Halloween is coming soon! Here are 10 creepy facts about Halloween.
Key Points
Halloween trick-or-treating, ghouls, and late-night witchcraft. Halloween is a fantastic and spooky time of year. Turn up the scare factor this season with our collection of entertaining Halloween facts. Show off at your next costume party and demonstrate to everyone how much you love Halloween by knowing everything about jack-o-lanterns, from their origins to the weight of the largest pumpkin in the world.
The World’s Largest Pumpkin
At 1,054 kilogrammes, it is the largest pumpkin in the world (2,323 lb).
Witches, Black Cats, Spiders
Because of their antecedents and associations with Wiccans, black cats, spiders, and bats are all associated with Halloween. In the Middle Ages, these creatures were believed to be the associates of witches, and they are frequently connected to unfavourable events.
The Most Important Halloween Parade
With 50,000 participants and more than 2 million spectators, New York City’s Village Halloween Parade is the biggest Halloween parade in the country.
Saints Day
For All Saints Day, which falls on November 1st, many travel back to their hometowns on Halloween to buy flowers and candles.
Jack-o-lanterns stand for Stingy Jack’s lost spirit’s lantern.
Old Irish folklore claims that Stingy Jack had a drink with the Devil, which is not something we advise you to do. In order to cover the cost of the beverages without actually paying for them, Jack persuaded the Devil to transform himself into a coin. The Devil did as Jack instructed, and Jack placed the Devil/coin in his pocket along with a silver cross that prevented the Devil from reverting to his natural form.
Jack stated he would release the Devil if the Devil agreed to leave Jack alone for a whole year and was not permitted to steal Jack’s soul if he passed away during that year. The Devil complied and gave Jack a year to himself.
When the year was through, Jack ordered the Devil to fetch him a piece of fruit from a tall tree when he came back. Jack engraved a cross on the tree’s bark before the Devil could ascend, preventing him from leaving unless he agreed to leave Jack alone for 10 years.
Soon after their second agreement was established, Jack passed away. However, as a result of his agreements with the Devil, God forbade Jack from entering paradise, and the Devil agreed not to steal his soul. When Jack was lost and unclaimed, the Devil offered him a blazing coal to illuminate his path. The jack-o’-lantern was created when Jack stuffed his coat into a carved turnip. We are shivering.
Trick-or-Treating originated from the All Souls’ Day custom of “souling.”
On November 2nd, All Souls’ Day, the underprivileged would reportedly beg for “soul-cakes,” according to History.com. If the wealthy consented to providing these soul-cakes to the poor, the recipients would offer prayers for the souls of the provider’s departed family members.
Later, during the Medieval era, kids would participate in Halloween “guising,” which is more like our current trick-or-treating. In order to acquire gifts of food, wine, or money from others, children would dress up and sing, dance, or recite poetry.
The ancient Celts wore those Samhain “masks,” right? Yes, those were most likely simply dead animals.
Obviously, 2,000 years ago, things were very different, and it was very acceptable to wear the skulls and skins of animals that had been killed. Ken Nilsen, a professor of Celtic studies at Canada’s St. Francis Xavier University, was interviewed by National Geographic News in 2008. Nilsen agreed that numerous ancient tribes, including the ancient Celts, used animal parts in sacrifices and rites.
Other pagan cultures actually wore animal skins and skulls in order to communicate with animal spirits who could help them in their daily lives. As significant components of nature, animal spirits are regularly called upon to aid their human counterparts.
There are several eerie Halloween superstitions in existence.
On an ordinary day, you might come across ladders, shattered mirrors, and black cats. If you’re a superstitious person, you might want to stay home and under your covers on Halloween.
According to AmericanFolklore.net, if you see bats flying over your house on Halloween night, spirits and ghosts are present. If a black cat meows at your window or on your doorstep, someone in the family will pass away soon. On Halloween, don’t turn around if you hear someone walking behind you. The deceased may be attempting to lead you to the other side.
The website claims, “Evil spirits cannot enter your body if you hold your breath as you pass a graveyard in a car. Turn your pockets inside out when you pass a cemetery or a residence where a deceased person lived to avoid bringing a ghost home with you. ” I mean, yikes!
Halloween was first observed as a holiday honouring the deceased.
Unsurprisingly, our lighthearted, contemporary Halloween customs have darker origins. The ancient Celts observed Samhain on November 1st, over 2,000 years ago. While honouring the deceased, the participants in this celebration made sure to ward off wandering spirits by engaging in certain rites. The barrier separating the living from the dead was thought to have crumbled on October 31st, allowing the dead to reappear.
According to History.com, on the night before Samhain was observed, individuals would leave food and wine outside of their homes to fend off spirits. In order to convince ghosts that they were fellow ghosts and not live people, ancient people used masks during the day.
Samhain was accepted by the Christian church in the eighth century and changed to All Saints’ Day; All Hallows’ Eve, which was celebrated the previous evening, is where our contemporary name “Halloween” originates.
