320 changes direction

just a few video of a great singer

Fell on Black Days: Chris Cornell Waves Goodbye
J. Bennetta day ago


And just like that, he’s gone.

May 17, 2017: Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell is dead at age 52. Of a possible suicide, if preliminary reports are to be believed. Found unresponsive on the bathroom floor of a Detroit hotel room with a “band” around his neck, according to this morning’s New York Times. A heartbreaking end to one of the greatest rock singers and underrated lyricists in the history of forever. A stark reminder that, no matter how high we soar in life, the end can always be lonely and miserable. Even if you have a wife and three kids. Which he did. The word tragedy doesn’t even begin to cut it.

With a band around his neck. That’s a pretty nefarious turn of phrase. If Cornell really did kill himself, the rumor mill will never stop, ever. Was he depressed? Broke? Back on the dope? Was the pressure to preserve Soundgarden’s substantial legacy too much for his fragile psyche to bear? Before those lines of questioning are exhausted, the prevailing tendency will be to force his untimely demise into some bullshit narrative involving the premature deaths of fellow Seattle rock luminaries Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley and Andrew Wood. I personally can’t wait to not read all those articles.

So, let’s skip the ham-fisted analysis and get to the point: A banshee wail has been silenced. A human being who connected so many of us with that which is greater than ourselves has departed this earthly plane. That he may have done it deliberately and in what could have otherwise been a fleeting moment of emotional despair just makes it slightly more awful. Either way, he walked through the exit door. He’s not coming back. All we can do is mourn — for as long as it takes — and spend some serious quality time with what he left us.

When Cornell sang, “Follow me into the desert, as thirsty as you are,” on “Burden in My Hand” from 1996’s Down on the Upside, we were already right behind him. Millions of wide-eyed apostles to the shirtless Christ figure leading us through the new rock landscape. You know the big ones by now: Badmotorfinger, Louder Than Love, Ultramega OK. Then there are the less-celebrated Soundgarden gems like 1987’s “Hunted Down” single, which you should listen to immediately, if not sooner. Early, overlooked bangers like “Heretic,” “Toy Box” and “Cold Bitch” hit just as hard today as they did in the late '80s and early '90s. Meanwhile, Cornell’s contribution to the Singles soundtrack, “Seasons,” remains one of his finest moments. Let’s not forget the Temple of the Dog album. Even his 1999 solo debut, Euphoria Morning, doesn’t get the props it deserves.

Much will be written about Cornell and his legacy in the coming weeks, but none of it — especially this — will ever mean as much as the music itself. Many of my favorite Soundgarden songs are on 1994’s Superunknown: “The Day I Tried to Live.” “4th of July,” “Fell on Black Days” and — yeah — “Like Suicide,” which has held a special place in my blackened heart since the day it came out. (I even bought an overpriced “The Day I Tried to Live” import CD single back in ’96 because it included an acoustic version of “Like Suicide.”) To me, these songs are about the human condition and our many calamities and failings. Kicking against the pricks day in, day out, and occasionally falling on our faces. That hoary old chestnut about picking yourself up and dusting yourself off? Cornell knew what we all know, but are too afraid to admit: If you feel like you’ve hit the dirt too many times, there’s always a way out.

In the end, all attempts to assess what we’ve lost are for naught. Whomever or whatever is in charge of handing out world-beating voices like Cornell’s only has so many to give. Ozzy got one. Robert Plant got one. Freddie Mercury got one. And Chris Cornell got one. The man is gone now, but his voice will haunt us forever. That might sound corny, and it’s obviously cold comfort to his family and friends and bandmates. But for the rest of us? It’s all we’ve got.
Soundgarden Opener on Chris Cornell’s Last Days and Lasting Influence

Pete Burns: Dead or Alive singer dies aged 57

• 58 minutes ago
• From the section Entertainment & Arts

Dead or Alive singer Pete Burns has died aged 57 after suffering a cardiac arrest, his management has said.

A statement on Twitter said it was with "greatest sadness" that it had to break the "tragic news" that Burns died suddenly on Sunday.
Burns had a hit with You Spin Me Round in 1985 and appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006.
The management statement said: "All of his family and friends are devastated by the loss of our special star."
It continued: "He was a true visionary, a beautiful talented soul, and he will be missed by all who loved and appreciated everything he was and all of the wonderful memories he has left us with."

'Great true eccentric'

Burns appeared on reality television shows Celebrity Wife Swap and The Body Shocking Show in recent years.
Politician George Galloway, who was on Celebrity Big Brother with Burns, tweeted: "Sad to hear of the demise of Pete Burns. He was a cross between Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker. You don't get more brilliant than that. RIP".

