The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
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• Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and black is associated with darkness and death. • Jack o' Lanterns originated in Ireland where people placed candles in hollowed-out tur- nips to keep away spirits and ghosts on the Samhain holiday. • Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that hon- ors Pomona, the goddess of fruit trees. • The owl is a popular Halloween image. In Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches, and to hear an owl's call meant someone was about to die. • According to tradition, if a person wears his or her clothes inside out and then walks back- wards on Halloween, he or she will see a witch at midnight. • Trick-or-treating harks back to the middle Ages and All Souls' Day, when poor people in Britain would beg for soul cakes, a sweet-bread treat, and pray for dead relatives in return. • The word "witch" comes from the Old English wince, meaning "wise woman." In fact, Wiccans were highly respected people at one time. According to popular belief, witches held one of their two main meetings, or Sabbaths, on Halloween night. • Believing that spirits and ghosts roamed the land on All Hallows' Eve, the ancients Celts wore costumes and masks to avoid detection by these ghosts. • According to legend, on Halloween (sometimes at the stroke of midnight), young women would peel an apple into one continuous strip and throw it over her shoulder. The apple skin would supposedly land in the shape of the first letter of her future husband's name. • According to Irish legend, Jack O'Lanterns are named after a stingy man named Jack who, because he tricked the devil several times, was forbidden entrance into both heaven and hell. He was condemned to wander the Earth, waving his lantern to lead people away from their paths. Fun Facts about Halloween traditions H alloween dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in now Ireland, the United Kingdom and France, had their celebration of New Year on November first. This day marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter the time of year that was connected to death. According to Celtic legend the night before the New Year the worlds of the living and the dead become one. On the night of October 31 they would have the celebration of Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead mad a return to earth. Celts thought that the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the priests to make predictions about future crops. The Celtics were entirely dependent on the natural world; these predictions were an important part of finding comfort and direction during the harsh winter. To celebrate the event, Druids built massive ceremonial bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and make sacrifices to the Celtic gods. At this celebration it was customary to wear costumes typically made of animal heads and skins, and to tell fortunes. By the time of 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered Celtic territory and in the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two Roman festivals were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. One of the festivals was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans pay their respects to their past dead and the second festival was to honor Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the games from this festival started the tradition of "bobbing" for apples .On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. All Souls Day was celebrated similar to Samhain, with massive bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes but the majority of the costumes were as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was also called All- hallows and the night before, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, started to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween. Halloween and its Origins H a p p y H a l l o w e e n Questions: What do you know about the origins of Halloween? How do you celebrate Halloween? Neil Leslie Alyssa Smith Blaise Shaffer "No I don't know any- thing about the origins of Halloween." "It is the day the veil is no more and the ghosts can walk the earth ." "I hangout with friends and hope- fully die from candy overdose ." Amy Knox "Me and my neighbors put some big bowls of candy on a table and sit in the driveway and passout candy while the adults have a party." Freshmen Sophomore Junior Senior