We’ve come to know Halloween as a time to dress up and go out trick or treating, or host a family party. Halloween’s practices and symbols have breathed new life into a few dark practices of ancient civilizations. Many Halloween symbols are familiar to peoples scattered across the globe, but every group does take new meaning into each Halloween symbol and gives it their own kind of spin. Some believe that a symbol represents thrills and chills while others believe that some of the symbols mean death or that they are either scary, or life affirming.
Amongst some believers, these symbols are evil and representative of an occult and satanic world. It all depends on what culture people are from and what they have come to believe as the truth. Some images are a mixed bag and can come from something like the fantasy Dungeons and Dragons, Aztec art, Tarot cards, and ads for Halloween costumes and accessories. Halloween symbols are popular and have lasted for generations, as well as appearing to be here to stay. Halloween can be a spiritual war for some and scary, but good fun, for others.
Bats
Bats are harmless creatures and these mammals actually fly. They eat a lot of insects such as mosquitoes and their appetites can be ravenous. One bat, the vampire bat, drinks flood — usually from cattle. Vampires are reputed to be able to change into a bat at will, hence the name. Some bats will only eat fruit. In Eastern countries, bats can represent good luck. There is an interesting bat exhibit at Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Disneyworld. Visitors may walk through and observe bats (or not) and learn a lot about this night creature’s habits.
Broomstick
This has long been associated with bats and was used to great effect in Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. No matter how hard he tried, poor Mickey Mouse soon became inundated with water because all of the brooms kept multiplying and carrying buckets of water! With the popularity of Harry Potter books and movies, broomsticks are more popular than ever, especially for a good game of Quidditch!
Black Cat
In both Japan and Western cultures, a black cat can be linked to either white or black magic. For today’s Halloween décor they are most often seen on porches alongside of pumpkins, and made from curly black plastic!
Blood
Gore has always fascinated people in a spooky way and many Halloween themed movies and books really play it up. Knives, in horror movies, seem to produce the most amount of blood and chills and thrills. People need blood to live so that could be why vampires are popular at Halloween time as they just love blood! A fear of losing blood and then dying is at the core of people’s chills when around vampires and their kin.
Evil or Spooky Eye
Both Harry Potter fans and many cultures around the world consider an evil eye a bad sign. Most everyone knows what an Eye of Horus looks like and it has come to symbolize the Ancient Egyptian culture. Evil eyes have been featured in a lot of Halloween and other horror movies for decades.
Ghosts
Ghosts are the quintessential Halloween symbol and kids love to dress up as ghosts, while adults can be a lot of different ghostly types such as pirates, dead brides (Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas), and many others. Ghosts can also come in different shapes and sizes and be seen or not, or even half seen out of the corner of your eye. They have also been caught on films about the paranormal.
Pumpkins or jack-o-lanterns are the universally recognized symbol of Halloween in both Europe and America. In the British isles, jack-o-lanterns were made from turnips or gourds. When children go out trick or treating, a plastic pumpkin container is usually their container of choice.
I love Halloween. Thanks evryone