2003 PEGGY KARR BOO GLASS PLATE halloween decoration signed 10 square dish RARE

  

ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of Hallows' Even or Hallows' Evening), [5] also known as Allhalloween, [6] All Hallows' Eve, [7] or All Saints' Eve, [8] is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, [9] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain; that such festivals may have had pagan roots; and that Samhain itself was Christianized as Halloween by the early Church. [12][13][14][15][16] Some believe, however, that Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, separate from ancient festivals like Samhain. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, as well as watching horror films. [21] In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular, [22][23][24] although elsewhere it is a more commercial and secular celebration.

[25][26][27] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes... The word appears as the title of Robert Burns' "Halloween" (1785), a poem traditionally recited by Scots. The word Halloween or Hallowe'en dates to about 1745[32] and is of Christian origin. [33] The word "Hallowe'en" means "Saints' evening". [34] It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day).

[35] In Scots, the word "eve" is even, and this is contracted to e'en or een. Over time, (All) Hallow(s) E(v)en evolved into Hallowe'en. Although the phrase "All Hallows'" is found in Old English "All Hallows' Eve" is itself not seen until 1556. Gaelic and other Celtic influence. An early 20th-century Irish Halloween mask displayed at the Museum of Country Life. [38] Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which comes from the Old Irish for'summer's end'.

Samhain (/swn, san/) was the first and most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and was celebrated on 31 October 1 November[40] in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. [41][42] A kindred festival was held at the same time of year by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany; a name meaning "first day of winter".

For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the festival began on the evening before 7 November by modern reckoning (the half point between equinox and solstice). [43] Samhain and Calan Gaeaf are mentioned in some of the earliest Irish and Welsh literature. Snap-Apple Night, painted by Daniel Maclise in 1833, shows people feasting and playing divination games on Halloween in Ireland. Samhain/Calan Gaeaf marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the'darker half' of the year. [45][46] Like Beltane/Calan Mai, it was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned.

[50][51] At Samhain, it was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for the Aos Sí. [52][53][54] The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. [55] Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them. [56] The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures throughout the world. [57] In 19th century Ireland, candles would be lit and prayers formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin. [60] Special bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers, and were also used for divination. [63] In Wales, bonfires were lit to "prevent the souls of the dead from falling to earth". [64] Later, these bonfires served to keep "away the devil". A traditional Irish Halloween turnip (rutabaga) lantern on display in the Museum of Country Life, Ireland. From at least the 16th century, [66] the festival included mumming and guising in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales. It may have originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the Aos Sí, or the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf, similar to the custom of souling (see below).

Impersonating these beings, or wearing a disguise, was also believed to protect oneself from them. [69] In parts of southern Ireland, the guisers included a hobby horse.

If the household donated food it could expect good fortune from the'Muck Olla'; not doing so would bring misfortune. [70] In Scotland, youths went house-to-house with masked, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed. Marian McNeill suggests the ancient festival included people in costume representing the spirits, and that faces were marked (or blackened) with ashes taken from the sacred bonfire.

[66] In parts of Wales, men went about dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod. [67] In the late 19th and early 20th century, young people in Glamorgan and Orkney cross-dressed. Elsewhere in Europe, mumming and hobby horses were part of other yearly festivals. However, in the Celtic-speaking regions they were "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".

[67] From at least the 18th century, "imitating malignant spirits" led to playing pranks in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands. Wearing costumes and playing pranks at Halloween spread to England in the 20th century.

[67] Traditionally, pranksters used hollowed out turnips or mangel wurzels often carved with grotesque faces as lanterns. [67] By those who made them, the lanterns were variously said to represent the spirits, [67] or were used to ward off evil spirits. [71][72] They were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century, [67] as well as in Somerset (see Punkie Night). In the 20th century they spread to other parts of England and became generally known as jack-o'-lanterns. [73] Halloween is the evening before the Christian holy days of All Hallows' Day (also known as All Saints' or Hallowmas) on 1 November and All Souls' Day on 2 November, thus giving the holiday on 31 October the full name of All Hallows' Eve (meaning the evening before All Hallows' Day).

The feast of All Hallows', on its current date in the Western Church, may be traced to Pope Gregory III's (731741) founding of an oratory in St Peter's for the relics "of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs and confessors". [79][80] In 835, All Hallows' Day was officially switched to 1 November, the same date as Samhain, at the behest of Pope Gregory IV. [81] Some suggest this was due to Celtic influence, while others suggest it was a Germanic idea, [81] although it is claimed that both Germanic and Celtic-speaking peoples commemorated the dead at the beginning of winter. By the end of the 12th century they had become holy days of obligation across Europe and involved such traditions as ringing church bells for the souls in purgatory. In addition, it was customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls. "[85] "Souling, the custom of baking and sharing soul cakes for all christened souls, [86] has been suggested as the origin of trick-or-treating. [87] The custom dates back at least as far as the 15th century[88] and was found in parts of England, Flanders, Germany and Austria. [88][89][90] Soul cakes would also be offered for the souls themselves to eat, [57] or the'soulers' would act as their representatives. [91] As with the Lenten tradition of hot cross buns, Allhallowtide soul cakes were often marked with a cross, indicating that they were baked as alms. [92] Shakespeare mentions souling in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593). [93] On the custom of wearing costumes, Christian minister Prince Sorie Conteh wrote: It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints' Day, and All Hallows' Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving to the next world. In order to avoid being recognized by any soul that might be seeking such vengeance, people would don masks or costumes to disguise their identities. It is claimed that in the Middle Ages, churches that were too poor to display the relics of martyred saints at Allhallowtide let parishioners dress up as saints instead. [95][96] Some Christians continue to observe this custom at Halloween today. [97] Lesley Bannatyne believes this could have been a Christianization of an earlier pagan custom. [98] While souling, Christians would carry with them "lanterns made of hollowed-out turnips". [99] It has been suggested that the carved jack-o'-lantern, a popular symbol of Halloween, originally represented the souls of the dead. [100] On Halloween, in medieval Europe, fires served a dual purpose, being lit to guide returning souls to the homes of their families, as well as to deflect demons from haunting sincere Christian folk. [101][102] Households in Austria, England and Ireland often had "candles burning in every room to guide the souls back to visit their earthly homes". These were known as "soul lights". [103][104][105] Many Christians in mainland Europe, especially in France, believed "that once a year, on Hallowe'en, the dead of the churchyards rose for one wild, hideous carnival" known as the danse macabre, which has often been depicted in church decoration. [106] Christopher Allmand and Rosamond McKitterick write in The New Cambridge Medieval History that Christians were moved by the sight of the Infant Jesus playing on his mother's knee; their hearts were touched by the Pietà; and patron saints reassured them by their presence.