Stars paid tribute to the singer on Twitter, with Boy George saying: "Tearful about the passing of @PeteBurnsICON he was one of our great true eccentrics and such a big part of my life! Wow. Hard to believe!"
Celebrity Big Brother presenter Davina McCall said: "So so sad to hear about Pete Burns... we partied hard in the 90s... RIP Pete x"
Ordinary Boys frontman Preston, who also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother with Burns, said: "Heartbroken to hear about Pete Burns. He was a true punk rocker and one of the kindest hearts I've ever know. Gutted."

The Vampire Diaries

Best 'Vampire Diaries' Quotes from the Season 8 Premiere
Saturday, October 22, 2016

Meredith Jacobs
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV

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What has a hold of Damon and Enzo? Well, thanks to the clues that Enzo left for Bonnie in the Vampire Diaries season 8 premiere, she seems to have figured that out. Plus, Stefan and Caroline took a step forward in their relationship, after some urging from Alaric.

Here are the best quotes from "Hello, Brother."



"We promised each other we'll find ways to steal small moments of normal every day. That's how we'll all stay sane."


"The search for Damon and Enzo goes on and on, and we're no closer to knowing where they are, or who, or what, took them. We promised each other we'll find ways to steal small moments of normal every day. That's how we'll all stay sane. But it's just you and me talking right now, and I need to tell you: it's hard. It's the hardest thing I've had to do in my whole life."
- Bonnie writing to Elena

"Only true love can make you conquer your absolute lack of skill."
Enzo: "Darling, your guitar playing would send Odysseus sailing in the other direction."
Bonnie: "I have no idea what that means, but screw you."
Enzo: "Right. Let me save you from yourself. ... Have you really never read The Odyssey?"
Bonnie: "Is that the one with Helen of Troy?"
Enzo: "Not quite."
Bonnie: "How can you love such a terrible guitar player?"
Enzo: "Because one day you'll play like a Siren. And on that day, I know you'll love me forever."
Bonnie: "Why's that?"
Enzo: "Only true love can make you conquer your absolute lack of skill."

"Just my winning sense of humor and renewed appreciation for chick lit."
Enzo: "Do you have any control left? Me, I'm down to, I don't know, about two percent."
Damon: "No free will needed. I have flipped my switch. Humanity off. I'm on full cruise control. I recommend it."
Enzo: "Oh, so you really have nothing left inside?"
Damon: "Just my winning sense of humor and renewed appreciation for chick lit."

"Don't ask me to have hope. Hope hurts. I don't want to hurt anymore."


Bonnie: "Stefan, every time we do this, I let myself hope a little. And when we end up back at zero, my heart crushes in on itself a little bit more. I don't know how much my heart has left, you know?"
Stefan: "Bonnie, no one -- not Caroline, not Elena -- no one knows how to fight longer or harder or better than you. If you give up, I won't have anything left to hold on to. Please don't give up."
Bonnie: "Of course. But don't ask me to have hope. Hope hurts. I don't want to hurt anymore."

"You're practically Indiana Jones."
Georgie: "What was that back there? I've never seen an archaeologist afraid to explore a tunnel."
Alaric: "I am not an archaeologist."
Georgie: "Come on, you're practically Indiana Jones."

"I'm pretty much closed for business."
Georgie: "Your geek brain makes you super hot. You know that?"
Alaric: "Uh, Georgie, don't think that I don't appreciate it, but I'm pretty much closed for business. You know, it's just me and my kids and no distractions."
Georgie: "Dad you."
Alaric: "Yeah, yeah. Exactly."
Georgie: "Well, that's a shame. I had to try. Sexy dark tunnel, magical room, et cetera."


"Hello, brother."
- Damon to Stefan

"Surrounded by death. It's who we are, brother. It's who we've been for 160-something years."
Damon: "Go home, Stefan. We're all good here."
Stefan: "In a slaughterhouse?"
Damon: "Surrounded by death. It's who we are, brother. It's who we've been for 160-something years."


"Walk out of here with your hero hair intact."
Damon: "You need to go. It doesn't want you yet. Walk out of here with your hero hair intact, and never come back."
Stefan: "Not without you."

"I ripped the switch off the wall. There is no switch, Stefan, because there is no hope."


