Cats, Bats, Witches and Other Spooky Things

Cats, Bats, Witches . . . and Other Spooky Things


People have always feared bats because of their secretive nature and their ability to fly at night sky. Many people believed they were guided by a mysterious power. Halloween, as celebrated by the Celts, was a dangerous time when anything could happen—the boundary this world and the next were narrower now than ever before. The bat was quickly tied to this frightening and mysterious season.

For many hundreds of years, people believed that cats had magical powers. They believed certain witches could turn into cats.
Witch comes from the Saxon word wica, which means wise one. Witches were originally respected women who healed the sick with herbs and who had special knowledge about the moon and stars. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages, when Europe was in the midst of a huge struggle between Christianity and paganism, that witches emerged as a force of evil. Those who still clung to their pagan beliefs developed the cult of witchcraft.
All witches were thought to have “familiars” or pet animals who did their bidding and helped them work their mischief. The black cat, the dog, the sow and the goat were widely regarded as witches’ familiars because they were seen as unusually fertile—and everyone knew that the devil encouraged witches to have as many offspring as possible so they would eventually outnumber the Christians. People were especially wary of cats at Halloween, when witches were known to be out riding their broomsticks. The fact that cats could see in the dark and move without making any noise added to their reputation as animals that couldn’t be trusted.

Skeletons reminded people of the dead. In some parts of Europe on All Saint’s Day, families dressed up the bones of their deceased loved ones in colorful robes.

One story says that, on the Celtic New year’s day, the disembodied spirits of all who had died the year before would come back in search of living bodies to possess. This was their only hope for the afterlife.
No one wanted to be possessed by these spirits, so on the night of October 31, villagers would dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and paraded through the town, being as rambunctious as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess. To avoid being recognized as humans when they left their homes after dark, some people wore costumes and masks to disguise themselves as fellow spirits.
The use of costumes was richly associated with other holidays that fed the Halloween tradition. Halloween signaled the start of the Christian’s holy Christmas season, and took on the flavor of Mardi Gras celebrations from other parts of Europe. These begin the Lenten celebrations that culminate in Easter. The rowdy masked processions of skeletons, witches and demons that were popular in other parts of Europe during Lent influenced Great Britain’s Halloween season.

The Halloween tradition of performing tricks was modeled on the antics of pixies and hobgoblins. Farm children for hundreds of years had endless time to think of pranks on unpopular neighbors. Stories of their actions crossed the ocean and led to new pranks among the more urban American youths. These tricks included tipping over outhouses and booby-trapping front gates.
In ancient times people feared the coming of winter. They were afraid the sun they worshiped would be killed by the darkness of the longer nights. It was a scary time of year. They believed that witches, goblins, ghosts and other spirits roamed the earth, casting spells and playing evil tricks on people.
When the combined tricks of mischievous children and those who were imitating these mythical creatures got out of hand, community clubs like the Boy Scouts began to organize safer alternatives. Children were encouraged to go door-to-door and receive treats from homeowners and merchants, keeping the troublemakers away. By the 1930s, the practice was popular nationwide, and young voices crying, “Trick or treat!” were echoing through neighborhood streets.

http://www.everythingforyourhalloween.com/symbols.html