But, all the while, the danse macabre urged them not to forget the end of all earthly things. "[107] This danse macabre was enacted at village pageants and at court masques, with people "dressing up as corpses from various strata of society, and may have been the origin of modern-day Halloween costume parties.

As such they are threatening. [74][111] Mark Donnelly, a professor of medieval archaeology, and historian Daniel Diehl, with regard to the evil spirits, on Halloween, write that barns and homes were blessed to protect people and livestock from the effect of witches, who were believed to accompany the malignant spirits as they traveled the earth. [112] In the 19th century, in some rural parts of England, families gathered on hills on the night of All Hallows' Eve. One held a bunch of burning straw on a pitchfork while the rest knelt around him in a circle, praying for the souls of relatives and friends until the flames went out. This was known as teen'lay. [114] The rising popularity of Guy Fawkes Night (5 November) from 1605 onward, saw many Halloween traditions appropriated by that holiday instead, and Halloween's popularity waned in Britain, with the noteworthy exception of Scotland. [115] There and in Ireland, they had been celebrating Samhain and Halloween since at least the early Middle Ages, and the Scottish kirk took a more pragmatic approach to Halloween, seeing it as important to the life cycle and rites of passage of communities and thus ensuring its survival in the country. In France, some Christian families, on the night of All Hallows' Eve, prayed beside the graves of their loved ones, setting down dishes full of milk for them. [103] On Halloween, in Italy, some families left a large meal out for ghosts of their passed relatives, before they departed for church services. [120] Almanacs of the late 18th and early 19th century give no indication that Halloween was widely celebrated in North America. [121] It was not until mass Irish and Scottish immigration in the 19th century that Halloween became a major holiday in North America. [121] Confined to the immigrant communities during the mid-19th century, it was gradually assimilated into mainstream society and by the first decade of the 20th century it was being celebrated coast to coast by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds. [122] In Cajun areas, a nocturnal Mass was said in cemeteries on Halloween night. Candles that had been blessed were placed on graves, and families sometimes spent the entire night at the graveside. [123] The yearly New York Halloween Parade, begun in 1974 by puppeteer and mask maker Ralph Lee of Greenwich Village, is the world's largest Halloween parade and America's only major nighttime parade, attracting more than 60,000 costumed participants, two million spectators, and a worldwide television audience of over 100 million. At Halloween, yards, public spaces, and some houses may be decorated with traditionally macabre symbols including witches, skeletons, ghosts, cobwebs, and headstones. Development of artifacts and symbols associated with Halloween formed over time. Jack-o'-lanterns are traditionally carried by guisers on All Hallows' Eve in order to frighten evil spirits. [100][125] There is a popular Irish Christian folktale associated with the jack-o'-lantern, [126] which in folklore is said to represent a "soul who has been denied entry into both heaven and hell":[127]. On route home after a night's drinking, Jack encounters the Devil and tricks him into climbing a tree. A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his soul.

After a life of sin, drink, and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal straight from the fires of hell at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been roaming looking for a place to rest. In Ireland and Scotland, the turnip has traditionally been carved during Halloween, [129][130] but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger making it easier to carve than a turnip. [129] The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837[131] and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.

Decorated house in Weatherly, Pennsylvania. [133][134] Imagery of the skull, a reference to Golgotha in the Christian tradition, serves as "a reminder of death and the transitory quality of human life" and is consequently found in memento mori and vanitas compositions;[135] skulls have therefore been commonplace in Halloween, which touches on this theme. [136] Traditionally, the back walls of churches are "decorated with a depiction of the Last Judgment, complete with graves opening and the dead rising, with a heaven filled with angels and a hell filled with devils", a motif that has permeated the observance of this triduum. [137] One of the earliest works on the subject of Halloween is from Scottish poet John Mayne, who, in 1780, made note of pranks at Halloween; What fearfu' pranks ensue! ", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, "Bogies" (ghosts), influencing Robert Burns' "Halloween (1785). [138] Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins, corn husks, and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween. Halloween imagery includes themes of death, evil, and mythical monsters. [139] Black, orange, and sometimes purple are Halloween's traditional colors. Trick-or-treating is a customary celebration for children on Halloween. " The word "trick" implies a "threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given. [87] The practice is said to have roots in the medieval practice of mumming, which is closely related to souling. [142][143] Mumming practiced in Germany, Scandinavia and other parts of Europe, [144] involved masked persons in fancy dress who "paraded the streets and entered houses to dance or play dice in silence". Girl in a Halloween costume in 1928, Ontario, Canada, the same province where the Scottish Halloween custom of guising is first recorded in North America. [89] In the Philippines, the practice of souling is called Pangangaluwa and is practiced on All Hallow's Eve among children in rural areas. [21] People drape themselves in white cloths to represent souls and then visit houses, where they sing in return for prayers and sweets. [130][148] The practice of guising at Halloween in North America is first recorded in 1911, where a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada reported children going "guising" around the neighborhood. American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book-length history of Halloween in the US; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America". While the first reference to "guising" in North America occurs in 1911, another reference to ritual begging on Halloween appears, place unknown, in 1915, with a third reference in Chicago in 1920. [154] Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first US appearances of the term in 1934, [155] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939. A popular variant of trick-or-treating, known as trunk-or-treating (or Halloween tailgating), occurs when "children are offered treats from the trunks of cars parked in a church parking lot", or sometimes, a school parking lot. [117][157] In a trunk-or-treat event, the trunk (boot) of each automobile is decorated with a certain theme, [158] such as those of children's literature, movies, scripture, and job roles. [159] Trunk-or-treating has grown in popularity due to its perception as being more safe than going door to door, a point that resonates well with parents, as well as the fact that it "solves the rural conundrum in which homes [are] built a half-mile apart". Halloween costumes are traditionally modeled after supernatural figures such as vampires, monsters, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils. [87] Over time, the costume selection extended to include popular characters from fiction, celebrities, and generic archetypes such as ninjas and princesses. Dressing up in costumes and going "guising" was prevalent in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the late 19th century. [130] A Scottish term, the tradition is called "guising" because of the disguises or costumes worn by the children. [148] In Ireland the masks are known as'false faces'. [162] Costuming became popular for Halloween parties in the US in the early 20th century, as often for adults as for children, and when trick-or-treating was becoming popular in Canada and the US in the 1920s and 1930s. Smith, in his book Halloween, Hallowed is Thy Name, offers a religious perspective to the wearing of costumes on All Hallows' Eve, suggesting that by dressing up as creatures "who at one time caused us to fear and tremble", people are able to poke fun at Satan "whose kingdom has been plundered by our Saviour". Images of skeletons and the dead are traditional decorations used as memento mori. "Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF" is a fundraising program to support UNICEF, [87] a United Nations Programme that provides humanitarian aid to children in developing countries. Started as a local event in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood in 1950 and expanded nationally in 1952, the program involves the distribution of small boxes by schools (or in modern times, corporate sponsors like Hallmark, at their licensed stores) to trick-or-treaters, in which they can solicit small-change donations from the houses they visit. In Canada, in 2006, UNICEF decided to discontinue their Halloween collection boxes, citing safety and administrative concerns; after consultation with schools, they instead redesigned the program. The most popular costumes for pets are the pumpkin, followed by the hot dog, and the bumble bee in third place. In this 1904 Halloween greeting card, divination is depicted: the young woman looking into a mirror in a darkened room hopes to catch a glimpse of her future husband.

