Halloween history: 7 freaky facts
If you celebrating Halloween this year, read up on some of the spooky and freaky facts around the 'celebration' that is catching on in South Africa.
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THE spookiest night of the year is slowly approaching, and although South Africans don’t traditionally celebrate this annual holiday to the same extent as Americans, it has begun to catch on across the globe, especially among young people.
But, many people don’t consider how the traditions have evolved and what has lead to the fun trends of eating loads of sweets (candy) or exploring your inner sexy vampire or zombie alter ego, every year on 31 October.
List of freaky Halloween Facts:
1.Ireland is typically believed to be the birthplace of Halloween.
2. The Celtic Samhain Festival (which celebrates the end of the Celtic calendar) inspired modern day Halloween festivities.
3. The famous magician Harry Houdini (1874-1926) died on Halloween night.
4. The word Halloween comes from the middle English word ‘Alholowmesse’, which means ‘All Saints’ Day’ . People referred to the night before Alholowmesse as ‘All Hallow’s Eve’, which eventually became known as ‘Halloween’.
5. Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.
6. A full moon on Halloween is extremely rare. The next full moon on Halloween will not occur until 2020.
7. People believed that during Samhain, spirits, demons and fairies could enter the mortal world. Thus they made offering of food or ‘treats’ to appease the spirits.
Read more: https://www.businessinsider.com/13-facts-you-never-knew-about-halloween-2013-10#ixzz3HQnFJqic