Joined: 12 Mar 2004 Posts: 2236 Location: ***Wisconsin Baby***
Halloween Facts- Posted: 10-24-04 19:05pm
Black cats, ghouls and goblins, sugary
treats — just about everyone's familiar
with the traditional trappings of
halloween. But how did an ancient pagan
ritual grow into the most beloved kids'
night of the year? Read on for details
about october 31, from its humble
beginnings to its big-bucks present.
Halloween history
• many experts believe the druids were the
first to observe halloween. Dating back
to 700 b.C., they celebrated the festival
of samhain (the end of the harvest and a
time to honor the dead) on november 1. In
the ensuing years, the night before became
known as the eve of all hallows, a.K.A.
Hallow even, a.K.A. Hallow e'en.
• ever wonder how trick-or-treating got
started? On the evening before samhain,
people left food on their doorsteps to
keep hungry spirits from entering the
house. Festivalgoers started dressing in
ghost, witch, and goblin costumes so
wandering spirits would leave them alone.
To this day, these are halloween's most
popular costumes.
• the word witch comes from the saxon word
wicca, which means "wise one."
amazing animals
• black cats, those customary halloween
icons, were originally believed to be
witches' familiars, a kind of cosmic
sidekick who protected the witches' powers
from negative forces.
• some so-called vampire bats do drink
blood, but they're not from transylvania.
They live in central and south america and
feed on cattle, horses, and birds.
Food facts
• the biggest pumpkin in the world tipped
the scales at a whopping 1,446 pounds.
This gigantic gourd was weighed in october
2004 at a pumpkin festival in port elgin,
ontario, canada.
• of all canned fruits and vegetables,
pumpkin is the best source of vitamin a.
Just a half-cup of the orange stuff has
more than three times the recommended
daily requirement.
• the very first jack o' lantern was made
out of a turnip.
Big business
• halloween isn't just for kids. While 82
percent of children take part in halloween
festivities, a surprising 67 percent of
adults also join in the fun.
• candy corn, anyone? With an estimated $
1.93 billion in candy sales, halloween is
the sweetest holiday of the year, beating
out easter, valentine's day, and
christmas. In fact, one quarter of all
the candy sold each year is purchased
between september 15 and november 10.
• u.S. Consumers spend as much as $ 1.5
billion on costumes each year, and more
than $ 2.5 billion on other halloween
paraphernalia, such as decorations and
crafts — more than $ 100 million of which
is spent online.
• the first halloween card was made in the
early 1900s. These days, u.S. Consumers
spend about $ 50 million on halloween
greetings.
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Michelle1337
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Aug 2004 Posts: 1739 Location: Houston, Texas
Posted: 10-24-04 19:08pm
I posted this in the other topic..But
since you made new one...
Halloween's origins date back to the
ancient celtic festival of samhain
(pronounced sow-in). The celts, who lived
2,000 years ago in the area that is now
ireland, the united kingdom, and northern
france, celebrated their new year on
november 1. This day marked the end of
summer and the harvest and the beginning
of the dark, cold winter, a time of year
that was often associated with human
death. Celts believed that on the night
before the new year, the boundary between
the worlds of the living and the dead
became blurred. On the night of october
31, they celebrated samhain, when it was
believed that the ghosts of the dead
returned to earth. In addition to causing
trouble and damaging crops, celts thought
that the presence of the otherworldly
spirits made it easier for the druids, or
celtic priests, to make predictions about
the future. For a people entirely
dependent on the volatile natural world,
these prophecies were an important source
of comfort and direction during the long,
dark winter.
To commemorate the event, druids built
huge sacred bonfires, where the people
gathered to burn crops and animals as
sacrifices to the celtic deities. During
the celebration, the celts wore costumes,
typically consisting of animal heads and
skins, and attempted to tell each other's
fortunes. When the celebration was over,
they re-lit their hearth fires, which they
had extinguished earlier that evening,
from the sacred bonfire to help protect
them during the coming winter.
By a.D. 43, romans had conquered the
majority of celtic territory. In the
course of the four hundred years that they
ruled the celtic lands, two festivals of
roman origin were combined with the
traditional celtic celebration of samhain.
The first was feralia, a day in late
october when the romans traditionally
commemorated the passing of the dead. The
second was a day to honor pomona, the
roman goddess of fruit and trees. The
symbol of pomona is the apple and the
incorporation of this celebration into
samhain probably explains the tradition of
"bobbing" for apples that is practiced
today on halloween.
By the 800s, the influence of christianity
had spread into celtic lands. In the
seventh century, pope boniface iv
designated november 1 all saints' day, a
time to honor saints and martyrs. It is
widely believed today that the pope was
attempting to replace the celtic festival
of the dead with a related, but
church-sanctioned holiday. The
celebration was also called all-hallows or
all-hallowmas (from middle english
alholowmesse meaning all saints' day) and
the night before it, the night of samhain,
began to be called all-hallows eve and,
eventually, halloween. Even later, in
a.D. 1000, the church would make november
2 all souls' day, a day to honor the dead.
It was celebrated similarly to samhain,
with big bonfires, parades, and dressing
up in costumes as saints, angels, and
devils. Together, the three celebrations,
the eve of all saints', all saints', and
all souls', were called hallowmas.
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sparklypixie12
Extremely EHEALTHy
Joined: 17 Sep 2003 Posts: 3099
Posted: 10-24-04 19:10pm
They make halloween cards???! That's just
bonkers!
