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History of the Jack-o’-Lantern

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Halloween would not be complete without including the traditional carved pumpkin, more commonly known as the jack-o’-lantern. Many families make this part of their own home decorating around Halloween. In fact, it has even become part of the tradition for families to venture out to the pumpkin patch and make their selection together. Sometimes this means deciding on one monstrous fruit to slice and dice, or each member getting their own pumpkin for decorating. Though the carving and display of the pumpkin has been an annual part of people’s lives, possibly all the way back to the arrival of the first Irish Immigrants, few know the history of the jack-o’-lantern.

How the History of the Jack-o’-Lantern Came to Be

An old Irish tale of folklore tells the tale of “Stingy Jack” and the Devil and how trickery led the man to become forever famous. There are variations of the story, as tends to happen with any story passed down through the generations, but the general idea remains fairly consistent. It starts with Jack having a pint at the pub with the Devil himself. Having the nickname “Stingy Jack” obviously meant the man was always looking for a way out of paying, and so on this particular occasion he saw the Devil as a way free and clear of paying for his drink.

He asked the Devil if he would consider shifting himself into the form of a coin that could be used to square away the bill. Old Stingy offered up his soul in exchange for this deal. The Devil of course agreed and turned himself into a sixpence. Of course, once the Devil had done so, Jack got to rethinking this deal they’d made and was tempted by the feel of money in his hand, so he slipped that Devil coin into his pocket, keeping it near a silver cross so that there was no chance of a change back transformation.

After some time, Jack thought of a better deal he could strike with the Devil. He agreed to set the Devil free, as long as this demon assured Jack he would not try to steal the mortal’s soul for ten full years. Of course, the Devil obliged but was enraged with Jack for his cunning trickery, and waited for those years to pass.

At the end of the ten year spell, Jack was meandering down a lonely, road deep in the countryside, having long forgotten about his contract with the Devil. Suddenly, the Devil appeared before Jack having come to claim the soul he felt he was owed. Jack tried to delay and distract the Devil, but finally reluctantly caved in. First though, Jack requested that the Devil climb a nearby tree to snatch an apple for Jack to eat as his last meal.

Once the Devil had made his way far into the limbs, Jack quickly etched the sign of the cross into the bark of the tree trunk, capturing the Devil in the branches high above. Jack had fooled the demon, once again. He made the Devil another offer. If the Devil assured Jack his soul would remain intact and never been the Devil’s to take, Jack would set him free from the tree. Angry at being fooled again but having no other choice, the Devil went along with the deal.

When Jack finally did die and tried to enter Heaven, God wanted no part of allowing entry to this man who had demonstrated such terrible behavior while living. The Devil could not allow Jack’s soul to enter Hell and, therefore, sent Jack back to where he came from. The way was dark and Jack, unable to see his way out from Hell requested something to light his path. The Devil then tossed a hot, burning coal ember for Jack to carry. This ember would never burn out since it was from the flames of Hell.

Since the coal burnt his hands, Jack looked for a vessel to use to carry this coal and eventually came across a turnip which he carved to create a lantern. This created the legend of Jack the Lantern, also known as Jack O’Lantern.

The Aftermath 

At Halloween, the Irish continued to believe the story of Jack and other wandering evil spirits and began to set out their own jack-o’-lantern turnips to ward away these apparitions. Hence the tradition was born, as was the history of the jack-o’-lantern.

The Druids and Celts and Halloween History

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When it comes to Druids and Celts and Halloween, there is a connection that dates back eons. Of course the tales surrounding their connection involving Halloween are deeply shrouded in mystery and lore, as the holiday itself is. While there some variations in the tales, the core of the stories remain the same.

The First Halloween or Samhain

The celebrations for this holiday started in ancient, pre-Christian times as a Celtic ceremony for the dead. The holiday fell upon October 31, as it still does. It was called Samhain and marked the eve of the next season and new year. During this time period, November 1 was the beginning of the cold season, which was a time of hardship. In this era the year was divided up based on four holidays, as opposed to seasons but each division was still affiliated with a season. For this situation, the season was winter.

The winter ahead promised to be cold, long and harsh. The people would get ready by relocating their livestock closer and preparing them for the cruel season ahead. The cessation of the crop cycle was at this time, with the harvests being stored for the winter. Because of the severity of this season, and the long, dark, cold spell upon the Celts, it became affiliated with death.

