Spooky season has officially arrived, and many people around the world are preparing to celebrate Halloween by doing fun and exciting activities. These activities vary from baking sweet treats with loved ones to telling scary stories with friends. Most Halloween traditions originated around 2,000 years ago, during the end of harvest, in an ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain and the start of a new year. Flash forward 2,000 years later, and Halloween is still being celebrated with similar traditions. However, it has evolved in its own ways over time.
Trick-or-treating is obviously one of the most popular Halloween traditions, but how did it come about? Well, in Scotland and Ireland, during the mid 1800s, immigrants began trick-or-treating as a way to play pranks and get treats. During the festival of Samhain, Celtic people would leave food out to appease the spirits traveling the Earth at night.
Over time, many children began to create their own designs of costumes to imitate unearthly beings. Individuals would dress up for Halloween to ward off evil spirits. Presently, costumes are still a huge factor of Halloween, but for different reasons. In today’s time, people dress up for costume parties, trick-or-treating, and much more.
Racing in corn mazes, picking your perfect pumpkin, and fun fall photo shoots are very popular among people of all ages. Pumpkin patches are a big part of everyone’s Halloween. Not to mention the spooky hayrides we all enjoy and sharing scary and funny memorable moments with our friends. When you go to your town’s pumpkin patch, it also shows your support for one of your local businesses as well!
The name jack-o-lantern comes from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack. Allegedly, Jack was not allowed into heaven due to all of his evil deeds he had committed on earth and satan didn’t want him in hell either, due to a contact the two had formed many, many years ago. Jack was then trapped on earth, only allowed to roam around with a turnip for a head and hellfire lighting his way, spewing from his mouth and eyes. People around that time would carve pumpkins to ward off the evil spirit. Now-a-days people do it for fun, not knowing the dark story behind it.
Haunted houses are a huge part of not just Halloween, but fall in general. People all over the world enjoy going to haunted houses to get a good scare. One of the first recorded haunted houses opened in 1915, in Liphook, England, and led to the beginning of haunted houses as a whole. Haunted houses began popping up everywhere from then on, and have continued to be a huge part of Halloween. Many enjoy getting their adrenaline pumping at these haunted attractions, but some also have a strong hatred for them. Some spooky, haunted attractions in our area are Talan Falls, Chittyville, and Sinister Acres!
Farmers markets have always been a cute date idea for couples or a fun thing to do with friends. Roaming around with no care in the world, looking at fresh vegetables to pick out with stylish outfits on. Why do people pick farmers markets over the grocery store though, especially in the fall? Well, when you go to the farmers market, everything is grown in a healthier environment, not to mention also that more crops get produced in the fall compared to the middle of summer or winter. By many opinions, the vegetables are fresher and tastier than any other point in the year.
Apples have been linked to the very origins of Halloween dating as far as 200 BC. The tradition of apple picking is tied to love and romance instead of the typical spookiness often linked to Halloween. Families have been going to apple orchards and picking out apples with their loved ones for years, it has become quite the tradition for some families. Apple picking is a wonderful way to spend time with friends and family during fall.
Apple picking is also the perfect time to pick the best apples so that you can make amazing apple cider! The first recorded references to apple cider date back to Roman times. In 55 BCE Julius Caesar found the Celtic Britons fermenting cider from native crabapples. Apple cider is traditionally produced in autumn and served on Halloween.
Mischief night is known as the pranking holiday. Mischief night is an informal holiday on which children, teenagers, and adults take part in jokes, pranks, vandalism, and parties. The day that people “celebrate” this informal holiday is held on the eve of Halloween (October 30th). TP-ing, or toilet papering, is the most popular activity that is most taken part in, on Mischief Night. Not to mention sporking, egging, and putting instant mashed potatoes in people’s yards.
Halloween has left many traditions in its wake, and many more are sure to come over the years.
