Halloween Symbols

Jack-O-Lantern this symbol comes down from the Celtic practice of carrying the embers home from the sacred bonfire, they used hollowed out turnips to carry these embers home. These embers were used to relight their fireplaces.

Black cats are symbol of Halloween because they are believed to be the reincarnated spirit. Also black cats are believed to be the familiars of witches. Familiars are believed to be low-ranking demons that are in constant attention to witches for the purpose of carrying out their spells.

Trick or Treating door to door by children comes down from the ancient practice of children going door to door in Medieval times begging for cakes on All Souls Day (November 1). The children then recited prayers for the dead relatives of the people that would give them cakes (treats). And if the person did not give the children cakes then they would not receive any prayers for their dead family members (trick)

Witches are symbols of Halloween because of the folklore surrounding them using magic, once Christianity spread witches got a bad name and many believed that witches were in league with devil worship at that time.

Witches broom is a symbol brought down from ancient times and it stems from a fertility dance that was done around the full moon. It involved an old corn broom and jumping over the broom during the dance. This was done to insure fertility either in a person or livestock. It is believed that this evolved into witches riding brooms in the full moon because as Christianity spread many of the old superstitions, like this fertility dance became more and more like magic and witch craft instead of just superstitions. Also some believed that a witch could turn her magic wand into a broom in order to hide it.

Witches hat is a symbol that probably came down from the peasant woman’s hats at the time of the witch trials in the 16^th century.