et Scares: Famous Halloween Traditions

CAIRO – 23 October 2017: Originally Halloween was Samhain, an ancient Celtic festival where people wore costumes and walked the streets with lit bonfires to chase off ghosts. That was until the 18th century when Pope Gregory III marked November 1 an “All Saints Day.” People then carried on some of the traditions of Samhain; turning the evening before to an “All Souls Day” or “All Hallows Eve,” which was later merged to become “Halloween,” according to History.com.

Here are the most famous traditions which have always accompanied Halloween:

Jack-o-lanterns: The carved pumpkin is basically the symbol for Halloween worldwide; it actually started as a turnip, and according to mentalfloss, originated from Ireland as locals used to light up their carved turnips and roam the streets to chase off evil spirits


Pumpkin - Rescueram3 Pixabay


Costumes: Originally Celtics wore ghosts’ costumes so that spirits roaming the streets would mistake them for spirits too, and leave them alone. But nowadays Halloween costumes are a big deal, heavily affected by Pop culture; you are more likely to see people dressing up as Harley Quinn, Joker or Jack Sparrow nowadays than good old ghosts.


Hello, It’s Halloween - Zebra Nursery Rhymes - Kindergarten Songs for Kids/YouTube Thumbnail

Colors: Halloween is all about black and orange; as black represents the death of summer and orange represents autumn, according to mentalfloss.


Pumpkin - Kristina Paukshtite – Pexels

Trick or Treating: It is said that another possible reason for dressing up as ghosts was that Celtics left out food for the spirits, and so some people would disguise as ghosts to get food and treats too. As for the tricks part, some speculate that it started back in Scotland as the poor “Soulers” would go from door to door on "All Souls day" saying prayers (souling) for the dead and receiving food in return. Later on, the prayers were gradually replaced by songs, jokes or tricks.


Potion - Socialneuron - Pixabay

Horror films: This is a modern day tradition to entertain and thrill both children and adults; a perfect Halloween would not go by without a story where its characters go through some of the most horrible events ever.


Hands - Simonwijers - Pixabay