Hallowe’en
Traditions Wearing of Costumes The wearing of costumes and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first
few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies,
witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to calm them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like
these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called "mumming", from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved. Trick-or-Treating For
every cake a child collected, he or she would have to say a prayer for the dead relatives of the person who gave the cake. These prayers would help
the relatives find their way out of purgatory and into heaven. The children even sang a soul cake song. One version of the
song went: A soul cake! Jack-o'-Lanterns A very popular character
in Irish folk tales was "Stingy Jack", a disreputable miser who, on
several occasions, avoided damnation by tricking the devil (often on All Hallows' Eve). In one story, he convinced Satan to
climb up a tree for some apples, and then cut crosses all around the trunk so the devil couldn't climb down. The devil promised
to leave Jack alone forever, if he would only let him out of the tree. When Jack eventually died, he
was turned away from Heaven, due to his life of sin. But, in keeping with their agreement, the Devil wouldn't take Jack either.
He was cursed to travel forever as a spirit in limbo. As Jack left the gates of Hell, the Devil threw him a hot ember to light
the way in the dark. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed-out turnip, and wandered off into the world. According to the Irish
legend, you might see Jack's spirit on All Hallows' Eve, still carrying his turnip lantern through the darkness. Bonfires The word comes from
the original word "boon-fire"; a huge fire built to honor the spirits of the air, to invoke favors.
It was also used to drive off "evil" spirits.
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Bad Luck Superstitions Black
cats were associated with the witch hunts of the middle ages when they were thought to be connected to evil. Since then, it
is considered bad luck if a black cat crosses your path. At
one time salt was rare to have and thought to have magical powers. It was unfortunate to spill salt and said to
foretell family problems and death. To ward off bad luck, throw a pinch over your shoulder and all will be well. In
the days before the gallows, criminals were hung from the top rung of a ladder and their spirits were believed to linger underneath.
Common folklore has it to be bad luck to walk beneath an open ladder and pass through the triangle of evil ghosts and spirits. |
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Good Luck Superstitions http://www.fabrisia.com/facts.htm
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