There is a lot of speculation about the Halloween holiday.
Some people believe it’s just a great way to get free candy and party until the night is gone. Others however, hold different opinions.
Halloween could mean death and the paranormal around every street corner, and you’re just asking for it if you go into a corn field at midnight to mess around.
They believe that Halloween is the Devil’s holiday, and probably the only worst day to be alive, sans Friday the Thirteenth. Myths and tales about how Halloween originated spread long and wide.
Our textbooks say that Halloween originated from festivals of our past, most suspected the Celtic festival of Samhein (translated, meaning Summer’s end).
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English Folklore, “Certainly Samhain was a time for festive gatherings, and medieval Irish texts and later Irish, Welsh, and Scottish folklore use it as a setting for supernatural encounters, but there is no evidence that it was connected with the dead in pre-Christian times, or that pagan religious ceremonies were held”
Later on, text kept referring back to Samhein, as being a breeding place for the unnatural, even though there was no evidence from Samhein itself that the Celtic were up to no good.
The name, “Halloween”, was first used in the 1600s by the Scottish, as a variant of “All Hallows Even”, or evening.
And what of the thousands of myths and superstitions that come with Halloween?
Are they built up from years and years of suspicious neighbors, and the idea that not everyone is who they seem – or are some people really not what they appear?
If a black cat crosses your path, are you in for some seriously bad luck? Being a proud owner of a black cat, I myself never saw any constant bad days while petting him on my couch.
In fact every Halloween, I had to keep my cat indoors for the night BECAUSE of the supserstiton.
If he went out, there was always the possibility someone would decide to do something stupid, not to mention Halloween is one of the most dangerous nights of the year, where DUIs (driving under the influence) is at its worst, and teenagers are going about what they shouldn’t be.
Rumor has it if your birthday is October 31, you may start to have this little, minor, itty bitty chance of seeing the dead, as well.
Resolving their unfinished business. Them following you wherever you go – ignoring the Headless Horseman when he tries to ask if you can hold his face for a second while he puts his Jack-o-Lantern on for the festivities of the holiday.
Halloween has been around for a very, very long time. So long, in fact, its history is hard to announce.
Every year since its origin, however, the rumors and superstitions have been spreading, and it’s hard to tell what is real and what is fiction.
So be careful this Halloween.