The festival of Samhain became a time that people believed the worlds of the living and the dead could become one again, with the presence of spirits. Spirits could return to earth and be mischievous, like causing crop damage. The Celts also thought the priests, or Druids, could make forecasts with greater ease for the coming year when the un-living were around. Animal sacrifices would be made and fires lit to try to keep the souls at bay but help them see their way from the earth to the beyond.

Costumes were adorned during these early festivities, usually those made from the skins and heads of dead animals. The Celts would try to make predictions for one another, gathered around the large bonfire, then returned home to start their own hearth fire back again. They would use a flame from the Samhain bonfire, believing this would help to protect themselves and their homes.

The Transformation

Eventually, the holiday we know as Halloween became known this way after Christian missionaries set out to tamper with the ways the Celts practiced religion. The holiday really began to change following the Roman’s domination over most of the Celtic territory. Samhain was then combined with two Roman holidays.

Samhain was declared pagan as Christianity spread, and a celebration associated with the devil and all things evil. Since Druids were priests and scholars of the practice deemed pagan, these scholarly men were seen as worshipers of evil and the Devil. Christians categorized the underworld of the Celts as tied in with Hell. Many held on strong to their core beliefs as the changes were made.

First – All Souls Day was started, where the living paid homage to the dead, or souls, who had passed. This took place on November 2 of each year. All Saints Day occurred on November 1, but it was the night before All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows, that the lines between the living world and the spiritual one were blurred. This night was called All Hallows Eve, and eventually Halloween. The Celts maintained many of their beliefs and traditions involving this holiday and time of year. One change that happened was that the spirits, once viewed as simply mischievous, were considered evil. This is how the Druids and Celts and Halloween all went down in history together.

The Druids and Celts and Halloween Connected to Modern Traditions

Though the holiday saw many changes in both name and traditions, much of the modern day celebrations can be said to still be tied to original Samhain practices. For example, the Celts wore the hides and heads of animals as costumes during this event, and the use of costumes is still practiced today.

Trick-or-treating is another example of Celt traditions that live on. Since, originally, people left food and offerings to wandering spirits to appease them, people began to use costumes of spirits to go from door to door to collect these offerings. This is what became the first true type of trick-or-treating.

While customs continue to change and evolve, it is doubtful the holiday will ever transform so much that there will not be some remaining proof of the Druids and Celts and Halloween connection.

The History and Origin of Halloween

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Halloween as it is celebrated these days is but a pale representation of its rich and multicultural history. It is not, as some would call it, a celebration of the Devil or of Hell or of the Damned, but rather a blending of the celebrations marking the end of the growing season, a heralding of the coming of the winter months and folk traditions that told of the day when the veil between the living and the dead, ever a transparent, gossamer veil at that, would lift and ghosts and ghouls would walk among the living. From those many traditions, coming to us from the Celts, the Roman rituals and even Catholic tradition, we get the stirrings of what would eventually become Halloween.

Back in the Old Days 

Back in the old days, or once upon a time, in the tradition of fairy tales, there were the Celtic people and their Druid priests. The Druids were believed to have the ability, among other skills, to commune with the dead. Their powers, it was rumored, were much more powerful on the day of Samhain (pronounced sow-en), which was the last day of the year in the Celtic calendar. But, before believing that the Halloween celebration came directly from Samhain, a day mistakenly attributed directly to the Wiccans rather than to the Celts, you must understand that it is a blend of Hallowmas, a celebration of Catholic origins, as well as the Roman festival called Feralia.

On the day of Samhain, the Celtic people would all extinguish their home’s hearth fire. They would gather in front of a blessed bonfire and would sing, dance and listen to the stories that were told during the celebration. At the end of the evening, each person would take some of the bonfire home to relight their heart fire in hopes of ensuring good fortune to their home and family for the coming year. It is said that if your hearth fire would not light from the sacred bonfire, misfortune, even death, would befall someone in the house that very year.

By the 19th century, most of the religious aspects of the Halloween celebration had dwindled away and it was mostly a secular holiday, a gathering of community with only some of the remnants of the past clinging to it like the cobwebs of a haunted house. People would still dress up in costume, but less for the original reason of confusing the dead and more for just plain entertainment and fun.

