The scoop
Weird things you didn’t know about Halloween!
By: Laura Cubides 10°A
Halloween, the popular night in which people put on their costumes and go out to parties or they ask for candies. But the truth is that Halloween has many more things which almost nobody knows. In this article you can find facts that many people have never asked about Halloween before, which are very interesting and exciting.
1. A full moon on Halloween is extremely rare.
When we think of Halloween, we think of witches, bats, full moon, among other things. But the truth is that it does not make sense for us to think about the full moon since it does not happen very often. Many Internet pages claim that there is a full moon every 18 or 19 years. The last time there was a full moon was in 2001, which states that by 2020 there is a high probability of a full moon.
2. Dressing up on Halloween comes from the Celts.
Have you ever wondered why people dress up in Halloween? Well, It is not something as simple as it seems. Halloween began in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtic people divided the year by four major holidays. Samhain was the biggest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year. The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain the dead were able to mingle with the living, since they believed that the souls of the dead traveled into the otherworld. During that time it was normal for the Celts to wear costumes and masks during the festival. That´s why nowadays is very normal for us to put on costumes and masks on halloween.
3. Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween
Did you know that there are people who are afraid of Halloween? This fear is called samhainophobia, this term originates from ‘Samhuin’ it means summer’s end. This has a relationship with The Samhain festival which was celebrated for marking the transition between summer and winter. The world ‘Samhuin’ has Irish-Scottish-Gaelic roots which means ‘All Hallows Eve’. This happens to the people who suffer anxiety. When they see the decorated houses or that strangers touch the door to ask for sweets their anxiety increases.
In conclusion, Halloween has many hidden things which we have never asked about and it may be that many of these are very simple but each one has a very big meaning and everything has some background. Halloween is full of mysteries and ancient customs, as this festival has existed for centuries and each time the generations are modifying it.