There are several games traditionally associated with Halloween. Some of these games originated as divination rituals or ways of foretelling one's future, especially regarding death, marriage and children. During the Middle Ages, these rituals were done by a "rare few" in rural communities as they were considered to be "deadly serious" practices. [169] In recent centuries, these divination games have been "a common feature of the household festivities" in Ireland and Britain.

[59] They often involve apples and hazelnuts. In Celtic mythology, apples were strongly associated with the Otherworld and immortality, while hazelnuts were associated with divine wisdom. [170] Some also suggest that they derive from Roman practices in celebration of Pomona. Children bobbing for apples at Hallowe'en. The following activities were a common feature of Halloween in Ireland and Britain during the 17th20th centuries.

Some have become more widespread and continue to be popular today. One common game is apple bobbing or dunking (which may be called "dooking" in Scotland)[171] in which apples float in a tub or a large basin of water and the participants must use only their teeth to remove an apple from the basin. A variant of dunking involves kneeling on a chair, holding a fork between the teeth and trying to drive the fork into an apple. Another common game involves hanging up treacle or syrup-coated scones by strings; these must be eaten without using hands while they remain attached to the string, an activity that inevitably leads to a sticky face. Another once-popular game involves hanging a small wooden rod from the ceiling at head height, with a lit candle on one end and an apple hanging from the other.

Several of the traditional activities from Ireland and Britain involve foretelling one's future partner or spouse. An apple would be peeled in one long strip, then the peel tossed over the shoulder. The peel is believed to land in the shape of the first letter of the future spouse's name.

[173][174] Two hazelnuts would be roasted near a fire; one named for the person roasting them and the other for the person they desire. If the nuts jump away from the heat, it is a bad sign, but if the nuts roast quietly it foretells a good match. [175][176] A salty oatmeal bannock would be baked; the person would eat it in three bites and then go to bed in silence without anything to drink. This is said to result in a dream in which their future spouse offers them a drink to quench their thirst. [177] Unmarried women were told that if they sat in a darkened room and gazed into a mirror on Halloween night, the face of their future husband would appear in the mirror. [178] However, if they were destined to die before marriage, a skull would appear. The custom was widespread enough to be commemorated on greeting cards[179] from the late 19th century and early 20th century. In Ireland and Scotland, items would be hidden in food usually a cake, barmbrack, cranachan, champ or colcannon and portions of it served out at random. A person's future would be foretold by the item they happened to find; for example, a ring meant marriage and a coin meant wealth. Up until the 19th century, the Halloween bonfires were also used for divination in parts of Scotland, Wales and Brittany. When the fire died down, a ring of stones would be laid in the ashes, one for each person. In the morning, if any stone was mislaid it was said that the person it represented would not live out the year. Telling ghost stories and watching horror films are common fixtures of Halloween parties. Episodes of television series and Halloween-themed specials (with the specials usually aimed at children) are commonly aired on or before Halloween, while new horror films are often released before Halloween to take advantage of the holiday. Humorous tombstones in front of a house in California.

File:US Utah Ogden 25th Street Halloween 2019. Humorous display window in Historic 25th Street, Ogden, Utah. Main article: Haunted attraction (simulated). Haunted attractions are entertainment venues designed to thrill and scare patrons.

[182][183] The House still exists, in the Hollycombe Steam Collection. It was during the 1930s, about the same time as trick-or-treating, that Halloween-themed haunted houses first began to appear in America. It was in the late 1950s that haunted houses as a major attraction began to appear, focusing first on California. Sponsored by the Children's Health Home Junior Auxiliary, the San Mateo Haunted House opened in 1957. The San Bernardino Assistance League Haunted House opened in 1958. [186] Evangelical Christians adopted a form of these attractions by opening one of the first "hell houses" in 1972. The first Halloween haunted house run by a nonprofit organization was produced in 1970 by the Sycamore-Deer Park Jaycees in Clifton, Ohio. It was last produced in 1982. [188] Other Jaycees followed suit with their own versions after the success of the Ohio house. The March of Dimes copyrighted a "Mini haunted house for the March of Dimes" in 1976 and began fundraising through their local chapters by conducting haunted houses soon after.

Knott's Scary Farm experienced a surge in attendance in the 1990s as a result of America's obsession with Halloween as a cultural event. Theme parks have played a major role in globalizing the holiday.

On All Hallows' Eve, many Western Christian denominations encourage abstinence from meat, giving rise to a variety of vegetarian foods associated with this day. Because in the Northern Hemisphere Halloween comes in the wake of the yearly apple harvest, candy apples (known as toffee apples outside North America), caramel apples or taffy apples are common Halloween treats made by rolling whole apples in a sticky sugar syrup, sometimes followed by rolling them in nuts. At one time, candy apples were commonly given to trick-or-treating children, but the practice rapidly waned in the wake of widespread rumors that some individuals were embedding items like pins and razor blades in the apples in the United States. [199] While there is evidence of such incidents, [200] relative to the degree of reporting of such cases, actual cases involving malicious acts are extremely rare and have never resulted in serious injury.

Nonetheless, many parents assumed that such heinous practices were rampant because of the mass media. At the peak of the hysteria, some hospitals offered free X-rays of children's Halloween hauls in order to find evidence of tampering. Virtually all of the few known candy poisoning incidents involved parents who poisoned their own children's candy. [202] It is considered fortunate to be the lucky one who finds it.

