In the spirit
It’s Halloween—time for the spooks, candy, apple cider, and fun.
How did Halloween come about? Also known as “All Hallows Eve,” Halloween falls directly before “All Saints Day,” which is known to honor all saints and martyrs from years before.
The Celts, a large group of people who date back more than 2,000 years ago, celebrated their new year on Nov. 1 because it signified the coming of winter, the end of harvest, and commonly the death of humans.
They also saw Oct. 31 as a day where the line between the living and the dead could be crossed. The Celts believed that celebrating Samhain [Oct. 31] could help Celtic priests determine the future easier because the dead walked the Earth.
To avoid encountering ghosts during this time, people would wear masks when they left their houses so that the ghosts would assume they too are spirits.
Halloween was first introduced to America in the early nineteenth century, when immigrants came to America.
Moving away from celebrating harvest, Halloween was transformed into a celebration of spooky stories, tricks, candy, costumes, and parties.
Although the cost of Halloween differs between then and now, each cost is high: the loss of crops, and possibly human life, compared to now where people spend about $6 million annually on the holiday.
Today, Halloween is a time for trick-or-treaters to wander the streets and sidewalks, decked out in their best costumes, searching for candy to fill their bags. For older people, it’s a time to get together, dressed up or not, have a party, and drink until the sun comes back up.
— Black cats are often seen as symbols of bad luck. Despite the numerous Halloween decorations of black cats, their reputations cast them as demonic animals—especially when in the company of single women.
— Although pumpkin carving is a fun occasion, the origin of the jack-o-lantern is not as fun as it seems. A drunken farmer named Jack, who was claimed to have tricked the devil, was turned away from heaven and hell when he died because of his trickery act. Wandering the Earth aimlessly, Jack carved a face into a turnip and lit it with the glow of a burning coal tossed to him from hell. However, on the brighter side, jack-o-lanterns are also used to scare evil spirits away through the Halloween night.
— Bats. Cute? Scary? Clichéd? Well, if a bat was seen flying over a house it was said that the house was haunted. It also meant that someone in the house was going to die soon.
— Spiders, while they are not everyone’s favorite species on the Earth, others can’t get enough of them. Despite the preference, if a spider is seen burned in the thick wax of a candle, there is a witch nearby. However, if someone sees a spider on Halloween it means that the spirit of a deceased loved one is watching over the person.
— Bobbing for apples—a fun activity to get anyone laughing—was actually a source for determining the future. If the person caught an apple then their luck of finding true love was much higher than a person who was unable to bite an apple on the first try.
— Wearing a mask on Halloween is said to ward off spirits because the ghosts believe that the person is also a spirit; therefore, not taking their soul.