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so that the ghosts would mistake
them for fellow spirits. On Hal-
loween, to keep ghosts away from
their houses, people would place
bowls of food outside their homes
to appease the ghosts and prevent
them from attempting to enter.
Halloween Superstitions
Halloween has always been a
holiday filled with mystery, mag-
ic and superstition. It began as
a Celtic end-of-summer festival
during which people felt espe-
cially close to deceased relatives
and friends. For these friendly
spirits, they set places at the
dinner table, left treats on door-
steps and along the side of the
road and lit candles to help loved
ones find their way back to the
spirit world. Today’s Halloween
ghosts are often depicted as more
fearsome and malevolent, and
our customs and superstitions
are scarier too. We avoid cross-
ing paths with black cats, afraid
that they might bring us bad
luck. This idea has its roots in
the Middle Ages, when many
people believed that witches
avoided detection by turning
themselves into cats. We try
not to walk under ladders
for the same reason.
This superstition
may have come
from the
ancient
Egyptians, who believed that
triangles were sacred; it also may
have something to do with the
fact that walking under a lean-
ing ladder tends to be unsafe.
In addition, around Halloween,
especially, we try to avoid break-
ing mirrors, stepping on cracks
in the road or spilling salt.
However, what about the Hallow-
een traditions and beliefs that
today’s trick-or-treaters have
forgotten all about? Many
of these obsolete rituals
focused on
the future
instead of the
past and the
living instead of
the dead. In particu-
lar, many had to do with