Facts & Myths of Halloween

Facts & Myths of Halloween

All Hallows Eve, All Hallowmas, All Saints, or All Souls Day are all names for the holiday Halloween. Halloween has been around for centuries wit many different traditions. On the charts Halloween is second following Christmas. With all of the candy, costumes, and decorations over 2.5 billion dollars will be spent this Halloween. In my paper I will discuss the history, the current traditions, and the variations of Halloween.

Halloween originated from Celtic culture in Ireland. November 1st was the start of the new year. The celebration would start October 31st for the new year. The spirits of those who died that year would be taken to the underworld by Lord Samhain, pronounced (sow-in), the Lord of Darkness. Halloween was also called "All Hollows Eve." November 1st was to honor the dead. The Catholic Church created All Saints Day which also is called Hallomas. Costumes were introduced on October 31st villagers would dress in ghoulish costumes and parade around the city and make loud noises to scare away spirits looking for bodies to possess. Pumpkins have been around for thousands of years. They were first found in the Americas, but when discovered were quickly popular in many other countries. The first Jack O' Lantern's were made using turnips. One theory on how pumpkins originated was that they were placed outside of homes to ward off evil spirits looking for bodies to possess. Another theory of the Jack O' Lantern is that a man named Jack tricked Satan into climbing a tree. He then carved a cross into the tree trunk which trapped the devil into the tree. He then made a deal with the devil to no longer tempt him. But, when Jack died he was not allowed into heaven for his evil ways neither was he allowed into Hell because he tricked the devil. The devil did give him one ember for his dark trail ahead of him. Jack placed the ember inside of a hollow turnip to make the ember last longer. Therefore making our current Jack O' Lanterns. In the Autumn, kids and adults would sit on bales of straw and they would be driven out to the fields to collect the produce for the Autumn farmers markets. This is how hay rides became connected with Halloween activities. Scarecrows currently are most commonly used as decorations, but they were used in fields to do what their name says, scare crows away along with other birds from grain fields.

Haunted houses are popular attractions in the weeks leading up to Halloween. Scary movies are also popular hits at Halloween. Decorations are found in the yards of most houses. Decorations can include skeleton frames, tombstones, spider webs, jack O' lanterns, and ghosts. Costume parties are commonly held on Halloween night. Both renting scary movies or going to the movie theater and watch a new scary movie are large hits.