[202] It has also been said that those who get a ring will find their true love in the ensuing year. This is similar to the tradition of king cake at the festival of Epiphany. A jack-o'-lantern Halloween cake with a witches hat. List of foods associated with Halloween. Candy apples/toffee apples (Great Britain and Ireland). Candy apples, candy corn, candy pumpkins (North America). Monkey nuts (peanuts in their shells) (Ireland and Scotland).

Novelty candy shaped like skulls, pumpkins, bats, worms, etc. The Vigil of All Hallows' is being celebrated at an Episcopal Christian church on Hallowe'en. On Hallowe'en (All Hallows' Eve), in Poland, believers were once taught to pray out loud as they walk through the forests in order that the souls of the dead might find comfort; in Spain, Christian priests in tiny villages toll their church bells in order to remind their congregants to remember the dead on All Hallows' Eve. [203] In Ireland, and among immigrants in Canada, a custom includes the Christian practice of abstinence, keeping All Hallows' Eve as a meat-free day, and serving pancakes or colcannon instead. [204] In Mexico children make an altar to invite the return of the spirits of dead children (angelitos).

The Christian Church traditionally observed Hallowe'en through a vigil. Worshippers prepared themselves for feasting on the following All Saints' Day with prayers and fasting. [206] This church service is known as the Vigil of All Hallows or the Vigil of All Saints;[207][208] an initiative known as Night of Light seeks to further spread the Vigil of All Hallows throughout Christendom. [209][210] After the service, "suitable festivities and entertainments" often follow, as well as a visit to the graveyard or cemetery, where flowers and candles are often placed in preparation for All Hallows' Day. [211][212] In Finland, because so many people visit the cemeteries on All Hallows' Eve to light votive candles there, they "are known as valomeri, or seas of light". Halloween Scripture Candy with gospel tract. Today, Christian attitudes towards Halloween are diverse. In the Anglican Church, some dioceses have chosen to emphasize the Christian traditions associated with All Hallow's Eve. [214][215] Some of these practices include praying, fasting and attending worship services. O LORD our God, increase, we pray thee, and multiply upon us the gifts of thy grace: that we, who do prevent the glorious festival of all thy Saints, may of thee be enabled joyfully to follow them in all virtuous and godly living. Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Collect of the Vigil of All Saints, The Anglican Breviary[216]. Votive candles in the Halloween section of Walmart. Other Protestant Christians also celebrate All Hallows' Eve as Reformation Day, a day to remember the Protestant Reformation, alongside All Hallow's Eve or independently from it. [217] This is because Martin Luther is said to have nailed his Ninety-five Theses to All Saints' Church in Wittenberg on All Hallows' Eve. [218] Often, "Harvest Festivals" or "Reformation Festivals" are held on All Hallows' Eve, in which children dress up as Bible characters or Reformers. [219] In addition to distributing candy to children who are trick-or-treating on Hallowe'en, many Christians also provide gospel tracts to them. One organization, the American Tract Society, stated that around 3 million gospel tracts are ordered from them alone for Hallowe'en celebrations. [220] Others order Halloween-themed Scripture Candy to pass out to children on this day. Belizean children dressed up as Biblical figures and Christian saints. If it is just a game, there is no harm in that. "[224] In more recent years, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston has organized a "Saint Fest on Halloween. [225] Similarly, many contemporary Protestant churches view Halloween as a fun event for children, holding events in their churches where children and their parents can dress up, play games, and get candy for free. To these Christians, Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children: being taught about death and mortality, and the ways of the Celtic ancestors actually being a valuable life lesson and a part of many of their parishioners' heritage. [226] Christian minister Sam Portaro wrote that Halloween is about using "humor and ridicule to confront the power of death". Many Jews observe Yizkor communally four times a year, which is vaguely similar to the observance of Allhallowtide in Christianity, in the sense that prayers are said for both "martyrs and for one's own family". [233] Nevertheless, many American Jews celebrate Halloween, disconnected from its Christian origins. [234] Reform Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser has said that "There is no religious reason why contemporary Jews should not celebrate Halloween" while Orthodox Rabbi Michael Broyde has argued against Jews' observing the holiday. [235] Jews do have the holiday of Purim, where the children dress up in costumes to celebrate.

Sheikh Idris Palmer, author of A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, has argued that Muslims should not participate in Halloween, stating that participation in Halloween is worse than participation in Christmas, Easter... It is more sinful than congratulating the Christians for their prostration to the crucifix. [237] Javed Memon, a Muslim writer, has disagreed, saying that his "daughter dressing up like a British telephone booth will not destroy her faith as a Muslim".

Hindus remember the dead during the festival of Pitru Paksha, during which Hindus pay homage to and perform a ceremony "to keep the souls of their ancestors at rest". It is celebrated in the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, usually in mid-September.

[240] Other Hindus, such as Soumya Dasgupta, have opposed the celebration on the grounds that Western holidays like Halloween have "begun to adversely affect our indigenous festivals". There is no consistent rule or view on Halloween amongst those who describe themselves as Neopagans or Wiccans. Some Neopagans do not observe Halloween, but instead observe Samhain on 1 November, [242] some neopagans do enjoy Halloween festivities, stating that one can observe both "the solemnity of Samhain in addition to the fun of Halloween". Some neopagans are opposed to the celebration of Hallowe'en, stating that it "trivializes Samhain", [243] and "avoid Halloween, because of the interruptions from trick or treaters".

[244] The Manitoban writes that Wiccans don't officially celebrate Halloween, despite the fact that 31 Oct. Will still have a star beside it in any good Wiccan's day planner. Starting at sundown, Wiccans celebrate a holiday known as Samhain.

Samhain actually comes from old Celtic traditions and is not exclusive to Neopagan religions like Wicca. While the traditions of this holiday originate in Celtic countries, modern day Wiccans don't try to historically replicate Samhain celebrations. Some traditional Samhain rituals are still practised, but at its core, the period is treated as a time to celebrate darkness and the dead a possible reason why Samhain can be confused with Halloween celebrations. Main article: Geography of Halloween. Halloween display in Kobe, Japan.

[253] In Mexico and Latin America in general, it is referred to as " Día de Muertos " which translates in English to "Day of the dead". Most of the people from Latin America construct altars in their homes to honor their deceased relatives and they decorate them with flowers and candies and other offerings. In folklore, a ghost (sometimes known as an apparition, haunt, phantom, poltergeist, shade, specter or spectre, spirit, spook, and wraith) is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to realistic, lifelike forms. The deliberate attempt to contact the spirit of a deceased person is known as necromancy, or in spiritism as a séance. The belief in the existence of an afterlife, as well as manifestations of the spirits of the dead, is widespread, dating back to animism or ancestor worship in pre-literate cultures.

