Moon Mausoleum
An online magazine about the paranormal, haunted and macabre. We collect the ghost stories from all around the world as well as review horror and gothic media.
In splendid colors and festive celebration the Día de los Muertos in Mexico welcomes the dead with a party and a smile. But how did it originate and how does it differ from the Halloween celebration from its neighboring country?
Bonfires to ward off evil and leaving food for the ghost; the Celtic pagan celebration of Samhain slowly morphed into what is now the modern Halloween with the Trick or Treat, horror movies and costume parties. But how was the celebration done in the olden days, really?
As well as pagan roots, modern Halloween has its Christian touches as well. The three days of Allhallowtide is an old Catholic celebration of the dead, where its followers are praying for their departed as well as reflecting over their own mortality and coming death.
Before the modern Halloween came back to the British Isles, there were celebrations like the Welsh Calan Gaeaf. The first day of winter. The night before this day was when the veil was thinnest and the spirits roamed the land.
Trick-or-Treat is now an integral part of the Halloween celebration. It is often seen as an American tradition, but history tells us that this custom has deep roots to even pre-christian times with much darker and supernatural reasons.
The carved pumpkin is perhaps the global symbol of the modern Halloween celebration. But where did this custom come from and what does the Jack-o’-Lantern really represent?
In Somerset, England, a local tradition called Punkie Night in October has many similarities with different Halloween traditions today. A procession of lanterns go through the villagers every year, searching for sweets.
The first day of winter is called Kalan Gwav in Cornish and their version of Halloween. The celebration is called Allantide and the main focus is the big Allan Apple and trying to predict the future.
The ancient Halloween celebration of Hop-tu-Naa on the Isle of Man has a lot of the old celtic traditions. They also sing about Jinny the Witch, a woman tried for witchcraft centuries ago.
In this wide world we have countless customs, holidays and traditions. But the tradition of honoring, and at times, fearing the dead around the dark autumn time, seems to be something we do in all corners of the earth.
Read the legendary Halloween story: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a gothic story by American author Washington Irving. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is among the earliest examples of American fiction with enduring popularity, especially during Halloween because of a character known as the Headless Horseman believed to be a Hessian soldier who was decapitated by a cannonball in battle.
A look at the popular Halloween costume of the Plague Doctor for 2020 Halloween.
Books that fits for children for Halloween.
#halloween #paranormal #books