if they so wished.
The superstition was that spirits would disguise themselves as humans and turning them away empty-handed was a bad idea since you risked being cursed or haunted. This is how the tradition of Trick or Treating eventually evolved. Another superstition believed that by dressing up as a ghoul or a witch, you could convince the evil spirits that you were one of them and avoid having your soul snatched.
3. Marriage fortune telling
Due to the belief that spirits could communicate with humans on this day, many believed in consulting the spirits for advice - especially in matters of the heart. Sometimes, people would peel an apple and would throw the peel over their shoulder, it was said that the peel would fall in the shape of the initial of a future lover. Many girls also believed that if they kept a spoonful of salt in their mouths at midnight on Halloween, then walked backwards while holding a mirror and a candle, they would see the face of their future spouse in the mirror.
Many such techniques were employed on Halloween night as a way to glance into the future ranging from bizarre to sheer lunacy.
4. Wales - Bonfire ritual
From the 9th century onwards, welsh families had an odd and creepy tradition. Each person would write their name on a stone and cast it into a bonfire. The next morning, they would search through the remains of the fire and if any stone was missing, it was said that that person would die within a year.
5. Black Cats
Black cats are often associated with misfortune, death or witches. This bad reputation dates back to the Middle Ages when older, solitary women were often accused of witchcraft and their pets - usually cats - were said to be demonic animals.
People also believed that these witches could turn into cats or that the Devil took the form of a cat to visit them. Even on Halloween, black cats are associated with witches and many superstitions say that a black cat crossing your path will bring bad luck.
6. Warding off evil
Multiple superstitions that mention how you can keep away evil spirits, ghosts and witches. One says that if you hear footsteps on Halloween, you shouldn’t look back as it might be the dead and looking back could guarantee you a spot with them soon. Another says that you should walk around your house three times backwards and anticlockwise to ward off evil spirits.
However, in case you do run into a ghost, there is a myth that you can walk around it nine times to make it disappear. Ringing bells is also said to chase away evil spirits.
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