Certain religious practicesfuneral rites, exorcisms, and some practices of spiritualism and ritual magicare specifically designed to rest the spirits of the dead. Ghosts are generally described as solitary, human-like essences, though stories of ghostly armies and the ghosts of animals rather than humans have also been recounted. [2][3] They are believed to haunt particular locations, objects, or people they were associated with in life.

[6][9] Historically, certain toxic and psychoactive plants (such as datura and hyoscyamus niger), whose use has long been associated with necromancy and the underworld, have been shown to contain anticholinergic compounds that are pharmacologically linked to dementia (specifically DLB) as well as histological patterns of neurodegeneration. [10][11] Recent research has indicated that ghost sightings may be related to degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. [12] Common prescription medication and over-the-counter drugs (such as sleep aids) may also, in rare instances, cause ghost-like hallucinations, particularly zolpidem and diphenhydramine. [13] Older reports linked carbon monoxide poisoning to ghost-like hallucinations. In folklore studies, ghosts fall within the motif index designation E200-E599 (Ghosts and other revenants)... Further information: Spirit, Soul, wikt:anima, Genius (mythology), and Geist. The English word ghost continues Old English gst, from Proto-Germanic gaistaz. It is common to West Germanic, but lacking in North Germanic and East Germanic the equivalent word in Gothic is ahma, Old Norse has andi m. The prior Proto-Indo-European form was éysd-os, from the root éysd- denoting "fury, anger" reflected in Old Norse geisa "to rage". The Germanic word is recorded as masculine only, but likely continues a neuter s-stem. The original meaning of the Germanic word would thus have been an animating principle of the mind, in particular capable of excitation and fury (compare óðr). In Germanic paganism, "Germanic Mercury", and the later Odin, was at the same time the conductor of the dead and the "lord of fury" leading the Wild Hunt. Besides denoting the human spirit or soul, both of the living and the deceased, the Old English word is used as a synonym of Latin spiritus also in the meaning of "breath" or "blast" from the earliest attestations (9th century). It could also denote any good or evil spirit, such as angels and demons; the Anglo-Saxon gospel refers to the demonic possession of Matthew 12:43 as se unclæna gast. Also from the Old English period, the word could denote the spirit of God, viz. The now-prevailing sense of "the soul of a deceased person, spoken of as appearing in a visible form" only emerges in Middle English (14th century). The modern noun does, however, retain a wider field of application, extending on one hand to "soul", "spirit", "vital principle", "mind", or "psyche", the seat of feeling, thought, and moral judgement; on the other hand used figuratively of any shadowy outline, or fuzzy or unsubstantial image; in optics, photography, and cinematography especially, a flare, secondary image, or spurious signal. The synonym spook is a Dutch loanword, akin to Low German spôk (of uncertain etymology); it entered the English language via American English in the 19th century. [16][17][18][19] Alternative words in modern usage include spectre altn. Specter; from Latin spectrum, the Scottish wraith (of obscure origin), phantom (via French ultimately from Greek phantasma, compare fantasy) and apparition. The term shade in classical mythology translates Greek , [20] or Latin umbra, [21] in reference to the notion of spirits in the Greek underworld. "Haint" is a synonym for ghost used in regional English of the southern United States, [22] and the "haint tale" is a common feature of southern oral and literary tradition. [25] An association with the verb writhe was the etymology favored by J. [26] Tolkien's use of the word in the naming of the creatures known as the Ringwraiths has influenced later usage in fantasy literature. Bogey[27] or bogy/bogie is a term for a ghost, and appears in Scottish poet John Mayne's Hallowe'en in 1780. A revenant is a deceased person returning from the dead to haunt the living, either as a disembodied ghost or alternatively as an animated ("undead") corpse. Also related is the concept of a fetch, the visible ghost or spirit of a person yet alive.

Relief from a carved funerary lekythos at Athens showing Hermes as psychopomp conducting the soul of the deceased, Myrrhine into Hades ca. Further information: Animism, Ancestor worship, Origin of religion, and Anthropology of religion. A notion of the transcendent, supernatural, or numinous, usually involving entities like ghosts, demons, or deities, is a cultural universal. [30] In pre-literate folk religions, these beliefs are often summarized under animism and ancestor worship.

Some people believe the ghost or spirit never leaves Earth until there is no-one left to remember the one who died. In many cultures, malignant, restless ghosts are distinguished from the more benign spirits involved in ancestor worship. Ancestor worship typically involves rites intended to prevent revenants, vengeful spirits of the dead, imagined as starving and envious of the living. Strategies for preventing revenants may either include sacrifice, i. Further information: Soul, Psyche (psychology), Underworld, Hungry ghost, and Psychopomp. Further information: Ghost Festival, All Souls' Day, Day of the Dead, and Ghost Dance. Although the human soul was sometimes symbolically or literally depicted in ancient cultures as a bird or other animal, it appears to have been widely held that the soul was an exact reproduction of the body in every feature, even down to clothing the person wore. This is depicted in artwork from various ancient cultures, including such works as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which shows deceased people in the afterlife appearing much as they did before death, including the style of dress. Main article: Fear of ghosts. [31] This belief may have also fostered the metaphorical meaning of "breath" in certain languages, such as the Latin spiritus and the Greek pneuma, which by analogy became extended to mean the soul. In the Bible, God is depicted as synthesising Adam, as a living soul, from the dust of the Earth and the breath of God. In many traditional accounts, ghosts were often thought to be deceased people looking for vengeance (vengeful ghosts), or imprisoned on earth for bad things they did during life. The appearance of a ghost has often been regarded as an omen or portent of death. Seeing one's own ghostly double or "fetch" is a related omen of death. Union Cemetery in Easton, Connecticut is home to the legend of the White Lady. White ladies were reported to appear in many rural areas, and supposed to have died tragically or suffered trauma in life. White Lady legends are found around the world. Legends of ghost ships have existed since the 18th century; most notable of these is the Flying Dutchman. This theme has been used in literature in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge. Ghosts are often depicted as being covered in a shroud and/or dragging chains.

A place where ghosts are reported is described as haunted, and often seen as being inhabited by spirits of deceased who may have been former residents or were familiar with the property. Supernatural activity inside homes is said to be mainly associated with violent or tragic events in the building's past such as murder, accidental death, or suicidesometimes in the recent or ancient past. However, not all hauntings are at a place of a violent death, or even on violent grounds.

