Before you start planning your Halloween party and sending your Halloween Invitations Cards or Holiday Invitations, you might want to catch up on some of the facts about the holiday. One interesting fact is that the name of the holiday comes from a religious day: All Hallows Eve. All Hallows was a day of celebrating the Catholic saints. Since it was set on November 1, October 31st became and remains All Hallows Eve or Halloween as we know it today. However, long before Catholicism took over the day, it was already a special day for the Celtic people in Ireland. For them, the last day of October signaled the official end of summer and the start of their New Year. Of course, they used a different term for the holiday: Samhain.
But what about all of the customs we associate with Halloween invitations and entertainment? Where did all of that come from? While the practice of wearing costumes during the holiday was brought to North America with the Irish immigrants who were fleeing starvation caused by the 19th century's Great Potato Famine, the concept of trick or treating was already in practice. It started with a tradition known as souling that had been common in Europe since the 9th century. Basically, every November 2nd Christians went from village to village asking for "soul cakes" (pieces of bread baked with currants). In exchange for the soul cakes, the Christians would promise to pray for the giver's dead relatives who were believed to be trapped in limbo and could only be freed faster via prayer. When souling combined with Halloween, however, the trickery aspect came into the picture. People who did not receive something after begging would unhinge gates or tip over outhouses as retribution. In fact, if you are going to be sending out Halloween Party Invitations consider serving some soul cakes. The recipe should be easy to find on the Internet.
Of course, there are plenty of other traditions, too. What kind of Halloween Invites wouldn't include a mention of bobbing for apples? That tradition may also date back to ancient Europe, too. When the Romans conquered most of the continent, they decided to incorporate some of the Samhain traditions into their own and vice versa. In fact, the Romans had their own Party Invitations Halloween for a day celebrating Pomona in October. Since she was the goddess of fruit and trees, it made sense that her symbol was the apple. Is that a coincidence? When it comes to deciphering the facts about scary Halloween traditions, there are no coincidences.
Obviously, you're not going to have a Halloween Party without a few Jack-o-lanterns, right? But did you know that tradition actually came from two different sources? The most interesting is a Celtic legend about Jack, who decided to trick the devil into climbing up a tree only to trap him there using a cross. The devil was supposedly so mad about being tricked that he cursed Jack to walk around for eternity carrying only a carved out turnip for light. These were called, as you might have guessed, Jack's lanterns. Should you include a turnip not a pumpkin on your Invitations Halloween or ghost invite? Maybe matching holiday thank you cards?
Actually, no. When the Irish immigrants arrived in North America, pumpkins replaced the turnips because they were larger, more plentiful, and easier to carve creatively. Furthermore, pumpkins were already a popular symbol of fall during Harvest festivals. The transition for Jack's turnip lantern to the grinning pumpkin Jack o' lantern for your Halloween party was really a blending of Celtic and North American symbolism and make excellent scary Halloween invitations.
Other holiday invitation include business holiday invitations, Christmas invitations cards and Mardi Gras invitations cards.