Yay! Halloween is almost here. Anyone know of any folklore that people use to perform during Halloween?

Answer 1

you can always dance naked around the fire

Answer 2

Fire Festival: Samhain
All Hallow’s Eve
October 31st
This is the time of the final harvest. The god has died and the goddess ripens. The veil between worlds is at its weakest. Witches should dress traditionally in black when sleeping so as to be identified by carousing fey. Rest and honour the spirits. colours are orange and black. The feast should include the bounty from your harvest. Rituals include decorating with gourds and cornucopias. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds to promote romance. Offer rituals for the persecuted witches of the past and for the tragedy of the Burning Times.

Answer 3

I don't know if you can consider this folklore, but one thing people in the U.S. used to do years ago was over turn other people's outhouses.

My uncle said he was just a boy when his dad and older brother moved their outhouse forward about three feet leaving the pit exposed.

Around about dark, they heard a lot of yelling coming from the direction of their outhouse. It seems that in the fading light several boys didn't notice this outhouse had been moved and had fallen into the pit. Now, imagine going home smelling like that and explaining it to your mother.

Answer 4

here in wales there's a tradition where folks go around with the Mari Llwyd, a horses skull on a stick with a jaw on a spring so it snaps at people! you go around town and call at peoples homes asking for drink, cake etc or a story. it seems to be a typical tradition exported to america, minus the skull, maybe it was used to scare off evil spirits as they went from house to house? you don't honestly see it much at all any more, which is a shame. Happy Samhain!

Answer 5

Hmm..Pretty hard.

There was a boy who was excited about halloween, a swift air went by saying..Lucify.. He was really scared so he went home to his mom and took a shower. Blood starting dripping on the walls and he ran down naked.

So they moved.

Thats half of the story (not true)

Answer 6

the tail of the headless horseman is a tail people perform.as well as Dracula the vampire version. some do the legion of Lizzy Borden. the Salm witch trials.

these are all plays & skits done on Halloween!

Answer 7

Kayne's an idiot. Druids weren't satanists. They didn't worship stonehenge. Read about Halloween on religioustolerance.com or pick up Silver Ravenwolf's book "Halloween". It's an interesting book.

Answer 8

I read something once about apple bobbing. It was originally used to determine who would marry whom. If I remember correctly, girls would carve their initials in apples and put them in a tub of water. The boys would bob, and whoever's initials were on the apple they got, that was who they would marry.

Answer 9

31st OCTOBER

What is Halloween? Is it worshipping demons? Is it spirits walking the earth?

The word "Halloween" is derived from a few things; All Saints Day (1st November), Eve of All Hallows (All Hallows Eve) or Hallow Even.

The celebration of Halloween was originally the New Years Eve of the Celts, the eve of Samhain or "Winter's Eve". It was generally believed that the dead or disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. All who were alive of course didn't want to be possessed by these lost souls so on the night of October 31st, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes to make them cold and inhospitable then dress up in ghoulish costumes and parade around the neighborhood making as much noise as possible to frighten away the spirits looking for a live body to possess. Food and drink (which I'd say accounted for the crazy actions of the villages, not the fear of being possessed) would be left out for these costume wielding villages.

Trick or Treating

It was believed in ninth-century Europe that after you died, your soul remained in limbo. To send the souls up to Heaven the Christians used to go "souling". On 31st October, All Souls Day, they would go around to all the villages and collect "soul cakes" - a cake made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The relatives of the dead would pass the cakes on to the Christians who would promise to pray for their relative which in turn would send them on to heaven. The more cakes given - the more prayers said. This is one custom which was thought that trick-or-treating originated from.

It is also thought that trick-or-treating came from Britain where it was know as "Mischief Night", it is particularly popular in parts of northern England.

It could also of come from old Irish peasant practice in which they would go from door to door to collect money, breadcake, cheese, eggs, butter, nuts, apples, etc., in preparation for the festival of St. Columb Kill.

JACK-O-LANTERN

The Jack-O-lantern came from Irish Folklore. A man named Jack who was a drunkard and known for his quick temper got really drunk at the local Pub on All Hallows Eve. As his life began to slip away from him the Devil appeared to claim his soul. Jack wanted to stay alive and begged the Devil to let him have just one more drink before he died. The Devil agreed. Jack was short of money and asked the Devil if he'd assume the shape of a sixpence so Jack could buy a drink and after that the Devil could change back to himself. I don't know why the Devil is suddenly so stupid, but he agreed to do it (silly Devil). Once the Devil assumed the shape of the coin Jack seized it and shoved it into his wallet which (amazingly) had a cross shaped clip on it. The Devil was now stuck in Jack's wallet. He went crazy - yelling and screaming - ordering Jack to release him at once! Jack did a deal with him (oh yeah, smart move Jack) where he would release him if he agreed not to bother Jack for an entire year. The Devil was so anxious to be released he agreed.

Jack was ecstatic to have escaped the Devil and have a whole new lease on life. Jack mended his ways, for a little while at least. He was good to his wife and children and began attending church and giving to charity. But Jack slowly and surely slipped back to his old ways.

The next All Hallows Eve the Devil appeared to Jack again. He demanded that Jack accompany him to his death. Jack thought he could once again outsmart the Devil and somehow managed to con the incredibly stupid Devil into getting an apple out of a nearby apple tree. Jack even went so far as to hoist the Devil up the apple tree. Once the Devil was up the tree Jack took out a knife and carved a cross into the trunk of the tree - therefore trapping the Devil. The Devil went spare and started demanding to be released and yelling and screaming. He promised Jack that if he was let out of the tree he would give him 10 years of peace. Jack decided that wasn't good enough and demanded that he never be bothered by the Devil again. The Devil agreed and was released from his apple tree trap.

Jack went back to his drunken and angry ways and after almost one year his body gave out and Jack died. He tried to enter Heaven but was refused entry because of his evil ways. He then tried to enter Hell - but the Devil would never forgive Jack for the tricks he played on him. The Devil decided to be helpful for once and threw Jack a coal, he said it was to help him find his way in the dark of limbo. Jack put the piece of coal in a turnip and it became known as a Jack-O-Lantern. It is said that on All Hallows Eve if you look hard enough you can still see Jack's flame burning dimly as he searches through the darkness for a home.

The use of Jack-O-Lanterns as festival lights for Halloween is a custom that descended form the Irish who used carved out turnips or beets as lanterns. On Halloween these lights represented the souls of the dead. When the Irish immigrated to America they found that pumpkins were far more easier to come by than turnips. The Jack-O-Lantern then became a hollowed-out pumpkin lit with a candle.



In general the whole custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by the Irish immigrants who were fleeing the country's potato famine.

The evil side of Halloween was pushed forward mainly by the church. The church maintained that the gods and goddesses and other spiritual beings of traditional religions were diabolical deceptions and manifestations of the devil. Therefore the customs associated with Halloween were always represented by the church as being evil - ghosts, human skeletons, symbols of the dead, Satan and other creatures such as witches.