Many cultures and religions believe the essence of a being, such as the'soul', continues to exist. Some religious views argue that the'spirits' of those who have died have not'passed over' and are trapped inside the property where their memories and energy are strong. Ancient Sumerian cylinder seal impression showing the god Dumuzid being tortured in the Underworld by galla demons. Ancient Near East and Egypt. Main article: Ghosts in Mesopotamian religions.

Main article: Ghosts in ancient Egyptian culture. There are many references to ghosts in Mesopotamian religions the religions of Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, and other early states in Mesopotamia.

Traces of these beliefs survive in the later Abrahamic religions that came to dominate the region. [40] Ghosts were thought to be created at time of death, taking on the memory and personality of the dead person. They traveled to the netherworld, where they were assigned a position, and led an existence similar in some ways to that of the living.

[42] In modern times, the fanciful concept of a mummy coming back to life and wreaking vengeance when disturbed has spawned a whole genre of horror stories and films. Further information: Shade (mythology) and Magic in the Greco-Roman world.

Apulian red-figure bell krater depicting the ghost of Clytemnestra waking the Erinyes, date unknown. Ghosts appeared in Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, in which they were described as vanishing "as a vapor, gibbering and whining into the earth". Homer's ghosts had little interaction with the world of the living. Periodically they were called upon to provide advice or prophecy, but they do not appear to be particularly feared. Ghosts in the classical world often appeared in the form of vapor or smoke, but at other times they were described as being substantial, appearing as they had been at the time of death, complete with the wounds that killed them. By the 5th century BC, classical Greek ghosts had become haunting, frightening creatures who could work to either good or evil purposes.

The spirit of the dead was believed to hover near the resting place of the corpse, and cemeteries were places the living avoided. The dead were to be ritually mourned through public ceremony, sacrifice, and libations, or else they might return to haunt their families. The ancient Greeks held annual feasts to honor and placate the spirits of the dead, to which the family ghosts were invited, and after which they were firmly invited to leave until the same time next year. The 5th-century BC play Oresteia includes an appearance of the ghost of Clytemnestra, one of the first ghosts to appear in a work of fiction. Roman Empire and Late Antiquity.

Athenodorus and the Ghost, by Henry Justice Ford, c. The ancient Romans believed a ghost could be used to exact revenge on an enemy by scratching a curse on a piece of lead or pottery and placing it into a grave. Plutarch, in the 1st century AD, described the haunting of the baths at Chaeronea by the ghost of a murdered man. The ghost's loud and frightful groans caused the people of the town to seal up the doors of the building.

[48] Another celebrated account of a haunted house from the ancient classical world is given by Pliny the Younger c. [49] Pliny describes the haunting of a house in Athens, which was bought by the Stoic philosopher Athenodorus, who lived about 100 years before Pliny.

Knowing that the house was supposedly haunted, Athenodorus intentionally set up his writing desk in the room where the apparition was said to appear and sat there writing until late at night when he was disturbed by a ghost bound in chains. He followed the ghost outside where it indicated a spot on the ground. When Athenodorus later excavated the area, a shackled skeleton was unearthed. The haunting ceased when the skeleton was given a proper reburial. [50] The writers Plautus and Lucian also wrote stories about haunted houses. In the New Testament, according to Luke 24:3739, [51] following his resurrection, Jesus was forced to persuade the Disciples that he was not a ghost (some versions of the Bible, such as the KJV and NKJV, use the term "spirit"). Similarly, Jesus' followers at first believed he was a ghost (spirit) when they saw him walking on water. One of the first persons to express disbelief in ghosts was Lucian of Samosata in the 2nd century AD. In the 5th century AD, the Christian priest Constantius of Lyon recorded an instance of the recurring theme of the improperly buried dead who come back to haunt the living, and who can only cease their haunting when their bones have been discovered and properly reburied. Ghosts reported in medieval Europe tended to fall into two categories: the souls of the dead, or demons. Demonic ghosts existed only to torment or tempt the living. The living could tell them apart by demanding their purpose in the name of Jesus Christ. The soul of a dead person would divulge its mission, while a demonic ghost would be banished at the sound of the Holy Name. Most ghosts were souls assigned to Purgatory, condemned for a specific period to atone for their transgressions in life. Their penance was generally related to their sin. For example, the ghost of a man who had been abusive to his servants was condemned to tear off and swallow bits of his own tongue; the ghost of another man, who had neglected to leave his cloak to the poor, was condemned to wear the cloak, now "heavy as a church tower". These ghosts appeared to the living to ask for prayers to end their suffering. Medieval European ghosts were more substantial than ghosts described in the Victorian age, and there are accounts of ghosts being wrestled with and physically restrained until a priest could arrive to hear its confession. Some were less solid, and could move through walls. Often they were described as paler and sadder versions of the person they had been while alive, and dressed in tattered gray rags. The vast majority of reported sightings were male. There were some reported cases of ghostly armies, fighting battles at night in the forest, or in the remains of an Iron Age hillfort, as at Wandlebury, near Cambridge, England.

This series of "visits" lasted all of the summer. Through his cousin, who spoke for him, the boy allegedly held conversations with anyone who wished, until the local priest requested to speak to the boy directly, leading to an extended disquisition on theology.

The boy narrated the trauma of death and the unhappiness of his fellow souls in Purgatory, and reported that God was most pleased with the ongoing Crusade against the Cathar heretics, launched three years earlier. The time of the Albigensian Crusade in southern France was marked by intense and prolonged warfare, this constant bloodshed and dislocation of populations being the context for these reported visits by the murdered boy. Haunted houses are featured in the 9th-century Arabian Nights (such as the tale of Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad). "Hamlet and his father's ghost" by Henry Fuseli (1796 drawing). The ghost is wearing stylized plate armor in 17th-century style, including a morion type helmet and tassets.

[60] The Swiss Reformed pastor Ludwig Lavater supplied one of the most frequently reprinted books of the period with his Of Ghosts and Spirits Walking By Night. The Child Ballad "Sweet William's Ghost" (1868) recounts the story of a ghost returning to his fiancée begging her to free him from his promise to marry her. He cannot marry her because he is dead but her refusal would mean his damnation. This reflects a popular British belief that the dead haunted their lovers if they took up with a new love without some formal release.

Spiritualism developed in the United States and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-language countries. [66][67] By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, [68] mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes, while the corresponding movement in continental Europe and Latin America is known as Spiritism. The religion flourished for a half century without canonical texts or formal organization, attaining cohesion by periodicals, tours by trance lecturers, camp meetings, and the missionary activities of accomplished mediums. [69] Many prominent Spiritualists were women.

