The legend says that a man called Jack couldn't go to Heaven when he died but not to Hell either. So Jack started to lurk though the land with no direction. He put a burning charcoal inside a turnip to be able to walk at night. He was called Jack of the Lantern (Jack O'Lantern).
Some time later, it was a candle inside a pumpkin, and symbolizes the souls of those damned to lurk without direction.
The candies have a very ancient origin. The Celts put food and candies to keep the spirits away from the houses. It was a kind of treat ("trick or treat") with the spirits: food in exchange of not frightening the mortals with their presence.
The consumption of apples in this date is also very ancient. Apples were the symbol of good fortune. Apple peelings were used for centuries for divination. There's a game that consists in getting to take an apple with the teeth, and who gets that, it is said that will be very fortunate in love with the person that he/she chooses.
Hazelnuts were also used for divination methods for romance issues.
Other symbols of Halloween are:
- The owl, that is said to scare the powers of darkness with its sound. Its image is the symbol of good luck.
- Bats, that were supposed to be able to communicate with the dead.
- The half-moon, symbol of the magic. To know more about the moon,read this article.
- The brooms, that symbolize the liberation of energies.
- Black cats. They were worshiped as gods in the ancient pagan cultures. But later, they were used in black magic.
- Witches: they're the most "modern" depiction of the ancient druids. A nexus of the union of the magical and the mundane.
- The pentagram with a circle around it. It is a symbol of protection that was used in magical rituals as a secure place that marks the limit between the world of Magic and the world of the living.
Franciele Pirobano