Halloween Travels to the New World 

European immigrants brought many of their traditions and beliefs with them to the New World, even those that were sometimes frowned upon or scoffed at. Halloween itself was largely disallowed, even forbidden, but in Maryland, the tradition was not only allowed but encouraged. The people there held what they called “play parties” where they would take turns telling each other’s fortunes, dancing, singing and telling ghost stories. The children would dress in costumes and try to scare one another as well.

The Irish immigrants came to the new world in great masses, fleeing from the Potato Famine that was starving them to death, and brought with them the Halloween tradition of going door to door looking for sweets and other treats. The tradition of trick or treating is still a favorite among little children today.

The Witchcraft, Halloween Connection 

There are still many, especially among fundamentalist Christians, who believe that Halloween is nothing more than a celebration of paganism and witchcraft because of some of the traditions that are involved. It was thought that on Halloween night, a young woman could determine who her future spouse would be by staring into a mirror in a darkened room or by peeling an apple in one long strip and then casting the peel over her shoulder. Other traditions involved baking small coins and trinkets as well as a single, plain ring into a barm brack, a type of fruit cake that would be shared among the neighbors. If you got a trinket in your piece – that was your fate for the coming year, with the person who got the ring destined to wed.

Counteracting Halloween

While the Catholic Church bears no ill will toward the Halloween traditions and the holiday itself, there are some Christian churches who say that it encourages witchcraft and may even lead to Satanism. These churches hold “Hell Houses” meant to scare children and young adults away from the traditions and to lead them back to the church. Some of these churches even hand out pamphlets and religious tracts on Halloween night to be found when the children go through their candy.

Halloween Symbols

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The calendar flips to October, the leaves begin to change their color and suddenly the decorations for Halloween begin to go up. Even if someone had no idea what Halloween was, they would know it was coming up and be able to gauge from the Halloween symbols that it is a spooky holiday. Certain things have come to represent Halloween either because of tradition and legend or just due to their connection to the macabre.

Individual Halloween Symbols

Some popular Halloween symbols include witches, ghosts, spiders, bats, vampires, skeletons, graves, jack-o’-lanterns, black cats and monsters. With a holiday that dates back to the Celts and the Druids, it is bound to have picked up some stories and traditions along the way. Though many things that have become symbolic to the holiday because of rituals related to the day, some just tie in to the spooky element.

Jack-’o’-Lanterns – This has become one of many popular Halloween symbols as well as rituals and traditions. The jack-o’-lantern has become a great representation of Halloween since families often come together to choose their pumpkins as well as prepare them for the final look. Yet few know the supposed Irish folklore origin of this carved pumpkin.

It basically has to do with a stingy man named Jack who tricked the Devil not once but twice in order to prevent the Devil from taking his soul. After Jack’s death Heaven refused him and Hell couldn’t take him because of the agreement. The Devil sent Jack on his way back to where he came from with only an ever-burning ember from the flames of hell to light his way. Needing something to carry this hot coal in, Jack found a turnip and carved himself a lantern. Irish immigrants quickly discovered pumpkins and thought that would make a much better candle holder to carry on their tradition than a turnip.

Witches – These familiar Halloween symbols pop up everywhere for the season, from decorations to greeting cards to Halloween costume parties, and for good reason. Witches have been around for eons and were often thought to have mystical powers, partly because of their connection to Satan or the spirit world. Their most notorious gatherings were thought to happen during the two major season changes on April 30 and, of course, October 31.

Spells would be cast, witches brews boiled, and these creatures would often change their shape during the witchcraft meetings. They flew on broomsticks, gathered around cauldrons, made potions involving toads and kept black cats as pets, leading to all of these items or images to become Halloween symbols as well.

Bats – While actually not vicious, evil or terrifying at all, bats have become a familiar symbol tied to Halloween. Much of this is to blame on vampire bats, who do suck blood, but just enough for survival without usually killing another animal, such as a cow. Since most vampire tales claim that these mythological creatures transform into bats for flight and to enter places with greater ease, bats have become a symbol of evil and all things ghoulish.

Bats have also been linked to witches, either flying about from their caves while witches perform their ritualistic ceremonies or for actually becoming part of a witch’s brew. Bat wings, blood and other parts have been famous for being part of the recipes for witch’s spells or options to give themselves the ability to fly, along with other not-so-nice things.