Most followers supported causes such as the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage. [66] By the late 1880s, credibility of the informal movement weakened, due to accusations of fraud among mediums, and formal Spiritualist organizations began to appear. [66] Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational Spiritualist churches in the United States and United Kingdom. Spiritism, or French spiritualism, is based on the five books of the Spiritist Codification written by French educator Hypolite Léon Denizard Rivail under the pseudonym Allan Kardec reporting séances in which he observed a series of phenomena that he attributed to incorporeal intelligence (spirits). His assumption of spirit communication was validated by many contemporaries, among them many scientists and philosophers who attended séances and studied the phenomena. His work was later extended by writers like Leon Denis, Arthur Conan Doyle, Camille Flammarion, Ernesto Bozzano, Chico Xavier, Divaldo Pereira Franco, Waldo Vieira, Johannes Greber, [70] and others. Spiritism has adherents in many countries throughout the world, including Spain, United States, Canada, [71] Japan, Germany, France, England, Argentina, Portugal, and especially Brazil, which has the largest proportion and greatest number of followers. The physician John Ferriar wrote "An Essay Towards a Theory of Apparitions" in 1813 in which he argued that sightings of ghosts were the result of optical illusions. Later the French physician Alexandre Jacques François Brière de Boismont published On Hallucinations: Or, the Rational History of Apparitions, Dreams, Ecstasy, Magnetism, and Somnambulism in 1845 in which he claimed sightings of ghosts were the result of hallucinations. A 1901 depiction of ball lightning. David Turner, a retired physical chemist, suggested that ball lightning could cause inanimate objects to move erratically. Joe Nickell of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry wrote that there was no credible scientific evidence that any location was inhabited by spirits of the dead. [76] Limitations of human perception and ordinary physical explanations can account for ghost sightings; for example, air pressure changes in a home causing doors to slam, humidity changes causing boards to creak, condensation in electrical connections causing intermittent behavior, or lights from a passing car reflected through a window at night. Pareidolia, an innate tendency to recognize patterns in random perceptions, is what some skeptics believe causes people to believe that they have'seen ghosts'.

[77] Reports of ghosts "seen out of the corner of the eye" may be accounted for by the sensitivity of human peripheral vision. According to Nickell, peripheral vision can easily mislead, especially late at night when the brain is tired and more likely to misinterpret sights and sounds. [78] Nickell further states, science cannot substantiate the existence of a'life energy' that could survive death without dissipating or function at all without a brain... " He asks, if ghosts glide, then why do people claim to hear them with "heavy footfalls? Nickell says that ghosts act the same way as dreams, memories, and imaginings, because they too are mental creations.

They are evidence - not of another world, but of this real and natural one. Benjamin Radford from the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and author of the 2017 book Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits writes that "ghost hunting is the world's most popular paranormal pursuit" yet, to date ghost hunters can't agree on what a ghost is, or offer proof that they exist "it's all speculation and guesswork". He writes that it would be useful and important to distinguish between types of spirits and apparitions.

Until then it's merely a parlor game distracting amateur ghost hunters from the task at hand. According to research in anomalistic psychology visions of ghosts may arise from hypnagogic hallucinations ("waking dreams" experienced in the transitional states to and from sleep). [81] In a study of two experiments into alleged hauntings Wiseman et al. 2003 came to the conclusion that people consistently report unusual experiences in'haunted' areas because of environmental factors, which may differ across locations. Richard Lord and Richard Wiseman have concluded that infrasound can cause humans to experience bizarre feelings in a room, such as anxiety, extreme sorrow, a feeling of being watched, or even the chills. [84] Carbon monoxide poisoning, which can cause changes in perception of the visual and auditory systems, [85] was speculated upon as a possible explanation for haunted houses as early as 1921. People who experience sleep paralysis often report seeing ghosts during their experiences.

Neuroscientists Baland Jalal and V. Ramachandran have recently proposed neurological theories for why people hallucinate ghosts during sleep paralysis. Their theories emphasize the role of the parietal lobe and mirror neurons in triggering such ghostly hallucinations.

In the New Testament, Jesus has to persuade the Disciples that he is not a ghost following the resurrection, Luke 24:3739 (some versions of the Bible, such as the KJV and NKJV, use the term "spirit"). Similarly, Jesus' followers at first believe he is a ghost (spirit) when they see him walking on water. Consider ghosts as beings who while tied to earth, no longer live on the material plane and linger in an intermediate state before continuing their journey to heaven. [91][92][93][94] On occasion, God would allow the souls in this state to return to earth to warn the living of the need for repentance. [95] Christians are taught that it is sinful to attempt to conjure or control spirits in accordance with Deuteronomy XVIII: 912. Some ghosts are actually said to be demons in disguise, who the Church teaches, in accordance with I Timothy 4:1, that they come to deceive people and draw them away from God and into bondage. Jewish mythology and folkloric traditions describe dybbuks, malicious possessing spirits believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. However, the term does not appear in the Kabbalah or talmudic literature, where it is rather called an "evil spirit" or ru'a tezazit ("unclean spirit" in the New Testament).

It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished its goal, sometimes after being helped. According to Islam, the souls of the deceased dwell in barzakh and while it is only a barrier in Quran, in Islamic tradition the world, especially cemeteries, are perforated with several gateways to the otherworld. [104] In rare occasions, the dead can appear to the living. [105] Pure souls, such as the souls of saints, are commonly addressed as r, while impure souls seeking for revenge, are often addressed as afarit. [106] An inappropriate burial can also cause a soul to stay in this world, whereupon roaming the earth as a ghost.

Since the just souls remain close to their tomb, some people try to communicate with them in order to gain hidden knowledge. Contact with the dead is not the same as contact with jinn, who alike could provide knowledge concealed from living human. [109] Buddhist celebrate the Ghost Festival[110] as an expression of compassion, one of Buddhist virtues. If the hungry ghosts are fed by non-relatives, they would not bother the community. For the Igbo people, a man is simultaneously a physical and spiritual entity. However, it is his spirited dimension that is eternal. [111] In the Akan conception, we witness five parts of the human personality. In fact, in many stories they are first mistaken for the living. They may be mute, appear and disappear suddenly, or leave no footprints or other traces. English folklore is particularly notable for its numerous haunted locations. Belief in the soul and an afterlife remained near universal until the emergence of atheism in the 18th century.

