 Halloween Facts
Ever wonder how Halloween started? Or, how about the origin of Candy Corn? Here's some interesting Halloween Facts & Figures:
  
History of Halloween 
The celebration of Halloween today is a mixture of rituals and celebrations from a lot of different people. The earliest origin is from the Celts, who lived in Scotland. On October 31, they celebrated what they called Samhain (pronounced So-in). It was the end of the harvest season and the beginning of cold, dark winters. The Celts believed that on Oct 31, the Lord of Death released souls back to Earth.
On October 31, the Celts wore scary costumes because they believed the evil spirits wouldn't recognize them as humans and wouldn't bother them. This is probably where the tradition of dressing up in costumes on Halloween came from.
When the Romans conquered the Celts in 46 AD, they combined the Celtic rituals with their own harvest celebrations: this is where apples (as in Bobbing for Apples) and corn came into the celebration.
As Christianity spread, the church combined the non-Christian celebration with their own celebration of All Saints' Day (also called All Hallows' Day, celebrated on Nov 1). To celebrate all Saints' Day, young men went door-to-door asking for food for the poor. This is one of the places Trick-or-Treating came from!
Wonder where the whole Jack-o-Lantern thing came from? Well, before there were flashlights and glow sticks, Irish people used to carve out turnips and put a candle in them for a lantern. When they came to America, they noticed there weren't many turnips, but lots of pumpkins - so they used pumpkins instead!
Candy Corn and Halloween
It's no secret that candy corn's fave time of year is Halloween, right? Why? Well, mostly because of the totally Halloweenie colors! The orange, yellow and white colors totally scream Halloween to me! About 20 million pounds of candy corn will be sold this Halloween. That's totally over 8 billion individual pieces of corn! That's a ton of candy! Sheesh!
The actual ingredients of candy corn involves corn syrup, sugar and water, but the Goelitz people add a bit of a special marshmallow ingredient to give their candy corn a truly "gourmet" taste. The corn starch is poured into a tray, and then they mold it into the shape of the corn kernel. After that, they fill the shape up, one squirt of color at a time. The candy is then aged for a couple of days, and then it's separated from the corn starch. After that, the candy is dumped into a huge mixer, and bee's wax and candy glaze are added to the mix. This polishes the candy corn up with a great, sweet taste. After that, the candy corn is put on an assembly line and is picked over to make sure only the most perfect kernels get packaged up for sale.
The best candy corn is super-sweet tasting and has an almost vanilla flavor. It should be nice and soft when you bite it, and it should be totally fresh. If you see a bag of candy corn on the shelf that looks like it's from last year, odds are it'll taste like it's from last year, too!
So, this Halloween, if you get a bunch of candy corn in your trick-or-treat bag, you'll totally know something about where it comes from! Don't get a tummy ache from all that snacking!
More About Mummies
Officially, a mummy is a body that is preserved. Some mummies are made naturally. Some are made on purpose, by people. The basic idea is that if you keep bacteria and fungi from growing, the dead body won't decay.
Egyptians are probably the most famous mummy-makers (even though other cultures, like the Incas did it first). The hot, dry weather in Egypt sometimes quick-dried dead bodies and made mummies. This got the Egyptians thinking, and they started making mummies about 3000 BC. They thought that by preserving the body, they could reunify the body and spirit after death.
The first step in their mummification process was to remove most of the organs, like the lungs, liver, stomach, intestines, and even the brain (which they took out through the nose--Yuk!). Then, they'd rinse the body with wine (to kill bacteria), pack it with natron (a salt-like substance) and leave the body to dry for a while. Then, they'd use perfume and paints to make the body beautiful. Finally, they'd wrap the whole thing in strips of linen. This, they believed, would guarantee eternal life. Egyptians stopped making mummies about 500 AD.
Other mummification processes involve very cold temperatures, and oxygen deprivation--because both of these things stop bacteria. Pretty creepy, huh? Now, if you decide to be a mummy for Halloween, I recommend using lots of toilet paper. But you can skip the perfume and the salt!
Witches and Black Cat Folklore
Halloween is one of the most celebrated holidays of the year. Trick or treating and dressing up in costume are only a part of the fascination with Halloween. Myths and folklore abound on this holiday and one of the favorite characters of Halloween legend is the witch and the black cat. Whether the folklore is true or not, it is fun to read about them and what history has believed about them in the past. The following are a few of the most popular myths of witches and their cats.
- If a cat is found sitting on a tombstone, the deceased buried there was possessed by the devil during their lifetime.
- A kitten born in May will become a witch’s cat.
- If a black cat crossed a person’s path without hurting them, that person is believed to be protected by the devil.
- Black cats are believed to be a witch’s helper in witchcraft.
- If a witch becomes human or doesn’t practice witchcraft any longer, her black cat will no longer stay in her house.