Spiders – These arachnids have become part of Halloween imagery because of their connections to witches as well as abandoned haunted houses. Witches were thought to invite spiders into their homes as pets, companions or for use in potions. They are often affiliated with the extra creepiness one might find in the overhead corners of dilapidated houses of haunts or horrors. Not to mention, the stories tied to writing spiders. It is thought that if a writing spider spins your name in its web, you are destined for death in the near future.

Death and the Celts – It would be impossible to list each one of the many Halloween symbols, as well as their meaning. Consider that many things that can be a representation of the old Celtic festivity known as Samhain, the original Halloween, or death conjures up holiday themes. Halloween costumes, for example, have been used since the first Samhains though the original disguises were animal skins.

The connection to death also brings to mind plenty of images, especially skeletons and ghosts. Anything that could be considered spooky and relate to death, including graves and cemeteries, are bound to be perfect subject matter for creating Halloween symbols.

Halloween Ghost Stories

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Ghost Stories

The original Celtic holiday of Samhain included spirits of the dead returning to walk among the living.  Ghost stories have been a part of Halloween since the beginning.

Halloween ghost stories can be told around a bonfire, or in a darkened living room.  It doesn’t matter where they are told, as long as the atmosphere is spooky and the stories are scary.

The most famous American ghost story told on Halloween is probably The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving.  The ghost in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is the terrifying Headless Horseman.  The Headless Horseman is the ghost of a German soldier from the Revolutionary War who had his head blown off by a cannonball.  The Headless Horseman is always seen riding around the isolated glen of Sleepy Hollow at midnight, looking for his missing head, and in the story, he might – or might not – have replaced his missing head with the head of Ichabod Crane and left a Jack O’Lantern behind in its place.

Another classic ghost story is The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs.  Mr. and Mrs. White and their son Herbert inherit a monkey’s paw from India, which is said to grant three wishes.  Mrs. White wishes for money, and within a few days, her son Herbert dies in an accident at work and she receives the money.  Overcome with grief, Mrs. Herbert wishes for her son to come back from the grave, although her husband thinks it’s a bad idea.

Soon, someone is knocking at their door.  Knock.  Knock.  Knock. Mr. White identified his son’s body, which has been buried for over a week.  He knows that whatever is knocking on the door will look and be so terrifying that he can’t let him in.  At the last minute, Mr. White grabs the monkey’s paw and wishes the gruesome dead Herbert back to the grave.

Some ghosts are in every culture.  The mysterious “Girl in White” appears in American ghost tales as a barefoot hitchhiking girl.  Whoever stops to pick her up on a lonely country road hears a sad tale of how she was abandoned on her wedding night, and just wants to get home.  But by the time the driver reaches the place the girl calls home, he finds an abandoned house, and when he turns to ask if it’s the right place, the girl has vanished.  In Mexico, the “Girl in White” is a beautiful girl named Consuela who dances with an eager young man at a dance.  The young man rushes to tell his friends about the beautiful girl he has danced with, and they tell him that he was dancing alone.  When he returns to Consuela, she vanishes into mist and he realizes that he has been dancing with a ghost.

Edgar Allan Poe’s famous story The Tell-Tale Heart is always scary, especially to those who hear it for the first time.  A poor young man moves in with an older man, who is very kind and generous, but whose appearance has been ruined by illness.  The young man begins to fear and hate the old man’s ugly “vulture” eye.  Every night for eight nights, the young man creeps in the old man’s bedroom with thoughts of murder, in order to get rid of the old man’s ugly, scary eye.  Each time, he is stopped because the old man’s horrible eye is closed.  On the eighth night, a beam of moonlight falls on the old man’s face, and the eye is open!

The young man smothers the old man, to silence his cries and his extremely loud beating heart, racing in terror.  The young man buries the old man under the floorboards in the kitchen.

When police come to question the young man, he is pleasant and reasonable at first, answering all of their questions.  As the officers stay, the young man hears a heart beating under the floorboards.  It grows louder and louder until the young man can’t take it any longer and leaps up, confessing to the murder and asking how they can’t hear the old man’s heart beating as loudly as it is.

The Druids and Celts and Halloween History

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When it comes to Druids and Celts and Halloween, there is a connection that dates back eons. Of course the tales surrounding their connection involving Halloween are deeply shrouded in mystery and lore, as the holiday itself is. While there some variations in the tales, the core of the stories remain the same.