Stefan: "Don't do anything you might regret. Think about Elena."
Damon: "I'm trying to explain to you, Stefan, Elena doesn't matter to me anymore."
Stefan: "Why? Because you flipped your switch?"
Damon: "I ripped the switch off the wall. There is no switch, Stefan, because there is no hope. Every drop of blood I ever spilled, every body I've ever drained, every bad decision I've ever made sealed my fate. My path and Elena's path, they're not the same. Her great beyond is a decidedly happier one than mine."

"We can't escape this life, Care. So shouldn't we make sure we're at least living it right?"
Alaric: "I want to move in here."
Caroline: "Ric, I want us to be a family and a team, yes, but we can't live together."
Alaric: "Okay, I didn't say I thought you should stay."
Caroline: "That's crazy. This is my childhood home! Where am I supposed to go?"
Alaric: "You know exactly where you should go. And you've wanted to be there for months now, but out of respect for my feelings, you haven't done it yet. Caroline, I want you to be happy. Okay, I want our girls to be happy.  And one of these days, I plan on being happy too. Look, we can't escape this life, Care. So shouldn't we make sure we're at least living it right?"

"You told me there was hope. Now, just take a minute, pull yourself together and go find yours."
Bonnie: "Not 12 hours ago, you were telling me to have hope. You were right."
Stefan: "He said it was my fault. He's said it before, so I don't know why it hurt so much. This time, it feels like he may never forgive me. Maybe you were right, this morning."
Bonnie: "No, you were right. You told me there was hope. Now, just take a minute, pull yourself together and go find yours."

"When it comes to you, love, I would never stop fighting. I would brave the oceans and sail past the Sirens to find my way back to you."


Enzo: "More importantly, this book is one of the greatest love stories of all time."
Bonnie: "You're an incurable romantic, aren't you?"
Enzo: "When it comes to you, love, I would never stop fighting. I would brave the oceans and sail past the Sirens to find my way back to you."

"You should know that there is no such thing as redemption."
Damon: "You should know that there is no such thing as redemption. Because it only takes one bad day, one bad decision, and then it doesn't matter what you do with the rest of your life, because once the devil comes a-calling, you're done. Amazing use of red, by the way."
Enzo: "Not every victim needs a monologue."
Damon: "Well, we don't know that he's our guy yet. It might be a misunderstanding."
- With their latest victim

"If you care for nothing, it can see nothing."
"It can get in your head. And if it knows what you care about or who you're trying to get back to, well, you know what can happen. You may want to consider flipping your switch because if you care for nothing, it can see nothing."
- Damon's advice for Enzo

All Rights Reserved.

history of halloween

Introduction

Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats.

 

Ancient Origins of Halloween    

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

Did You Know?

One quarter of all the candy sold annually in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III (731–741) later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1. By the 9th century the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted the older Celtic rites. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It is widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

Halloween Comes to America

Celebration of Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief systems there. Halloween was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups as well as the American Indians meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included “play parties,” public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other’s fortunes, dance and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland’s potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.
In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.
By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated. Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday.

Today’s Halloween Traditions

The American Halloween tradition of “trick-or-treating” probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as “going a-souling” was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.
The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

Halloween Superstitions

Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition. It began as a Celtic end-of-summer festival during which people felt especially close to deceased relatives and friends. For these friendly spirits, they set places at the dinner table, left treats on doorsteps and along the side of the road and lit candles to help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world. Today’s Halloween ghosts are often depicted as more fearsome and malevolent, and our customs and superstitions are scarier too. We avoid crossing paths with black cats, afraid that they might bring us bad luck. This idea has its roots in the Middle Ages, when many people believed that witches avoided detection by turning themselves into cats. We try not to walk under ladders for the same reason. This superstition may have come from the ancient Egyptians, who believed that triangles were sacred; it also may have something to do with the fact that walking under a leaning ladder tends to be fairly unsafe. And around Halloween, especially, we try to avoid breaking mirrors, stepping on cracks in the road or spilling salt.
But what about the Halloween traditions and beliefs that today’s trick-or-treaters have forgotten all about? Many of these obsolete rituals focused on the future instead of the past and the living instead of the dead. In particular, many had to do with helping young women identify their future husbands and reassuring them that they would someday—with luck, by next Halloween—be married. In 18th-century Ireland, a matchmaking cook might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to bring true love to the diner who found it. In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that an eligible young woman name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then toss the nuts into the fireplace. The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding, the story went, represented the girl’s future husband. (In some versions of this legend, confusingly, the opposite was true: The nut that burned away symbolized a love that would not last.) Another tale had it that if a young woman ate a sugary concoction made out of walnuts, hazelnuts and nutmeg before bed on Halloween night she would dream about her future husband. Young women tossed apple-peels over their shoulders, hoping that the peels would fall on the floor in the shape of their future husbands’ initials; tried to learn about their futures by peering at egg yolks floating in a bowl of water; and stood in front of mirrors in darkened rooms, holding candles and looking over their shoulders for their husbands’ faces. Other rituals were more competitive. At some Halloween parties, the first guest to find a burr on a chestnut-hunt would be the first to marry; at others, the first successful apple-bobber would be the first down the aisle.
Of course, whether we’re asking for romantic advice or trying to avoid seven years of bad luck, each one of these Halloween superstitions relies on the good will of the very same “spirits” whose presence the early Celts felt so keenly.

