Who loves Halloween??

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Halloween is probably one of my most favourite holidays in all of the year, there is something about it that is so different from the other holidays. Maybe its the falling leaves and the evenings are darker faster.
Maybe its the lit pumpkins that people put up at the windows with scary faces lit by the candle inside of them.
Maybe its watching the children run around in their costumes Trick or Treating, or maybe its sitting in front of the fire watching a Scary Movie, trying to get myself so scared I have to sleep with the light on.

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Where did Halloween come from??

Halloween used to be known as All Hallows Eve which was in western christian tradition it falls the day before All Saints Day. It is believed to go back to ancient pagan times, and to this day Wiccans and Pagans celebrate this as the holiday Samhain. But the Christians reinvented this as Halloween, and some believe it started entirely as a Christian Holiday.

It is believed that this day the veil between the living and the dead is at it's thinnest and the dead walk among us. However for centuries the dead have sometimes be percieved as evil which is why people dress up as mummies, devils and witches.

Until the 1990's Ireland and England did not use pumpkins to make lanterns but a mere turnip which was calved into a scary face and using pumpkins now is still relatively recent.

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The use of pumpkins was adopted from Ireland who called the lanterns Jack o Lantern's and this was adopted in America, it was believed to be named after someone called Stingy Jack.

Halloween in other parts of the world.

Other parts of the world celebrate Halloween differently keeping with the original customer of All Hallows Eve that they will go the cemetary and light candles on the graves of the dead out of respect for them.

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It would appear that candles play an important part of Halloween as a way to light the way for the dead to return to where they came from, some countries will light every room in the house, as a means to guide the dead back to visit their earthly homes.

Trick or Treating.

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Trick or Treat is a custom that children can dress up in costume one night of the year and visit peoples houses in search of candy.
But it also means that the person of the house may also want to trick them, the research shows it coming from different parts of the world Germany, Britain but mainly Scotland and Ireland where in 1895 children dressed in masks and went in search of food and coins.
It was first reported in America in 1911 but was called guising where children went to perform this activity.

Games at Halloween

Games have changed a lot over the centuries in the 18th century many people had a fascination with the spirit world, so they would attend seances and ouija board sessions to try to make contact. Single women on Halloween would sit alone in a darkened room with a candle looking at a mirror believing it would reveal the man who they would marry, but should they see a skull in the mirror they would meet death in the near future.
Nowerdays popular games are played like bobbing for apples this is where apples are put in water and they float, the object is to get the apple out of the water using only your teeth and you have to keep your hands behind your back at all times.
There is a similar game where the apples are tied on strings and hung and you have to try to bite the apple without touching it.
Many teenagers in the west play other sorts of games such as Bloody Mary a game where they dare each other to go to the bathroom alone, and they look in the mirror and called out "Bloody Mary" there times, it is believed that Mary a spirit would appear to them.
Also there is another popular game that has surfaced called Charlie Charlie, this was on you tube a few years back basically a grid is drawn with four squares with yes and no on them, on it you place two pencils in a cross shape and call out "Charlie Charlie are you there." Interestingly the pencil does move which could be down to numerous other factors such as a gust of wind or the table moving.
Caution this game is not recommended.

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I hope this post gave you a little more insight into the origins of Halloween, what ever your beliefs I hope you make your Halloween and safe and fun one.

Until next time.