The First Halloween or Samhain

The celebrations for this holiday started in ancient, pre-Christian times as a Celtic ceremony for the dead. The holiday fell upon October 31, as it still does. It was called Samhain and marked the eve of the next season and new year. During this time period, November 1 was the beginning of the cold season, which was a time of hardship. In this era the year was divided up based on four holidays, as opposed to seasons but each division was still affiliated with a season. For this situation, the season was winter.

The winter ahead promised to be cold, long and harsh. The people would get ready by relocating their livestock closer and preparing them for the cruel season ahead. The cessation of the crop cycle was at this time, with the harvests being stored for the winter. Because of the severity of this season, and the long, dark, cold spell upon the Celts, it became affiliated with death.

The festival of Samhain became a time that people believed the worlds of the living and the dead could become one again, with the presence of spirits. Spirits could return to earth and be mischievous, like causing crop damage. The Celts also thought the priests, or Druids, could make forecasts with greater ease for the coming year when the un-living were around. Animal sacrifices would be made and fires lit to try to keep the souls at bay but help them see their way from the earth to the beyond.

Costumes were adorned during these early festivities, usually those made from the skins and heads of dead animals. The Celts would try to make predictions for one another, gathered around the large bonfire, then returned home to start their own hearth fire back again. They would use a flame from the Samhain bonfire, believing this would help to protect themselves and their homes.

The Transformation

Eventually, the holiday we know as Halloween became known this way after Christian missionaries set out to tamper with the ways the Celts practiced religion. The holiday really began to change following the Roman’s domination over most of the Celtic territory. Samhain was then combined with two Roman holidays.

Samhain was declared pagan as Christianity spread, and a celebration associated with the devil and all things evil. Since Druids were priests and scholars of the practice deemed pagan, these scholarly men were seen as worshipers of evil and the Devil. Christians categorized the underworld of the Celts as tied in with Hell. Many held on strong to their core beliefs as the changes were made.

First – All Souls Day was started, where the living paid homage to the dead, or souls, who had passed. This took place on November 2 of each year. All Saints Day occurred on November 1, but it was the night before All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows, that the lines between the living world and the spiritual one were blurred. This night was called All Hallows Eve, and eventually Halloween. The Celts maintained many of their beliefs and traditions involving this holiday and time of year. One change that happened was that the spirits, once viewed as simply mischievous, were considered evil. This is how the Druids and Celts and Halloween all went down in history together.

The Druids and Celts and Halloween Connected to Modern Traditions

Though the holiday saw many changes in both name and traditions, much of the modern day celebrations can be said to still be tied to original Samhain practices. For example, the Celts wore the hides and heads of animals as costumes during this event, and the use of costumes is still practiced today.

Trick-or-treating is another example of Celt traditions that live on. Since, originally, people left food and offerings to wandering spirits to appease them, people began to use costumes of spirits to go from door to door to collect these offerings. This is what became the first true type of trick-or-treating.

While customs continue to change and evolve, it is doubtful the holiday will ever transform so much that there will not be some remaining proof of the Druids and Celts and Halloween connection.

Animals Linked to, or That Symbolize Halloween

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Black cats are one of the symbols of Halloween and have gotten a bad rap a few hundred years ago, when they were associated with witches.  Due to ignorance and fear about diseases such as the Bubonic Plague and how they were spread (fleas on rats), and because cats in general were not much liked, the Black Death spread and decimated thousands upon thousands of people.  If the cats could have been left to do their natural thing — hunt rodents — all may have been prevented.

Cats still retain that imagery of Halloween and black ones in particular — although today, black cats are more likely to be sitting in the front window, curious about trick or treaters walking by on the sidewalk, than be involved in all of that “tom foolery”.

Few people even today, can truly say they love vampire bats.  They have been linked to Halloween, especially after Bram Stoker’s Dracula was written and loved as a great horror story by the Victorians.  After vampires came to be associated with Halloween, some true incidents were dug up that appeared to relate to or further symbolize Halloween.  A bloodthirsty Vlad the Impaler loved to put his enemies’ heads onto spikes surrounding his castle and these acts further added to the vampire lore.  Vampires and Count Dracula are reputed to be able to turn into bats and escape.  The real vampire bat does drink blood, but in small amounts and usually from cattle or goats.

