Facts You Never Knew About Halloween
by It’s time he comes home, he’s waiting there.
Photo credit: Sowang
Every night of the 31 October, Halloween (an abbreviation for “All Hallows’ Even”) is celebrated in some Western countries, particularly in the United States, Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, and nowadays, Halloween also gains popularity in other regions such as China, Korea, Germany, Spain and Japan due to the influence of American pop culture, while in Australia and New Zealand, Halloween has gained little recognition. In Sweden, the holiday begins on the first Saturday of November. Trick-or-treating, ghost tours, costume parties, carving Jack-o’-lanterns, watching scary movies, visiting “haunted houses”, bonfires and reading horror stories are some of the common activities held during the time of Halloween.
Photo credit: FuT
Halloween means the eve of “All Hallows Day”, which is now commonly known as All Saints’ Day. Its origin dated back to the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounce as “samain” in Old Irish or read as Oíche Shamhna in Irish) which is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture and hence it gains its name as “Celtic New Year”. The Halloween was regarded as an autumn festival for pre-Christian Celts, which means “End of Summer”. They believed that the dead revisited the mortal world, and due to this reason, large communal bonfires were lit to ward off evil spirits.
Photo credit: Tom
In Scotland, people believe that the souls of the dead would wander around the Earth and are free to return to the mortal world until dawn. Halloween was perceived as being the time, during which the division between the world of the living and the other world was blurred. To ward off the evil spirits and phantoms that emerge at midnight, the bonfires and the lanterns called “samhnag” would be lit.
Photo credit: Mario
Halloween was a religious day in various northern European Pagan traditions, until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV to the old Christian feast of All Saints’ Day from May 13 to November 1. It was told that the ancient Gaels perceived that the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved on 31 October, and thus the dead become dangerous for the living organism by causing problems like sickness or damaged crops.
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Post CommentEmily James
On October 14, 2008 at 10:57 am
Really loved this informative article Chan, thank you. Really loved the ‘Stingy Jack’ story.
papaleng
On October 14, 2008 at 11:47 am
Sir, a continuation of a very good informative article, again thanks for sharing.
BC Doan
On October 14, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Wow…what an interesting, wonderful, and a completely enjoyable read!
LP Jardine
On October 14, 2008 at 12:21 pm
very good article, great pictures
goodselfme
On October 14, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Good post. Thank you
Balzac
On October 14, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Nice article. Take care.
Liane Schmidt
On October 14, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Dear CHAN,
Your work is always exceptional and beyond memorable. I love how indepth you go with each article. You truly know how to captivate an audience with GOOD work. Your work is truly a blessing!
Best wishes.
Sincerely,
-Liane Schmidt.
Gon Pincha
On October 14, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Hey great article
I really like the way you write! Keep doing like this!
Best regards, Gon Pincha.
estrella 2008
On October 14, 2008 at 5:16 pm
interesante tu texto te envio un aplauso desde méxico.
Karen N
On October 14, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Very interesting article and I loved all the pictures.
Darlene McFarlane
On October 14, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Chan, I really enjoyed this article and the pictures.
It is a fun and informative read.
Chris Stonecipher
On October 14, 2008 at 9:49 pm
This was a fun read for me and your pictures are wonderful. Thanks for sharing!
Kiki Stamatiou
On October 15, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article, in that it is very informative. I never knew that turnips were used with lit candles inside of them before folks started using pumpkins with candles inside of them. I thought the story of the man who deceived the devil, and then was cursed by the devil to walk around in darkness with nothing but a carved turnip with a candle lit inside of it was most interesting. I never knew that this is what lead to folks carving jack-o-lanterns many years later. I also enjoyed the beautiful photos. Some great writing here. Thanks so very much for sharing you knowledge.
Take Care,
Kiki Stamatiou (Joanna Maharis)
Bozsi Rose
On October 15, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Love the photos!
Ruby Hawk
On October 15, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Interesting facts about a favorite Holiday, great pictures.
Haloween Ancient Oringns
On October 16, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).
The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By A.D. 43, Romans had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
Vester Wood
On October 18, 2008 at 11:06 am
Awesome article! Great pictures! Loved reading all the info! Thank you!
)
trishia
On February 22, 2009 at 12:17 am
Very informative article Chan.As children we celebrated Halloween. There are quite a few pagan holidays that’s been incorporated with Christianity. I really think most of the paganism is spooky.(I don’t celebrate now-it seems to clash with my beliefs)
Nicholas Kenney
On June 17, 2009 at 8:13 am
Good article Chan, nicely done.