Everything you need to know about Halloween

What comes to your mind, when I say Halloween?

Spooks, ghosts, witches, pumpkins, candy, trick o treating, black cats etc, or a
silly commercialized, way to sell more Candy then god, and prankster gangs
roaming the street, getting ready to egg your car all up?

Well personally the second thing has never happened to mine, but I have heard
many stories up people’s cars that have been. But it makes you think how it got
to all this.
Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally
a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve
and dates back to 2000 years ago.
 
All Hallows Eve is the evening before All Saints Day, which was created by
Christians to convert pagans, and is celebrated on November 1st. The Catholic
church honored saints on this designated day.

Different cultures view Halloween somewhat differently but traditional Halloween practices remain the
same.
Halloween culture can be traced back to the Druids, a Celtic culture in Ireland, Britain and Northern
Europe. Roots lay in the feast of Samhain, which was annually on October 31st to honor the dead.
 
Samhain signifies "summers end" or November. Samhain was a harvest festival with huge sacred
bonfires, marking the end of the Celtic year and beginning of a new one. Many of the practices involved
in this celebration were fed on superstition.

The custom of leaving a platter of bread or milk out , was do to the villagers knew not all spirits were
friendly, so they left the treats out pacify the spirit to ensure the crops of the next year would be plenty.
And we cant for get the good ol Jack o lantern its origins tell that :

A miserable man named Jack, tricked the devil. Unable to enter heaven or hell after his death, he was
destined to roam the earth listlessly. Jack placed a piece of coal into a carved-out turnip and used it as a
lantern to keep the evil spirits away. Today, pumpkins (which are easier to cut) are carved into jack-o-
lanterns, lit and placed outside of doorways for the same purpose.

But where do Cats fit in ??

Well do to I happen to have two cats of my own, I had to research this furry familiar and its roots, to this
chilly holiday, and ironically my cats have Halloween colors, black, orange and white, so I always tease
them that they are halloween cats.

Black cats have long been believed to be a supernatural omen since the witch hunts of the middle ages
when cats were thought to be connected to evil. Since then, it is considered bad luck if a black cat
crosses your path.
 But some beg to differ:
 All cats (including the black cats) were held in high regard by the Egyptians
and protected by law from injury or death. The cat was treated as a god like
figure and when the pet died it was mourned by the whole family, embalmed
in great fashion, wrapped in the finest of cotton and buried in a mummy
tomb. Sometimes cats were buried with their owners who had passed
before. Archaeologists have dug up complete cat cemeteries.
  Many people believe black cats bring good fortune and if that black cat has one
white hair and the person can pluck it out without being scratched will find wealth,
good luck and love.
 If there was a black cat in a home then the young women would have no lack of
lovers.
 In the English Midlands a black cat given as a wedding gift brought good luck to the
bride.
 A cat was often kept in a theater as a lucky mascot and if an actor dared to kick it
there would be disaster.
 In Normandy a tortoiseshell cat for tells death by accident.

Also it is proven that in animal shelters Black cats are the least adopted animal due to all
these superstitions, so if you really love animals, and have a knack for Halloween, make
sure you adopt a lil black kitty, and don’t forget to spay and newter it, if you don’t want any
other lil kitties running around, cause the fact is in Mazatlan there are too many cats and
dogs in the streets due to ignorance, and bad education, where they are left in a field
sumwhere, or let to breed with whoever, and so to help the awareness of over population,
don’t be afraid to spread the word, and you can always donate to Amigos de los Animales
here in Maz, they really need it.

And last but not least some cute, qorky, and spooky Halloween trivia for all those
Halloween geeks out there.

 Orange and black are Halloween colors because orange is associated with the Fall harvest and
black is associated with darkness and death.
 Pumpkins also come in white, blue and green. Great for unique monster carvings!
 Halloween was brought to North America by immigrants from Europe who would celebrate the
harvest around a bonfire, share ghost stories, sing, dance and tell fortunes.
 
 Tootsie Rolls were the first wrapped penny candy in America.
 
 Halloween candy sales average about 2 billion dollars annually in the United States.
 
 Chocolate candy bars top the list as the most popular candy for trick-or-treaters with Snickers
#1.
 
 Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday, with Christmas being the first.
 
 Bobbing for apples is thought to have originated from the roman harvest festival that honors
Pamona, the goddess of fruit trees.
 
 Black cats were once believed to be witch's familiars who protected their powers.
 
 In 1962, the Count Dracula Society was founded.
 
 To this day, there are vampire clubs and societies with people claiming to be real vampires.
 
 There really are so-called vampire bats, but they're not from Transylvania. They live in Central
and South America and feed on the blood of cattle, horses and birds.
 
 If you see a spider on Halloween, it is the spirit of a loved on watching over you.
 
  Worldwide, bats are vital natural enemies of night-flying insects.
 
 The common little brown bat of North America has the longest life span for a mammal it's size,
with a life span averaging 32 years.
 
 In about 1 in 4 autopsies, a major disease is discovered that was previously undetected.
 'Halloween" was made in only 21 days in 1978 on a very limited budget.
 The movie was shot in the Spring and used fake autumn leaves
 While the setting for the story is in Illinois, the license plates on the vehicles have California
plates.

So hope all you folks enjoy this Holiday season, and the weather cools down soon, and have a spooky,
fun, or chocolate Halloween!

Bibliography
www.halloween-website.com – they have some really neat recipes to!
www.wiki.answers.com – omens associated with cats
Halloween history