Halloween - A History
Halloween has origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain. The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is sometimes regarded as the "Celtic New Year". Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient Celtic pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Celts believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the living and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which the bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks being worn at Halloween goes back to the Celtic traditions of attempting to copy the evil spirits or placate them, in Scotland for instance where the dead were impersonated by young men with masked, veiled or blackened faces, dressed in white.
Halloween - Traditions
On Hallows' eve, the ancient Celts would place a skeleton on their window sill to represent the departed. Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body, containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the "head" of the vegetable to frighten off the embodiment of superstitions. Welsh, Irish and British myth are full of legends of the Brazen Head, which may be a folk memory of the widespread ancient Celtic practice of headhunting - the results of which were often nailed to a door lintel or brought to the fireside to speak their wisdom. The name jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger- making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark. The American tradition of carving pumpkins preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.The imagery surrounding Halloween is largely an amalgamation of the Halloween season itself, works of Gothic and horror literature, in particular novels Frankenstein and Dracula, and nearly a century of work from American filmmakers and graphic artists, and British Hammer Horror productions, also a rather commercialized take on the dark and mysterious. Halloween imagery tends to involve death, evil, the occult, magic, or mythical monsters. Traditional characters include the Devil, the Grim Reaper, ghosts, ghouls, demons, witches, pumpkin-men, goblins, vampires, werewolves, martians, zombies, mummies, skeletons, black cats, spiders, bats, owls, crows, and vultures.
Particularly in America, symbolism is inspired by classic horror films (which contain fictional figures like Frankenstein's monster and The Mummy). Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.
The two main colors associated with Halloween are orange and black
Halloween - Games And Other Activities
There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween parties. One common game is dunking or apple bobbing, in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water the participants must use their teeth to remove an apple from the basin (to make things even more challenging, try removing the stems from the apples).A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drop the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a very sticky face. Kids can play a "kill the witch game" by drawing and coloring a witch on a large piece of paper, cutting out circles from black construction paper and sticking tape on the back to make the witch's warts. Then blindfold the players, spin them around three times and have 'em pin ugly warts on the witch! The player who sticks the wart closest to the nose wins.
Some games traditionally played at Halloween are forms of divination. In Puicíní (pronounced "poocheeny"), a game played in Ireland, a blindfolded person is seated in front of a table on which several saucers are placed. The saucers are shuffled, and the seated person then chooses one by touch; the contents of the saucer determine the person's life during the following year. In 19th-century Ireland, young women placed slugs in saucers sprinkled with flour. A traditional Irish and Scottish form of divining one's future spouse is to carve an apple in one long strip, then toss the peel over one's shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name. This custom has survived among Irish and Scottish immigrants in the rural United States.
Unmarried women were frequently told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. However, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The telling of ghost stories and viewing of horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of TV series and specials with Halloween themes (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before the holiday, while new horror films, are often released theatrically before the holiday to take advantage of the atmosphere.
Some Halloween Books For You To Enjoy
CLICK ON BOOK TITLES FOR MORE INFORMATION
Halloween Blogger Blog
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byHalloween Word Press Blog
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byHalloween Party Games and Costumes
Ace Murder Mystery Halloween Dinner Party Game : A Taste of Transylville Terror (8-10 players) large A4+ box version
Ace Murder Mystery Halloween Dinner Party Game
For more information on this item click on link above.
Halloween Fancy Dress Costume - Pumpkin
Click on link above for more details.
Top Trumps Halloween Card Game
Click link above for more details
Fancy Dress Halloween Costume - Sexy Witch Costume - Purple
Click on link above for more details
Assorted Pack of 50 Halloween Temporary Tattoos
Click link above for more information
Hanging Foil Decoration (6 strings) - Bats
Click link above for more information
Halloween Parties
Nowadays it is tradition to have halloween parties and here are some party invitation ideas. Just click on the images for more details.
Halloween - Gifts
Coffee Mugs
Some coffe mugs that might interest you. Just click on the images for more details.
Halloween Gifts
Mousemats
Here are some spooky mousemats. Click on the images for more details.
Halloween Gifts
Tee Shirts
Just click on the images for more details.
Halloween - Gifts
Fridge Magnets
Just click images for more details.
Halloween - Gifts
Ties
Fun and funky ties for halloween. Just click on the images for more details.
Halloween - Gifts
Keychains
Just click on the images for more information.
Halloween - Gifts
Buttons/Badges
Just click on the images for more details.
Halloween Stickers
These are fun and you could stick them all around the house to make the party go with a bang. Just click on the images for more details.
Halloween - Gifts
Posters
Just click on the images for more details.
Halloween - Gifts
Bumper Stickers
Just click on the images for more details.
Your comments are always welcome.
submit
-
Reply
- susannaduffy susannaduffy Sep 29, 2009 @ 8:14 pm
- Wonderful! I love the way you've presented this
-
Reply
- AnnaleeBlysse AnnaleeBlysse Sep 27, 2009 @ 9:34 pm
- Great Halloween lens!
