I’m sure we’ve all heard countless Halloween tales that we’ve always wondered where they came from or how they came about. Halloween tales are part of the fun, they impact how we decorate, the things we avoid, and how we dress, and it can be interesting to know where they come from.
How Did Halloween Start?: Probably the best place to start discussing the origin because without Halloween we wouldn’t have the Halloween tales that come along with it. Halloween originated from an ancient Celtic festival that is called Samhain. This is where people gathered around bonfires and wore costumes that were said to keep evil spirits away.
Why Witches Fly on Brooms: This tale is something that has been tied to Halloween for a very long time. Every Halloween aisle in a store is bound to have at least one green-skinned witch likely on a broom. This association of witches flying on brooms stems from a pagan fertility ritual, it was said that farmers would hop on the ends of pitchforks, or brooms under a full moon as a way to produce better growth of their crops. They originally called this the “broomstick dance”. It is said that this dance was confused with accounts of witches flying on their brooms to illicit meetings.
Jack-o-Lanterns: Jack-o-Lanterns came from the legend of “Stingy Jack”. “Stingy Jack” was an Irish myth that was believed to lead to that of carving scary faces into a gourd. In the legend, Jack tricks the Devil into paying for a drink and then proceeds to trap him in coin form. The Devil took revenge on Jack forcing Jack to roam the earth for eternity with no place in Heaven or Hell, all he had was lighted coal. Jack placed the light coal into a carved turnip, which created the original Jack-o-lantern.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: This tale is directly attached to a tale of another. The village of Sleepy Hollow is terrorized by the headless horseman. The tale is pulled from the inspiration of a teenager in Tarrytown, New York who moved to the area to flee yellow fever in the city.