5 Spooky Truths About Halloween You May Not Be Aware Of !

We all know what goes in the Halloween celebrations: costumes, candies,. decorations, fancy parties, etc. However, do you know that just like many other festivals, Halloween too has a tradition of its own which is completely different than how it is celebrated now? In this article I will tell you about five such spooky truths about Halloween that you may not be aware of!

1. Pumpkin was obviously not the first choice for Halloween lanterns. The Celts, who were the originators of Halloween, used to carve potatoes and turnips into scary faces so as to ward off evil spirits who roam on earth on All Hallows Eve! However, when the New World was discovered, it was found out that pumpkins were more in plenty than potatoes and turnips! So the switch was made to pumpkin!

2. The Druids used to believe a lot in spirits, so much so that they used to regard the owl as someone who is wiser than them! The reason behind this was that, since the own appeared only at night, it was thought that it had a lot of knowledge of the spirit world because the spirits usually roam on the earth at night. In fact they used to believe that Halloween was actually presided over and ruled by a Goddess who disguised herself as an owl and came to visit them every night!

3. In a way, we also owe a lot to the Druids regarding the Halloween costumes. After all, it was their idea that wearing scary dresses and masks would scare away evil spirits who visit the earth in order to spell trouble on the living human beings! The Druids would wear frightening costumes and masks and dance around the fire so as to scare way those evil spirits! That was how it was all born. The idea of dressing oneself as ghost or ghoul was however, the contribution of the Irish and Scottish!

4. In early days, the Celts used to light bonfires in order to invite the good spirits to stop by them and warm themselves before the frosty winter set in. That was how candles were born. This is the reason why you light a candle inside the jack-o-lantern: so as to encourage good and protective guests to stop by your house!

5. The Celts used to believe that the full moon that appears in autumn is a symbol of good luck, as it was supposed to bring in good harvest. Hence they used to call this moon 'harvest moon'. In autumn that moon usually looks bigger and appears orange in color, which is why we use orange lights on the eve of Halloween!