The Know does Halloween
Candy Apple
Friday, 31st October 2008
Well, well, well, its that time of year again. Out come the witches masks, the old sheets and the pumpkins. Yes lovely readers: it's Halloween!
Lets start with a few facts:
- The name Halloween originates from ‘All Hallow Even’ meaning the night before the festival of All Saints. This, however, has nothing to do with goblins and ghouls, but is in fact a Christian festival celebrating the saints.
- The reasons for dressing up and going to harass the neighbours dates from the medieval period where people would go ‘mumming’. This involved dressing up in silly costumes and going around the area offering prayers for the dead in return for treats.
- The significance of 31st October dates back to a Gaelic traditional end of harvest celebration. The Gaels believed that on this day the boundaries between the living and the dead weakened, and the dead would come back to mock the living.
Superstition...
- Apparently on Halloween, if a person holds a mirror and walks backwards down the stairs a face will appear in the mirror and this is the face of their next lover! So if you have a crush on someone this Halloween grab a mirror and see if it works!
- Jack-o-Lanterns might be as sinister as they appear. According to legend a man called Jack was too bad to go to heaven, but he had played a trick on the devil so was not allowed into hell either. Instead Jack has to wander the earth with just a lantern...
However, the candle inside the pumpkin is put there to scare away witches and ghosts. So get carving!
- On Halloween people are advised to finish their travels by sunset... so as not to get caught out by the ungodly creatures of the night.
- Another one to find your future partner! Apparently you should peel an apple making sure all the peel comes off in one, you should then throw this over your shoulder and the shape it lands in will be the initial of your future lover. Presumably you then look through your Facebook contacts and see if you find a match!
- A person born on Halloween will supposedly have the gift of communicating with the dead, maybe that is the secret of psychics.
- If you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved one watching over you.
- If you hear footsteps behind you on Halloween night, don't look back. It may be the dead following you and turning back could mean that you will soon join them. Spooky stuff!!
Enjoy Halloween, but remember, be home before dark....