In old Hebrew legends there was a woman who turned into an owl and preyed upon infants and expectant mothers.  The Greek shad a tale of monsters who loved the dark as well as dining on children.  There’s another strange tale, this one from India of a creature who liked to hang upside down during daylight hours, and who had no blood of its own.  Naturally, it had to get blood from other living beings.  Being drained of blood by a bat or vampire (in legend) tends to lend it to Halloween tales and associations.

Real vampire bats have a chemical in their saliva which prevents blood from clotting, and this is so they can “dine” longer.  Most bays do not carry rabies and most eat insects,  Wild bats are not encouraged as pets and the Organization for Bat Conservation does their best to spread knowledge about these flying mammals.

Wolves used to be common in Europe and during the 1500s, villagers in Germany found both half eaten humans and farm animals lying around.  They thought that wolves were the hunters.  When they tracked down a certain wolf, it turned into a werewolf and became someone they knew from the village.  A pamphlet was made to describe this event and this is how the werewolf came into our imaginations and legends.  There have been tall tales of wolves and bats and vampires and who knows what else mixing it up in epic battles, down through the ages.

Wolves howl at the moon and are hunters by nature.  They are cunning and intelligent and our first domesticated dogs may have been, or come from wolves.  At times, wolves were believed to be associated with the devil. There is conflict between property owners and wolves some of the time and the animal has faced extinction.  It has slowly returned due to releases from captive breeding populations.

People in the middle ages ate bread made from a hallucinogenic grain.  This may have led them to think that certain villagers had turned into wolves and become werewolves, especially on a night lit by a full moon.  Wolves howl as communication to other pack members and as a warning to non-pack members.  Wolf-dog hybrids are not encouraged.

Haunted houses are home to lots of spiders — very large spiders.  Most of them are made from latex or rubber, but the spider has long been linked to Halloween.  There are many types of spiders and they come in  a large variety of sizes and colors.  A large tarantula relative eats birds.  Most humans fear spiders, although most spiders are beneficial to humans.  In England, a spider in the house meant good luck.  Spiders can grow their legs back. There are way more than 35,000 species of spiders in the world.

One other animal that symbolize Halloween is a snake.  They are most often feared because a lot are venomous and people have died from snake bites.  Some are constrictors and huge, like pythons and anacondas.  Most snakes are beneficial to humans in that they keep a check on the rodent and insect populations.

Animals That Symbolize Halloween

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Animals that symbolize Halloween have become associated with Halloween over the generations to end up being a large part of the holiday. It could have something to do with the fact that the first Halloween “costumes” were animal skins worn by the Celts. More than likely, they have just been picked along the way because of individual animal’s connection to certain things that represent the scary or the supernatural.

Generally, most of the critters that have come to symbolize Halloween are nocturnal. This seemed fitting for being connected to evil spirits, witches or vampires who rule the night. Cats, bats and owls have all been linked to things that go bump in the night, especially during Halloween.

Black Cats = Animals That Symbolize Halloween

This symbol has become so tied into Halloween tradition and the occult that owners of black cats are advised to keep their pets indoors for a few days prior to Halloween so they are not stolen. Pet shelters and cat rescue groups will not adopt out the onyx haired felines for up to a week before the holiday. Black cats are even part of the superstition that if one crosses your path, you will have bad luck or even die.

Cats have been given a bad rap since being linked to witches. Folklore has made these creatures pets or “familiars” of witches throughout history. This link is so intertwined that, during the witch trials, cats were often killed for being evil just as the reported witches were. Ironically, some stories claimed witches would sacrifice these animals during rituals or kill them to use in brews for spells and curses. That is the main reason frogs get linked to witches and Halloween, as well.

Bats and Halloween

There are a few reasons these winged creatures have become linked to Halloween and all things otherworldly. The first is the presence of bats during the very first Halloweens. It is said that during Samhain, the original Halloween, great bonfires were built to ward away evil spirits. Because fires attract bugs and bugs attract bats, there was a great presence of bats during these activities. It was viewed that the bats were connected to the spirit world trying to get through, but still frightened off by the roaring flames.

The other reason bats have become a symbol of evil is their connection to vampires. Since early stories of Dracula and vampires have often included bats, in one way or another, they have long been thought of as evil as well. Vampires were thought to turn into bats to fly through the night and be able to get into rooms with great ease. It was also thought that bats would live in the high arches of castles where vampires resided. By the way, these critters turn up in witches’ brew recipes as well.

