- Tomorrow is Halloween and these facts aren't haunting, but instead, interesting!
Did you know the uncommon Halloween facts like the word witch come from “wyck” and means wise woman and pumpkins originated in Mexico? These are just the first of many Halloween facts to come.
- Halloween is observed in several countries.
- Halloween is said to come from the ancient Celtic harvest festivals.
- The Irish festival of Saline was the day that marked the end of the summer and the harvest and the beginning of the winter, when people believed that the boundary between the world of the living and the dead was at its thinnest.
- Celtic people would wear costumes and light bonfires to warn off spirits.
- Some say there is little evidence to associate Halloween with Saline specifically. Others say Halloween could have started with the festivals in ancient Northern Europe but no one wrote anything down so we will never know how they celebrated. Do you think this is one of the craziest uncommon Halloween facts?
- Ancient Northern Europe had tribes located across France and Germany that wore costumes of animal heads and skins to connect to spirits of the dead.
- Ancient peoples would black out their faces to dress like evil spirits.
- First festival of Halloween is known as All Hallows Eve, All Saints Eve, All Halloween, Witches Night, Snap Apple Night and All Hallows Summers End.
- Black and orange are traditionally Halloween colors. black referring to death and darkness and orange for harvest and autumn.
- Owls were associated with witches, the thinking was that they kept them as assistants and companions.
- Cats were also used by witches, especially black cats.
- Some shelters won’t adopt black cats out around Halloween, thinking they could be used in a ritual or unkind way. On the other hand, some shelters will have a specific black cat adoption days to promote these kitties and find them their forever homes.
- Scarecrows are popular in Halloween folklore.
- Full moons are associated with Halloween but they are rare, the last one was in 2020. Is this one of the shocking uncommon Halloween facts?
- Modern day activities on Halloween are pumpkin patches, costumes, playing pranks, watching scary movies, trick or treating, carving pumpkins and bobbing for apples.
- Trick or treating goes back to the medieval Christian practice of souling, when children and poor people would go around offering prayers for the dead, in exchange for special small round cake called soul cakes.
- “Guising” was when costume wearing participants would offer songs, dance, poetry and jokes in exchange for treats, fruit or money.
- The first known mention of trick or treating was in 1927 in Blackie, a small town in Alberta, Canada.
- 93% of children go trick or treating each year.
- Carving pumpkins into jack’o lanterns traces back to England and the ancient
Irish. - Jack’o lantern comes from a tale in Irish folklore about the man called Stinky Jack.
- Based on the legend of Jack, people would carve scary faces into root vegetables like turnips and potatoes to scare away Stinky Jack or any other spirits of the night.
- Jack’o lanterns went from root vegetabbonles to pumpkins thanks to the Irish. Americans liked to use pumpkins because they were cheaper and more abundant and because Americans like everything bigger.
What do you think of these uncommon Halloween facts so far? For more, follow the link to read Uncommon Halloween Facts For Tomorrow’s Holiday: Part Two.