history of halloween

History of Halloween
History.com

• • October 19, 2016

Introduction

Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints and martyrs; the holiday, All Saints’ Day, incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows’ Eve and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a secular, community-based event characterized by child-friendly activities such as trick-or-treating. In a number of countries around the world, as the days grow shorter and the nights get colder, people continue to usher in the winter season with gatherings, costumes and sweet treats.

 

Ancient Origins of Halloween    

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

Did You Know?

One quarter of all the candy sold annually in the U.S. is purchased for Halloween.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the four hundred years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain. The first was Feralia, a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead. The second was a day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple and the incorporation of this celebration into Samhain probably explains the tradition of “bobbing” for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.
On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III (731–741) later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs, and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1. By the 9th century the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted the older Celtic rites. In 1000 A.D., the church would make November 2 All Souls’ Day, a day to honor the dead. It is widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, but church-sanctioned holiday. All Souls Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils. The All Saints Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints’ Day) and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

Halloween Comes to America

Celebration of Halloween was extremely limited in colonial New England because of the rigid Protestant belief systems there. Halloween was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups as well as the American Indians meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included “play parties,” public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other’s fortunes, dance and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country.
In the second half of the nineteenth century, America was flooded with new immigrants. These new immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland’s potato famine of 1846, helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Taking from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.
In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighborly get-togethers than about ghosts, pranks and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything “frightening” or “grotesque” out of Halloween celebrations. Because of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century.
By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centered holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centers into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated. Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday.

Today’s Halloween Traditions

The American Halloween tradition of “trick-or-treating” probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called “soul cakes” in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as “going a-souling” was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale, food, and money.
The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter.

Halloween Superstitions

Halloween has always been a holiday filled with mystery, magic and superstition. It began as a Celtic end-of-summer festival during which people felt especially close to deceased relatives and friends. For these friendly spirits, they set places at the dinner table, left treats on doorsteps and along the side of the road and lit candles to help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world. Today’s Halloween ghosts are often depicted as more fearsome and malevolent, and our customs and superstitions are scarier too. We avoid crossing paths with black cats, afraid that they might bring us bad luck. This idea has its roots in the Middle Ages, when many people believed that witches avoided detection by turning themselves into cats. We try not to walk under ladders for the same reason. This superstition may have come from the ancient Egyptians, who believed that triangles were sacred; it also may have something to do with the fact that walking under a leaning ladder tends to be fairly unsafe. And around Halloween, especially, we try to avoid breaking mirrors, stepping on cracks in the road or spilling salt.
But what about the Halloween traditions and beliefs that today’s trick-or-treaters have forgotten all about? Many of these obsolete rituals focused on the future instead of the past and the living instead of the dead. In particular, many had to do with helping young women identify their future husbands and reassuring them that they would someday—with luck, by next Halloween—be married. In 18th-century Ireland, a matchmaking cook might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to bring true love to the diner who found it. In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that an eligible young woman name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then toss the nuts into the fireplace. The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding, the story went, represented the girl’s future husband. (In some versions of this legend, confusingly, the opposite was true: The nut that burned away symbolized a love that would not last.) Another tale had it that if a young woman ate a sugary concoction made out of walnuts, hazelnuts and nutmeg before bed on Halloween night she would dream about her future husband. Young women tossed apple-peels over their shoulders, hoping that the peels would fall on the floor in the shape of their future husbands’ initials; tried to learn about their futures by peering at egg yolks floating in a bowl of water; and stood in front of mirrors in darkened rooms, holding candles and looking over their shoulders for their husbands’ faces. Other rituals were more competitive. At some Halloween parties, the first guest to find a burr on a chestnut-hunt would be the first to marry; at others, the first successful apple-bobber would be the first down the aisle.
Of course, whether we’re asking for romantic advice or trying to avoid seven years of bad luck, each one of these Halloween superstitions relies on the good will of the very same “spirits” whose presence the early Celts felt so keenly.