With roots in ancient Celtic harvest festivals, Halloween lore is steeped in history, which includes spooky superstitions, harvest foods, and honoring the seasons.
Witches on broomsticks, ghosts and goblins and jack-o-lanterns are everywhere you look. Yes, Halloween is the season for things to go bump in the night and for us to be scared – in a good way. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, because it’s a day of fun. Who doesn’t like to dress up, go to a party, and eat a little candy?
However, there are those who will have nothing to do with October 31, because they believe it has associations with the devil. In fact, Halloween originated from the old Celtic holiday of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. Celts believed that this transition between the seasons was a bridge to the world of the dead.
Today, the holiday can feel more more about costumes and candy than about ghosts, ghouls, and witches. The proof of this is certainly in the cash register: U.S. residents spend $4 billion on costumes annually. Add in candy and that figure goes to $7.5 billion, making Halloween the second largest commercial holiday, surpassed only by Christmas.
Haunted houses are popping up everywhere and getting scarier, thanks to modern technology, year after year. Why do we like to be scared? Imagination can conjure up more fear than anything we see or hear, but still curiosity of things that can’t be explained is part of human nature, and we know we can walk into a haunted house and also walk out. It’s just like many people love going to the movies and watching thrillers, because they know the scary images on the screen aren’t real.
Halloween Lore and History
Witches
Sometimes, though, the difference between what is real and what is not is a fine line. I have been intrigued by witches ever since I first watched The Wizard of Oz for the first time. Witches are usually always depicted as dressed in black with green skin riding their broomsticks in front of a full moon. Actually, the skin of The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz appeared green because of Technicolor in the film version.
Frank Baum, who wrote the classic in 1900, had the ingenuity to depict both sides of witchcraft. Remember Glinda, the Good Witch of the East? Throughout history, witches have not always been thought of as evil or ugly, but rather as healers or wise women of the community. As Christianity spread, many of them were condemned because their power supposedly came from somewhere other than God. The Salem witch trials were, sadly, a big part of our history.
The usual way to test for being a witch was to strip them down to see if they possessed any birthmarks, which were sure signs of being a witch. Another more mediocre way was by dunking, which is exactly what it sounds like. A suspected witch was thrown into a pond or well. If he or she floated, the consensus was she was rejected by the waters of baptism and thus, she was a witch. If she sunk she was declared innocent even though that meant she probably drowned. (You wonder why they went to the bother since it was a lose-lose situation.)
Later, accusations of witchcraft were used to keep talented, intelligent women from threatening male supremacy of the day. That is male chauvinism at its worse!
All Halloweening antics aside, about 1.5 million witches practice in the United States today. Many of them are Wiccans, which is a modern pagan religion. Instead of being followers of black magic, they practice white magic and live by the code of “if it harm none, do what ye will.”
Jack-o-Lanterns
Another sure sign of Halloween are the ghoulish faces illuminated by candles that peer out from nearly every porch during October nights. Jack-o-lanterns date back to Ireland when folks carved large turnips, rutabagas and potatoes to supposedly ward off evil spirits. In America they found that pumpkins worked much better.
Lately, I’ve seen more and more painted jack-o-lantern faces than carved ones. OK, I’ll give you that it is a lot less messy this way, but there is something traditional about reaching your hands down inside and pulling all the stringy, slimy orange guts out. How’s that for some gory Halloween talk! Besides, how are you going to have pumpkin seeds to roast if you don’t actually carve the pumpkin?
Ghosts
As for the subject of ghosts at Halloween, some say the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is at its thinnest at this time of year. This allows the spirits of those who have passed on to roam more freely among us. Whether this is true or just hyped up because of the season, we are more focused on ghosts during this time of year.
It’s all part of the fun. Some people try to read too much into all of these traditions. Why can’t we just enjoy the fun for one holiday without trying to analyze every aspect of it? Life as a whole is way too serious, so when I have a chance to be a kid again I grab it with gusto. So, Halloween night I’ll eat my share of candy, put on a costume, try to scare the grandkids and be a kid again myself. There’s time enough November 1st to go back to being an adult.
