Christmas stockings are one of the most beloved holiday traditions of all. But what about other holiday customs?LiveScience.com takes a closer look at Halloween traditions in this mind-expanding slide show. Let’s take a look at the history behind some of Halloween’s most famous images.
- Black cats. “Often used as symbols of bad luck, black cats grace many Halloween decorations,” writes LiveScience.com. “The black cat’s bad reputation dates back to the Dark Ages, when witch hunts were commonplace. Elderly, solitary women were often accused of witchcraft, and their pet cats were said to be their ‘familiars,’ or demonic animals that had been given to them by the devil.” Aw, come on now, Dark Ages, give poor Kitty a break.
- Jack-O’-Lanterns. It turns out, the fun, carefree activity of carving pumpkins in the fall is actually based on a tragic, disturbing tale. According to Celtic folklore, a drunken farmer named Jack tricked the devil, and when Jack died, he was rejected from both Heaven and Hell. Quite a predicament, right? “Having no choice but to wander around the darkness of purgatory, Jack made a lantern from a turnip and a burning lump of coal that the devil had tossed him from hell,” LiveScience.com writes. Jack-o’-lanterns were originally made from hollowed-out turnips. “When the Irish potato famine of 1846 forced Irish families to flee to North America, the tradition came with them. Since turnips were hard to come by in the states at the time, pumpkins were used as a substitute.”
To learn the origins of Halloween’s relationship with bats, spiders, witches, cauldrons, trick-or-treating costumes, and more, don’t miss this fascinating slide show. Each year, we carry out all these traditions — it’s fun to know where they came from.