Hello Blog, I’m back again, and this time you’re hopefully going to hear from me for the next 31 days – it’s Halloween (nearly) welcome to Blogtober!
If you don’t know what that means, it’s simply a blog a day, during every day in October! Now, if you used to follow my vlogging channel, (it’s current on hiatus) you might possibly remember a few years ago when I did vlogtober there. This is basically the same but I’ll be typing over editing and talking to a camera.
When did Halloween Begin?
The Festivities that surround Halloween all begun around 2000 years ago. This is when the Ancient Celtic Tradition celebrated their new year on November 1st as a day to celebrate the end of summer and beginning of winter. This was traditionally celebrated in Ireland, the UK and Northern France.
We all know that back in the day they didn’t have much heating, harsh winters would often sadly conclude to the end of many peoples lives. The day before (October 31st) would resemble somewhat of what we now know to be New Years Eve; or in those days, Samhain.
Samhaim Traditions
Typical traditions of Samhaim would include lighting bonfires and dressing in costumes… sound familiar? Well, sadly it doesn’t stop there. In an attempt to connect the living with the dead, it was also a Celtic Tradition to not only burn crops, but sacrifice animals and wear their skulls to exchange fortunes.
Halloween: Over the Years
It is said that when the Irish emigrated to the United States, Halloween soon became a worldwide phenomenon. It wasn’t long before we saw the introduction of other familiar traditions, such as Trick-or-Treat, and pumpkin carving.
Some sources, however, also say that Trick-or-Treat evolved back in the origins of Samhaim when children would give and receive treats to wear off evil spirits. It is, on the other hand, quite unknown where the name itself originated.
Where does the fruit come in?
Halloween is often recognised in connection with fruit. Yep, I probably worded that wrong, but you get what I mean! The most common are Pumpkins and Apples. The Candy Corn thing though, that’s an American thing, I’ve never encountered a single candy corn in my life, so I’m not going into that one! Plus, I don’t think that’s fruit, anyway.
- Bobbing Apples. When the Roman Empire conquered part of the Celtic territory, they kind of ‘adopted’ Samhain, and put their own twist on it. They incorporated two Festivals; Faralia, in late October was the most familiar to halloween. The other festival was Pomona (early November), in celebration of the Goddess of Fruit and Trees.
- Pumpkins The internet hasn’t been so kind to me for this one, there’s lot’s of different stories; but here’s my favourite! It is said to have originated from a story in memory of ‘Stingy Jack’, it’s a pretty long story, so you can read about it here!
Thanks for Reading!
I hope you enjoyed this first day of Blogtober. So far, I’ve got 23 days planned, which gives me plenty more days to plan, right?! No excuse!
Please bare in mind that everything I found here, like you, I found on the internet, so it might not be 100% correct; but nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed it, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s post!
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👻 Stay Spooky,
