Halloween Traditions and Other Fun Stuff

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October is the time for harvest and the Celtic Festival of Samhain. Also, the traditional belief in the boundary between the living and the dead and this allowing the dead to return to earth for a short time. But there are also several traditions that have been enjoyed down through the years. Trick or treating comes to mind and in ancient times the poor would go door to door for little treats from the rich. There are also several traditions young people enjoy to this day. Here are a few: Bobbing for apples - every Halloween celebration seems to have this tradition where apples are put in a barrel, and the kids go bobbing for them. In the olden days a person would their name on one and each apple represented a potential love interest. If the bobber got the apple in the first attempt it was fate. If it took two the relationship wouldn't last. Jack-o-Lanterns - Now days for many picking a pumpkin, scraping out it's innards and carving a face on it is a fun tradition but in ancient times it meant keeping evil spirits at bay. Many would carve out a turnip and put a ember or candle inside. This was done because it was believed that the vail between the living and the dead was thinner during this time and evil roams the earth. The Tale of Stingy Jack - Stingy Jack was a terrible person who was drunk much of the time. He liked to play terrible jokes on everyone. One day Jack was able to trick the Devil into climbing up a tree and used crosses to trap him. Stingy Jack then forced the Devil to make a deal in order to get released from the tree. The Devil agreed not to claim Stingy Jack’s soul when Jack died. Knowing he would never go to Hell, Stingy Jack continued to do horrible things, basically behaving like a jerk for the rest of his life. Eventually, Stingy Jack died and couldn’t get into Heaven because he had been cruel and mean to other people his entire life. Out of Control Pranks in America - On Halloween many would do vicious pranks and mischief really got out of control. In 1920 Inoka, Minnesota had had enough. They organized a parade and held a huge bond fire. Police, the Fire Department, even the National Guard got involved. It was such a success they held one every year. Haunts and Ghostish - In 19th century London Marie Tussaud's 'Chamber of Horrors" was all the rage. On record the first haunted attraction was in 1915 with an Edwardian Fair "Ghost House" opening. Now days haunted houses and ghost tours have become popular around the US, and many countries as well. Do you have special celebrations for Halloween in your area?