- In ancient times, it was believed that witches became cats at night.
- It was believed that the cat’s sneaky movements and eyes that glow at night were because it embodied evil and frightening powers.
- If a black cat walks into a sick person’s room, and the person soon dies, it is believed that the cat took the person’s soul.
- Black cats found safe shelter with old women who lived by themselves. That is the basis of the belief that old maids live with a house full of cats.
- Legend states that if a cat is killed, the killer is sacrificing his soul to the devil.
- A black cat crossing a person’s path in the moonlight means death through an epidemic.
- It is believed that witches will always dress in black and can change their appearance at will.
- Fisherman’s wives believed that black cats would protect their husbands while they were at sea. This was such a popular belief that black cats were stolen on a regular basis.
- King Charles I of England believed his black cat was lucky and had it guarded day and night. When the cat died, enemies came and beheaded the King.
Holidays for Witches and Worlocks
It is logical to think that witches and warlocks only celebrate Halloween, but they have many special occasions that are important to them and to their beliefs. Witches are usually women who engage in witchcraft that influence a person’s body or property that is against their will. They also delve in herbal remedies, spells and conjuring the dead. Warlocks are defined as a male version of a witch or wizard. They participate in the same craft activity as the witches, but tend to be more mischievous in there spells. The activity of riding brooms, wearing black and having warts on their noses is a popular misconception of witches and warlocks. Most of them look like any one else, but they possess a certain belief that casting spells and conducting certain ceremonies can change behavior of people, actions they take and change nature from one course to another.
Here are the eight Witch Holidays:
- October 31st: According to the Druid calendar, this date is the witch’s New Years Day. It is believed that the wall between earth and the underworld is thin during this time and Samhain, the Lord of the Dead, rises from the underworld and roams the earth looking for lost souls.
- December 21st: This is the Winter Solstice which is the shortest day of the year-and the longest night. They celebrate the birth of the Sun God who will make the days longer. These festivities include mistletoe, Yule trees and logs.
- February 2nd: (Imbolic). This day honors the goddess of fire, healing and fertility. It also is the day that the sun god increases his strength.
- March 21st: (Ostara). On the witch calendar, this is the Spring Equinox when the goddess of fertility is worshipped.
- May 1st: (Beltane). This is a holiday to honor he god and goddess of fertility. The witches and warlocks display eggs as a sign of fertility and the beginning of spring and summer.
- June 21st: (Litha). This holiday celebrates the sun god at his highest point.
- July 31st: (Lammas). The first harvest.
- September 21st: (Feast of Mabou). This is the autumn equinox on the witch’s calendar. It is a celebration of Mordon, the goddess of the earth and harvest.
The above holidays are according to the Wiccan calendar and sometimes coincide with the regular yearly calendar. Witches and Warlocks have beliefs that are not recognized by society as a whole but are special to their religion. Most of the beliefs of these groups involve the worship of nature. This would include earth, wind, fire, and water. Many witches and warlocks do not practice black witchcraft and worship the devil.
Paranormal Phenomena
Ghosts, shadow people, aliens and werewolves are just a small part of what is called paranormal phenomenon. The word paranormal means the action is not scientifically explainable. A phenomenon is defined as an event known through the senses rather than thought or intuition. During the Halloween season, paranormal activity increases due to the energy given out by people using Ouija boards and conducting séances. The haunting atmosphere adds to the reports of seeing ghosts and hearing things go bump in the night. Some events are very real to the seers, but some are just urban legends handed down from generation to generation. In any event, the spirits, ghosts and monsters are very real especially during Halloween.
Ghosts
These restless souls are spiritual beings that once lived in the flesh and continue in the physical realm even after death. Poltergeists are another form of a ghost that interacts with people using physical objects and sometimes violence.
Shadow People
Investigators have a difficult time studying shadow people. They are dark silhouettes of human shape that when they are seen, they flee as fast as they came. The best explanation of shadow people is they are people living in a different dimension and cross into our dimension and then disappear.
Aliens
It is not confirmed that aliens really exist, but there have been sightings and eye-witness reports about their existence. Some people who claim to have seen aliens are often well respected citizens who are not in any way considered “crazy” or “seeing things”. No one knows for sure if aliens exist, but there is enough circumstantial and some physical evidence that aliens are among us.
Demon Possession
The Catholic Church has been dealing with demon possession for centuries. Exorcism is a popular subject not only for the Church but for Hollywood and pop culture as well. But no one really knows if demons actually take possession of someone’s physical being, or if the person is mentally ill. Many of the symptoms of demon possession are similar to the symptoms of mental illness. There is no real way to prove that demon possession truly exists, but good versus evil will be an age old battle, but in the mean time, demon possession will still be considered to be a paranormal phenomenon.
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