It seems that this party, which came to us from overseas, has been gradually installed, but firmly, in our homes. Year after year, with the arrival of October, we have been decorating our homes with pumpkins, spider webs, candies and a multitude of hordes of little hungry beings of sweets roam our streets.
But do we know where all this comes from? We know The origin of Halloween traditions.
Jack-O flashlights
The origin of these pumpkin lanterns comes from the Irish tradition, only turnips were used instead of pumpkins. They are based on the legend of a man named Stingy Jack who caught the Devil on numerous occasions and set him free on the condition of getting rid of hell. The problem arose when at the death of heaven he did not want to receive his soul due to his practices with the Devil, being condemned to wander the earth. The Devil gave Jack a piece of burning coal that he carried inside the turnip to light the way.
Gradually the villagers were carving scary faces in the pumpkins, thus emerging the traditional lanterns. I guess something should be done with the pumpkin surplus of these dates.
Ghosts
According to Celtic tradition, during the Samhain holiday, which marked the end of the year that coincided with the end of the harvest at the end of autumn and marked the beginning of winter, the spirits roamed the face of the earth.
Catholic missionaries replaced this holiday with the Day of the Dead, as we know it on November 2.
Costumes
Due to the previous belief, the people of that time, fearful of the spirits, disguised themselves as dark and ghostly beings in order to confuse the true spirits and to take them as one of them and not harm them. Smart, right?
Trick or Treating
The favorite tradition of the little ones, there is no doubt about that. You don't have a clear idea of how it started. It is believed that people left food as offerings to these beings and ghosts that crossed our world during the celebration of Samhain, so as to quench their hunger. It is already known that when one has not eaten one is usually in a dog's mood and in those days it was better not to anger who could drag your soul with him.
The Scottish version He believes that it comes from the tradition of praying to the dead that was carried out by believers, children and the poor in exchange for a donation. Over time this practice was derived to mere representations that ended in what we know today.
According the american versionThis practice originated in the neighborhoods of German immigrants in the United States, so that the children disguised themselves and went from door to door challenging their neighbors to guess who hid under the guise, being rewarded with candy or food if The neighbor was not able to identify them.
Black and orange
The colors of Halloween. Its origin can be found in the holiday of Samhain in which these colors were used. Black represents the end of summer, while orange represents autumn and crops.
Black cats
What is a witch without a black cat? It is like a garden without flowers. Any representation, mental image or scenarios that we imagine in what looks like a witch, is sure to look like your black cat.
It is believed that the bad press that these animals have comes from dark past times in which it was believed that they were the emissaries of the devil, due to the custom that those badly called witches had, of having them as companion animals.
Candles and burning bones
Its origin is not known with certainty, but we know that fire is the way for souls to find their way.
Bats
Most likely, the bats were present at the first Samhain celebrations, in which the large bonfires attracted insects and these to the bats that soon became part of the celebration. Later superstitions and diseases associated them as the messengers of death.
Candies
While the trick or treat has a long tradition in Halloween, the fact that children are given candy is relatively recent. It is about the time of the 50s when candy companies begin to use this holiday as a means to promote their merchandise, creating specific candies and sweets for this celebration, even so, they remained unpopular until the 70s.
