Here are some fun facts about Halloween in the eve of yet another celebration of the day of all the hollow, the night actually when the portal between the realm of the living and that of the departed is said to open up, the night when the dead are said to walk among us (well, more or less – hopefully less – in a literal way).
So before you dust your suit to go trick or treating or to go to a party or indeed roaming the cemeteries at night, you can take a look at the fun and interesting stuff about your favorite orange and black festival:
- Halloween used to be the perfect time for matchmaking, but also a time for women in the past to boil concoctions and to try to use witchcraft to see the face of their future husband. Some of these traditions still exist in far off corners of the world, although these days Halloween has lost most of its romantic lure.
- Halloween comes from the ancient Celtic tradition of Samhain, the feast of the dying sun. It marked the official point when the clear season gave way to the dark one, to the long days of winter. It was a small death, but a necessary one.
- Did you know how the custom to go trick or treating began? It actually started long ago in England, where the church encouraged the rich to giveaway “soul cakes” to the needy. This happened on All Souls’ Day and the tradition quickly transformed into a merry one, where kids would actually be the ones to go from house to house in search of sweets and tricks or even a coin or two.
- And here is our travel advice for the day: Halloween can be a great opportunity to go on a vacation, especially with the nice weather in Europe this season. Ireland may be a great destination, a place of many wonders and with Dublin rent a car you can also have the wheels you need for the trip.
