Halloween Costumes

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.

Bobbing for Apples

Another Celtic holiday that holds roots of our present-day Halloween traditions 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.

Superstitions

• Walking under a ladder brings bad luck- A ladder leaning against a wall forms a triangle. In most old religions, a triangle was a sacred figure that couldn't be broken, as this would provoke GOD's anger.
• Superstition says that if a bat flies around the house three times, it is considered a death omen.
• Knock on wood to keep bad luck away- For the Greeks, the oak was Zeus' residence . To avoid bad luck people had to touch oak, they could talk with Zeus who would protect them.
• If you see a spider on Halloween, it could be the spirit of a dead loved one who is watching you.
• If you let a fire burn out on Halloween you will invite bad luck.
• If you ring a bell on Halloween, it will scare evil spirits away.
• Put your clothes on inside out and walk backwards on Halloween night, and you will meet a witch.
• If a candle flame suddenly turns blue, there's a ghost nearby.
• If a candle suddenly goes out by itself on Halloween a ghost has come to visit.
• Burning new candles on Halloween will bring good luck.
• Seeing a spider run down a web in the afternoon means you'll take a trip.
• If you are born on Halloween you can see and talk to ghosts.
• If a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it.
• You must hold your breath while going past a cemetery or you will breathe in the spirit of someone who has recently died.
• Keep cats away from babies because they suck the breath out of them.
• If you hear foot steps behind you on this night, don't look back. It may be the dead following you. Turning back could mean that you will soon join the dead.
• Girls who carry a lamp to a spring of water on this night can see their future husband in the reflection.
• Girls who carry a broken egg in a glass to a spring of water (during the day) can not only see their future husband by mixing some of the spring water into the glass, but she can also see a glimpse of her future children.
• The old Celtic custom was to light great bonfires on Halloween, and after these had burned out to make a circle of the ashes of each fire. Within this circle, and near the circumference, each member of the various families that had helped to make a fire would place a pebble. If, on the next day, any stone was out of its place, or had been damaged, it was held to be an indication that the one to whom the stone belonged would die within twelve months.
• If a bat flies into a house it is a sign that ghosts are about and maybe the ghost let the bat in.
• If bats come out early and fly around playfully, then it is a sign of good weather to come.
• Peel an apple from top to bottom. The person with the longest unbroken peel would be assured the longest life. If you threw the apple peel over your shoulder, the initial it forms upon landing is the initial of your future mate.
• When bobbing for apples, it is believed that the first person to bite an apple would be the first to marry.
• If you go to a crossroads at Halloween and listen to the wind, you will learn all the most important things that will befall you during the next twelve months.
• To prevent ghosts coming into the house at Halloween, bury animal bones or a picture of an animal near the doorway.
• If a girl puts a sprig of rosemary herb and a silver sixpence under her pillow on Halloween night, she will see her future husband in a dream.
• Many people used to believe that owls swooped down to to eat the souls of the dying. If they heard an owl hooting, they would become frightened. A common remedy was thought to be, turning your pockets inside out and you would be safe.
• Some believe if you catch a snail on Halloween night and lock it into a flat dish, in the morning you will see the first letter of your sweetheart written in the snail's slime.
• You should walk around your home three times backwards and counterclockwise before sunset on Halloween to ward off evil spirits.
• In North America, it's bad luck if a black cat crosses your path and good luck if a white cat crosses your path. In Britain and Ireland, it's the opposite.