Why is Halloween celebrated? And all that you need to know.

The subject of supernatural has always caught people's fancy due to the factor of unknown. Maybe this is the reason, the spooky fest called Halloween, first originated in Ireland 2000 years back, is the only festival that is celebrated all over the world. You will have some unwanted little guests dressed like devil's army ringing your doorbell and asking you, "Trick or treat"? They say you should give sweets or else some sinister would fall upon you. Spooky enough..isn't it? There have been many beliefs and stories going around Halloween.

Famously known, Halloween gets its name from All Hallows Eve also called All Saints Day. They believed that on All Hallows Day spirits of dead people would descend on the earth and communicate with the living. People just shortened to call it Halloween for convenience.The Irish Myth of Halloween.It all started 2000 years back in Ireland with a particular community of people called Celtics who believed in the god of dead and darkness, Samhain. They believed 31^st October was the end of the year. So, they celebrated the Celtic New year and, also the autumn harvest on this day.

They believed that with this the spirits of the dead would come down to visit their loved ones and relatives. People weren't sure if all the spirits that descended would be good ones. Some evil and angels of darkness would camouflage and come down too. So, a few people hollowed out potato and turnips and carved scary faces, put candles in the centre to scare off evil spirits on the Halloween. When the Irish spread to America they wouldn't have enough potato and turnips, they took pumpkins as the better substitutes as they were easy to carve too.

The Tale of stingy jack

There is another famous story of Jack-o- lantern originated from the Irish myth. According to the foktale, there was this man named Stingy Jack who invited Devil to have drink with him. But, he wouldn't pay for the drink owing to his stingy nature. So, Jack duped the Devil by convincing him to turn himself into a coin that Jack could buy drinks with. Once the Devil changed into the coin, Jack took the money and stuck the coin inside a tree and carved a cross in there. This prevented Devil to come back to his natural shape.

Finally, Jack released the Devil after a pact with him that he will not claim Jack's soul in the next year if he died. This kept on happening for next 10 years. When the Devil came next year, Jack again tricked him by carving cross on the tree and told him not to come for another ten years.Soon after Jack died, as the tale goes, neither Heaven nor Hell would have him, so his spirit was forced to roam the earth endlessly, lighting his way with a single coal held in a carved turnip.

The Irish began calling this ghostly figure as Jack of the Lantern, and then, simply Jack-O-Lantern. Irish when migrated to America, they started using pumpkin as integral part of Halloween festivities. This whole festival caught the fancy of the world and is now celebrated all over with orange and black decorations. Orange is the colour of the pumpkin and black is the colour of dark spirits that supposedly come forth on All Hallow's Eve.

If you have any spooky memories of the Halloween, do mail us to info@thewoomag.com

Have fun!