-
Reply
- artbyjehf artbyjehf Sep 27, 2009 @ 4:38 pm
- Super fun lens. Love the book selections as well as all the great gift and costume links.
-
Reply
- WeddingZazzle WeddingZazzle Sep 18, 2009 @ 3:07 am
- Looks great Les!
-
Reply
- fanfreluche fanfreluche Sep 15, 2009 @ 2:44 am
- Nice lens and kudos for promoting zazzlers!
- Load More
Halloween Links
- Justbyjulie.com
- Halloween at Justbyjulie
- Justbyjulie: Halloween
- Welcome to my gallery. Here you will find a range of different products from mugs to t-shirts. I will be adding and updating the products so please keep looking in every now and then.
- Evestock
- Balck cats and owls
- REFLECTIONS: Halloween Designs
- Selection of Halloween products
- Gifts For All Occasions Halloween Gifts
- Halloween products
- YesterdayCafe: Halloween
- Specializing in Vintage illustration Americana images on greeting cards and postcards with matching stamps, coffee mugs, tote bags, t-shirts and other gift items.
- Tee Zazzle: Halloween
- Welcome to TEE ZAZZLE! About Us We sell really fun merchandise and apparel for all types of occasions. We have over 30,000 products to choose from so whether you're shopping for yourself or looking for that perfect gift you're sure to find it here.
- Holiday Fun: Halloween
- Hi and welcome to our Holiday Fun Store We offer a nice selection of Holiday Designed products. Halloween is right around the corner, and we have many cute Halloween designs for you
- J32 Design - Graphic design, photography products: Halloween
- J32 Design offers t-shirts, business cards and other customizable products with unique graphic designs and beautiful photography.
- nikkiburnette: Witches
- Welcome to the Zazzle shop of fantasy artist Nikki Burnette! All of the witches, mermaids and fairies you see here were originally created, hand-drawn and painted in watercolors by me. I hope you enjoy the products that I have to offer
- Pencil+ design house: pumpkin-walk:
- I love design things
- AngelCityArt on Zazzle: Black Cat Flying School Retro Halloween Art:
- Thanks for visiting AngelCityArt on Zazzle : My store has scenic nature photography, floral art cards, holiday designs, fun artwork and sayings for Home and Garden, funny Food and Drink slogans and retro fruit and vegetable kitchen artwork.
- miCHaEL DOdgE CoLLecTion: Home
- Original "Doodle Art" by Michael l Dodge (KLAATUWI; I've been doodling since I was Five, or at least that's from what I remember. No schoolling, Just Doodling. It helps me get through the bad days and allows me to share the good ones
- Memories by Gin: Halloween:
- All designs on this site are made from original.....
- Sharon Foster Art: Halloween:
- Affordable Art for Fabulous People;My original paintings are the source for the images on my Zazzle products;Watercolors and acrylics are my favorite mediums. Some times separately, some times together. Flowers, animals in daring color combinations and fun happy art that makes you
- Specialeetees: Home
- Welcome to my range of original designs and artwork. New designs are added on a regular basis, so check back often...you never know what you might find! . Choose from the great range of t-shirts, gifts, cards and other fun stuff available here...even customize it to your liking. Each section contai
- VAMP OUT Bloody Drink Recipes
- The web's best place for vampire apparel and gifts. If you see a design you would like modified, personalized, or put on another product...just send me a message and I will work it up for you!
- Haynz Designs: Halloween (& Other Holidays):
- I will personally customize my products for you: Would you prefer to have a blue design I created to be red instead? Perhaps green? Maybe even pink? I can do that! Choose the SEND MESSAGE feature on the right
- MissKitteh Photography and Design: Halloween (NEW!):
- Welcome to the MissKitteh site at Zazzle! Curl up, get comfy and enjoy your journey through the gallery. Who knows, maybe you'll end up with a souvenir or two. Follow MissKitteh on Twitter
by biglnet
Hi Everyone
I moved to Spain from England some 5 years ago with my family. Since living here I have taken up photography and I now have a website at... (more)
I moved to Spain from England some 5 years ago with my family. Since living here I have taken up photography and I now have a website at... (more)
Explore related pages
7 Scary Symbols of Halloween- BOO!! Halloween is currently celebrated all around the world. Started by the Cel...
Homemade Halloween Decorations- Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! I love all the scarey decoration...
Halloween Pie: Childrens Book- This is a book, a very scary book, about how a Vampire, a Ghost and some others...
Halloween Tarot- Tarot is a tradtional form of divination, that roughly dates back to the late 16...
Book About Halloween School Parties- Children love Halloween! Teachers and parents alike plan parties for the childre...
Funky, Cute & Cool Halloween Gear!- The marketplace at Zazzle.com is full of awesome Halloween designs from its wond...