Owls and the Halloween Connection

Found hidden deep in the tree branches of dark woods, late into the night that haunting screech can be the only thing one hears. While it may be pleasant now, imagine walking a dark wooded path alone long before modern times. This could be a very unsettling noise. A reminder you are not alone and yet unable to see the creature making sounds nearby.

Like bats, owls would take flight during those first Samhain events. They would fly close enough to the fires to snag bugs, or lower for rodents, and seemed to be linked to the spirit world. Like cats, owls have also been connected to witches for being their companions. It doesn’t help that a witch in a Grimm’s fairy tale does transform into an owl.

Crows and the Macabre 

It is almost safe to say that if an animal comes in all black, it could be considered linked to the supernatural and scary. Crows have long been thought to become present to represent a bad omen. This could be why this creature has come to symbolize Halloween. Also, they are sometimes believed to be companions of witches and certainly a common part of their brews to cast spells.

A group of crows circling overhead, called a murder actually, has become a tale of superstition claiming someone will die. Of course there are plenty of cultures and folklore that consider a single crow or a murder of crows to be good luck, but when it comes to Halloween, crows are seen as devious. Edgar Allan Poe may not have helped the matter with his classic chilling poetic account of “The Raven” who comes knocking, knocking at his chamber door.

There are other animals that symbolize Halloween, but these are some of the more traditional and common ones.

Traditions of Halloween

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Celtic people are responsible for the core of Halloween, as it was first celebrated in their traditions and folklore. They formed a society about 800 BC. Celts were located in the UK, part of Turkey (rather odd!) and a lot of Western Europe. They held a big party close to the end of October which was called Samhain. This was to recognize the end of Summer and the harvest, no doubt. Celts thought that the connection and separation between the real world and the world of the dead and spirits, was thin at this time of year. Friends and relatives returned for a short stay and often in the form of a black cat, which is why that symbol can still represent Halloween. 

After harvest, food was offered to the gods. Almost like a modern food drive, they went door to door for food donations, which they then gave to the deities. Young people from that time asked for kindling and firewood for a bonfire, which they made on top of a hill. This tradition of going from door to door may have been the root for trick or treating. Sacred bonfires were often lit during Samhain, in order to honor the Celtic gods. An ember was kept from the bonfire and villagers would light their own fires when they returned home. 

A gourd or turnip was used to carry the ember as it would be sheltered from the wind and not burn the wet gourd or turnip pulp. Evil spirits dwelled amongst the Celts, or so they thought, so on a long dark walk home they would disguise themselves in costumes and also scare away the spirits by carving fierce faces on the ember holders. This also carries through to today with lit pumpkins and costumes. Pumpkins are considerably easier to carve than a small turnip or beetroot or gourd. 

Neopagans and wiccans continue to celebrate Samhain to this day as they base a lot of their faith on the ancient Celts. Some traditions were based on the Celtic ones but some have evolved from other sources. The Jack O’Lantern came from a 17th century Irish folktale. The devil took pity on a departed soul who was not allowed into either heaven or hell, and gave him a burning coal to light his way as he wandered around the globe. This Jack took to carrying the ember in a partially eaten turnip. 

Apples have been associated with goddesses for a long time, as they were with Adam & Eve, There association with immortality, knowledge and resurrection has made them an icon. A five-pointed star is revealed if an apple is sliced through its equator. A pentagram came from this symbol, it’s thought. The latter is a goddess symbol for Gypsies, ancient Egyptians and Celts, and contemporary Wiccans and others. Bobbing for apples and trying to grab a dangling apple was a game for singles who, if they grabbed an apple, were said to be in line for a marriage proposal.

If someone peeled an apple in front of a mirror lit with candles (one would hope that they’d keep their eyes on the knife!), then an image of a future spouse was supposed to appear. If the peeler could make a long string of peel then this was said to “guestimate” how long a person would live. On All Souls Day, Christians from Europe would go door to door asking for currant buns or soul cakes. If they got any, they’d pray for the homeowner’s relatives. 

All Hallow’s Eve was the original name for Halloween. This meant the evening right before All Saints Day. Hallow meant saint in old English and the phrase was eventually shortened to Halloween.