On Halloween, It's "Nutcrack," Not Nutcracker

Have you ever wondered where some holiday traditions came from? Why is bobbing for apples and dressing up in costumes associated with Halloween and no other holiday? What about the colors orange and black being the accepted colors of Halloween? Halloween celebrations date back to 4000 B.C., which gives us over 6,000 years of traditions which have led up to how we celebrate Halloween today. Here are just a few facts about where some of our current traditions came from:


The colors black and orange are typically associated with Halloween. Orange symbolizes strength and endurance and, along with brown and gold, stands for the harvest and autumn. Black symbolizes death and darkness and reminds us that Halloween was once a festival that marked the boundaries between life and death.

Halloween was influenced by the ancient Roman festival Pomona, which celebrated the harvest goddess of the same name. Many Halloween customs and games that feature apples (such as bobbing for apples) and nuts date from this time. In fact, in the past, Halloween has been called San-Apple Night and Nutcrack Night.

During the pre-Halloween celebration of Samhain, bonfires were lit to ensure the sun would return after the long, hard winter. Druid priests often threw the bones of cattle into the flames, thus "bone fire" became "bonfire."

Dressing up as ghouls and other spirits on Halloween originated from the Celtic tradition of townspeople disguising themselves as demons and spirits so that they would escape the notice of the real spirits wandering the streets during Samhain.

Halloween celebrations in Hong Kong are known as Yue Lan (Festival of Hungry Ghosts). Fires are lit, and food and gifts are offered to placate potentially angry ghosts who might be looking for revenge.

What do #Zombies and #Snickers Have in Common on #Halloween?

I love Halloween. I love everything about it: the costumes, the treats, the decorations, and trick-or-treaters. But most of all, I love the scariness that goes along with Halloween, which evokes images of fog-laden cemeteries or a full moon with eery, wispy clouds drifting over it to cast a ghostly light over the land. I instantly hear the telltale piano notes of the theme to the movie, Halloween, and I become all giddy like a little girl.

Halloween, even more-so than Christmas, makes me feel like a kid again. I just love it. And here's some interesting facts and trivia about Halloween that you may not have known:

• The first Jack O'Lanterns were carved from turnips.
• Zombies were the #1 choice of costume in 2011.
• Do you have an intense fear of Halloween? Well then, you have Samhainophobia. BOO!
• Half of kids prefer to receive chocolate candy for Halloween, with Snickers being the #1 favorite chocolate treat. So invest in some chocolate for your trick-or-treaters.
• Trick-or-treating evolved from an ancient Celtic tradition of putting out treats to placate spirits who roamed the streets at Samhain, a sacred festival that marked the end of the Celtic calendar year.
• An old tradition says that if you want to see a witch on Halloween, put your clothes on inside out and walk backward.
• The word "witch" comes from the Old English wicce, meaning "wise woman." In fact, wiccan were highly respected people at one time. According to popular belief, witches held one of their two main meetings, or sabbats, on Halloween night.
• Speaking of witches, in Medieval Europe, owls were thought to be witches, and to hear an owl's call meant someone was about to die.
• Ever wonder how the Jack O'Lantern got its name? Legend says that a stingy man named jack tricked the devil so many times that he was forbidden to enter both heaven and hell. Jack was condemned to wander the Earth, waving his lantern to lead people away from their paths.