I love Halloween, the brightness and frivolity of the fall season combined with costumes and candy.
I’m currently in the process of a Halloween tradition: watching Hocus Pocus. I’ve never been a big fan of horror movies, so Hocus Pocus is one of the only Halloween themed movies I’ll actually watch. It’s really the only tradition we keep up for now, but when there’s an additional family member in a few years we’ll phase back in pumpkin carving, trick or treating, etc. We don’t currently hand out candy, mostly because we don’t get any kids since we live in an apartment full of adults.
Guys! I discovered that there’s still a law in Canada that prohibits witchcraft! Check out the most recent application of this law: http://news.nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/toronto-man-charged-with-pretending-to-practice-witchcraft
Now, some fun facts!
- The youngest person accused of witchcraft in Salem was Dorothy (Dorcas) Good(e). She was only four years old (five in some sources) and was jailed under the suspicion.
- Italian folklore has La Befana, a witch who delivers treats to children on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 5)
- People with red hair were thought to turn in vampires when they died
- Halloween, or Samhain, is the Wiccan New Year
- The fear of Halloween is called Samhainophobia
- In medieval Europe it was thought that owls were actually witches
- Bobbing for apples likely dates back to the harvest festival of Pomona from ancient Rome
- China has a lantern festival on Halloween to honour their lost loved ones
- One of the reasons most black cats have some white on them is thought to be because purely black cats were killed during the witch trials and ones with white patches survived to reproduce so the all black coat was selectively bred out as a result
- The pumpkin is one of the oldest known vegetables in America, being aged at 9000 years old
Here’s some more fun: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/24/halloween-weird-facts_n_5948456.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/31/witches-literature_n_6057684.html
Thanks for stopping by!
-Erin