Spooky Superstitions
Halloween is the holiday that celebrates superstitions. What exactly are they? Officially, they are explained as any belief or action that is inconsistent with science and is aimed at bringing good luck and avoiding bad luck. Is there any logic behind them? Probably not, but our brains are wired for cause and effect and, like anything else, if we believe something long enough then it becomes real. There is no rational reason why we pick on black cats as opposed to orange ones, ladders as opposed to anything else or singling out the number 13.
Most people, when asked, will say they are not superstitious. However, the numbers say otherwise. For example, 51% of us knock on wood to bring good luck, 16% will not open an umbrella indoors, 13% carry a good luck charm and 10% avoid black cats. Yep, you guessed it, I’m one counted in these percents. After all, if in doubt, better to be safe than sorry!
Here are some of the more popular superstitions that run rampant this time of year.
Jack O Lanterns
They are everywhere this time of year. You have to admit they add a festive glow to our front porches and lawns. It is said that a burning candle inside a jack-o-lantern on Halloween night keeps evil spirits and demons at bay.
Ghosts
Whether you believe these exist or not, all of us at one time or another have “heard” footsteps behind us when no one else was around, thought we “saw” something whisk past our eyes in the dark of night or “felt” a presence near us. Depending on how they are perceived, they can be the basis of fun antics for Halloween or something a lot more scary. The story goes that if you see a ghost you should walk around it nine times and it will disappear. OK, seriously, who wants to get that close?
Footsteps
Closely associated with ghosts are footsteps in the night. The advice here is if you hear them behind you on this night, don’t look back. It may be the dead following you. Turning back could mean that you will soon join the dead.
Black cats
I have to admit that this one has gotten its grips in me. I have actually turned around in the road to avoid a black cat crossing my path. If you think this is crazy and also happen to know me, you will know that there is no way I want to even flirt with the notion of inviting any more bad luck into my world. Black cats have often been associated with witches’ familiars. If you cross paths with a black cat on Halloween it could be a sign that a witch is nearby. If you hurt a black cat on Halloween, you’ll have seven years of bad luck.
Bats
This season would not be complete without the mention of bats. Though bats are actually good to have around because they dine on mosquitoes and other non-desirable insects, they are also associated with evil, scary and other undesirable creatures this time of year. If you see bats flying around your house on Halloween — inside or not — it is a sign of ghosts and spirits nearby.
Ladders
This is another one of mine, I don’t walk under ladders. Again, why tempt fate? The reasoning behind this goes that, before they invented gallows, criminals were hung from the top rung of ladders and their spirits were believed to linger underneath. It was bad luck to walk under one and pass through the triangle of evil ghosts and spirits.
Broken Mirrors
It was always said that if you break a mirror you are destined to seven years of bad luck. There is an ancient myth that an image in a mirror is our actual soul. A broken mirror represents the soul being astray from the body. To break the spell of misfortune, the person who broke the mirror must wait 7 hours (one for each year of bad luck)before picking up the broken pieces and burying them outside in the moonlight.
Halloween Birthdays
Children born on Halloween are said to have the gift of second sight, which includes the power to ward off evil spirits.
Coffins
Some people are sadistic and will scare others by lying in a coffin. Not funny, because it is believed this action invites death. Even more eerie is the belief that no item of clothing belonging to a living person should ever be placed on a corpse when it is placed in a coffin, so as it rots in the grave so will the rightful owner decline toward death.
These are some of the “darker” superstitions, especially those associated with this time of year.
Superstitions of Luck
However, there are some lighter fare in the superstition department that is said to bring good luck.
- Almost everyone has thrown salt over their shoulder to put them on the positive side of luck.
- Many people carry a rabbit’s foot or other good luck charm.
- How many times have you kept a four-leaf clover until it withered?
- Horseshoes have always been said to be a symbol of good luck, but that luck is tied to a couple of conditions. First, the horseshoe must be lost by a horse (obviously) and found by you. Secondly, when it is hung, the open end must face up so as not to spill the good luck.
- As for the number 13, the jury is still sitting on the fence on this one. Half the people consider it lucky and the other half totally avoid it. Many buildings have no 13th floor and some people will not go anywhere on the 13th of the month, especially if it falls on Friday the 13th. I used to be one that avoided it until my youngest grandson told me, “But Grandma, I was born on the 13th.” What can I say?
Superstitions, either you believe in them or you don’t. Whichever way you tend to lean, they can certainly add a flair to life, especially at this spooky, bump-in-the-night time of year.
