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.
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?
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?
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.