Things might get a bit spooky once Halloween begins. Before we look at the fun facts about Halloween, let’s understand the origin of this spooktastic celebration.
The Origin of Halloween
Halloween is one of the oldest traditions in the world. The celebration touches on the relationship between the living and the dead. The ancient rituals performed are by observing the shift from summer to winter. And through this transformation, it becomes a central theme of the holiday.
These days, the celebration takes on a more modern note. Countries like America and Canada practice this tradition still. But, they also go through some developments to fit today’s celebration mould. However, the quintessential background of this tradition is the Celtic festival of Samhain.
Samhain (pronounced as ‘Soo-ween‘ or ‘Saw-wen‘) means summer’s end. The festival marks the end of the harvest season as winter approaches. The Celts believe that the barrier that separates the world of the living and the dead is the thinnest during this time. Hence, it is easier for the dead to return to wherever they come from. Additionally, those who died the past year and had not moved on from that side of the world— would travel back to their place and interact with the living.
Fun facts about this celebration
What makes this celebration so intriguing? Here are some fun facts you didn’t know about Halloween:
- Jack o’lantern is from the Irish legend of Stingy Jack
- The story goes as Stingy Jack invited the devil for a drink.
- However, due to his stingy nature, he didn’t want to pay for the drink.
- Jack convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin.
- Instead of buying the drink, Jack kept the coin close to a silver cross in his house.
- It prevented the devil from transforming into its original form.
- Jack vowed to release the devil from captivity if he left him alone for a year.
- And if Jack died, the devil would not come for his soul.
- A year passed, and Jack deceived the devil again.
- When Jack died, God refused to accept a conniving person in heaven or hell— and God did not allow him even to hell.
- Jack went off into the night with only burning coal as a light source.
- Then, Jack placed the burning coal inside a carved-out turnip and roamed the world.
- Candy corn’s original name was Chicken Feed
- George Renninger was the creator of this popular Halloween treats in the 1880s.
- Goelitz Confectionary Company (now known as Jelly Belly co.) sold a massive number of this candy during the turn of the century.
- The name originates from the corn that is used to feed chickens.
- Interestingly, colourful illustrations decorated the packaging previously.
- Trick-or-treating is from ‘souling’
- Children dressing up in costumes and visiting house by house is a ritual that begins in the Middle Ages and the Samhain ritual.
- It is believed that phantoms transcended the earth on the night of the ritual.
- The costumes are an effort to dispel the wandering spirits away.
- 30,581 lighted-jack-o’lanterns were on display
- The highest number of lit jack o’lanterns on display is 30,581, as recorded by the Guinness World Records in the City of Keene, New Hampshire, in 2013.
- Keene has broken the record eight times since the original attempt, representing Let it Shine, Inc.
- Superstition and fortune-telling are the baselines of Halloween folktales
- Bobbing for apples and avoiding black cats are one of the most prominent tales today.
- Not only that, another folklore deems: if a young unmarried person walks down the stairs backward at midnight with a mirror in hand, the face of their next lover will appear as their reflection.
Sources: 10 Best, World History Encyclopedia, History, Britannica, Guinness World Record