[citation needed] In the 19th century, spiritism resurrected "belief in ghosts" as the object of systematic inquiry, and popular opinion in Western culture remains divided. Main articles: Bhoot (ghost) and Ghosts in Bengali culture. A bhoot or bhut (Hindi: , Gujarati: , Urdu: , Bengali: , Odia:) is a supernatural creature, usually the ghost of a deceased person, in the popular culture, literature and some ancient texts of the Indian subcontinent. Interpretations of how bhoots come into existence vary by region and community, but they are usually considered to be perturbed and restless due to some factor that prevents them from moving on (to transmigration, non-being, nirvana, or heaven or hell, depending on tradition). This could be a violent death, unsettled matters in their lives, or simply the failure of their survivors to perform proper funerals.

In Central and Northern India, ojha or spirit guides play a central role. [citation needed] It duly happens when in the night someone sleeps and decorates something on the wall, and they say that if one sees the spirit the next thing in the morning he will become a spirit too, and that to a headless spirit and the soul of the body will remain the dark with the dark lord from the spirits who reside in the body of every human in Central and Northern India. It is also believed that if someone calls one from behind, never turn back and see because the spirit may catch the human to make it a spirit. Other types of spirits in Hindu mythology include Baital, an evil spirit who haunts cemeteries and takes demonic possession of corpses, and Pishacha, a type of flesh-eating demon. There are many kinds of ghosts and similar supernatural entities that frequently come up in Bengali culture, its folklores and form an important part in Bengali peoples' socio-cultural beliefs and superstitions.

It is believed that the spirits of those who cannot find peace in the afterlife or die unnatural deaths remain on Earth. The word Pret (from Sanskrit) is also used in Bengali to mean ghost. In Bengal, ghosts are believed to be the spirit after death of an unsatisfied human being or a soul of a person who dies in unnatural or abnormal circumstances (like murder, suicide or accident). Even it is believed that other animals and creatures can also be turned into ghost after their death.

Main article: Ghosts in Thai culture. Krasue, a Thai female ghost known as Ap in Khmer. Ghosts in Thailand are part of local folklore and have now become part of the popular culture of the country. Phraya Anuman Rajadhon was the first Thai scholar who seriously studied Thai folk beliefs and took notes on the nocturnal village spirits of Thailand. He established that, since such spirits were not represented in paintings or drawings, they were purely based on descriptions of popular orally transmitted traditional stories.

Main article: Ghosts in Tibetan culture. There is widespread belief in ghosts in Tibetan culture. Ghosts are explicitly recognized in the Tibetan Buddhist religion as they were in Indian Buddhism, [122] occupying a distinct but overlapping world to the human one, and feature in many traditional legends. When a human dies, after a period of uncertainty they may enter the ghost world. A hungry ghost (Tibetan: yidag, yi-dvags; Sanskrit:) has a tiny throat and huge stomach, and so can never be satisfied.

Ghosts may be killed with a ritual dagger or caught in a spirit trap and burnt, thus releasing them to be reborn. Ghosts may also be exorcised, and an annual festival is held throughout Tibet for this purpose. Some say that Dorje Shugden, the ghost of a powerful 17th-century monk, is a deity, but the Dalai Lama asserts that he is an evil spirit, which has caused a split in the Tibetan exile community. Main articles: Malay ghost myths, Ghosts in Filipino culture, and Ghosts in Polynesian culture.

Spirit of the Dead Watching by Paul Gauguin (1892). There are many Malay ghost myths, remnants of old animist beliefs that have been shaped by later Hindu, Buddhist, and Muslim influences in the modern states of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Some ghost concepts such as the female vampires Pontianak and Penanggalan are shared throughout the region. Ghosts are a popular theme in modern Malaysian and Indonesian films. There are also many references to ghosts in Filipino culture, ranging from ancient legendary creatures such as the Manananggal and Tiyanak to more modern urban legends and horror films. Many Chinese ghost beliefs have been accepted by neighboring cultures, notably Japan and southeast Asia. Ghost beliefs are closely associated with traditional Chinese religion based on ancestor worship, many of which were incorporated in Taoism. Later beliefs were influenced by Buddhism, and in turn influenced and created uniquely Chinese Buddhist beliefs. Many Chinese today believe it possible to contact the spirits of their ancestors through a medium, and that ancestors can help descendants if properly respected and rewarded. The annual ghost festival is celebrated by Chinese around the world. On this day, ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. Ghosts are described in classical Chinese texts as well as modern literature and films. A article in the China Post stated that nearly eighty-seven percent of Chinese office workers believe in ghosts, and some fifty-two percent of workers will wear hand art, necklaces, crosses, or even place a crystal ball on their desks to keep ghosts at bay, according to the poll. Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Ghosts, c. Main articles: Yrei, Onry, and Japanese ghost story. Yrei are figures in Japanese folklore, analogous to Western legends of ghosts. The name consists of two kanji, (y), meaning "faint" or "dim", and (rei), meaning "soul" or "spirit". Alternative names include (Brei) meaning ruined or departed spirit, (Shiry) meaning dead spirit, or the more encompassing (Ykai) or (Obake). Like their Chinese and Western counterparts, they are thought to be spirits kept from a peaceful afterlife. Catrinas, one of the most popular figures of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico. Main article: Ghosts in Mexican culture. There is extensive and varied belief in ghosts in Mexican culture. The modern state of Mexico before the Spanish conquest was inhabited by diverse peoples such as the Maya and Aztec, and their beliefs have survived and evolved, combined with the beliefs of the Spanish colonists. The Day of the Dead incorporates pre-Columbian beliefs with Christian elements. Mexican literature and films include many stories of ghosts interacting with the living. Further information: Ghosts of the American Civil War, Shadow people, and Ghost hunting. According to the Gallup Poll News Service, belief in haunted houses, ghosts, communication with the dead, and witches had an especially steep increase over the 1990s. [125] A 2005 Gallup poll found that about 32 percent of Americans believe in ghosts. Main articles: Ghost story and List of ghost films.

The Phantom on the Terrace from Shakespeare's Hamlet (engraving by Eugène Delacroix, 1843). John Dee and Edward Kelley invoking the spirit of a deceased person (engraving from the Astrology by Ebenezer Sibly, 1806). Ghosts are prominent in story-telling of various nations.

The ghost story is ubiquitous across all cultures from oral folktales to works of literature. While ghost stories are often explicitly meant to be scary, they have been written to serve all sorts of purposes, from comedy to morality tales. Ghosts often appear in the narrative as sentinels or prophets of things to come. Belief in ghosts is found in all cultures around the world, and thus ghost stories may be passed down orally or in written form. Spirits of the dead appear in literature as early as Homer's Odyssey, which features a journey to the underworld and the hero encountering the ghosts of the dead, [127] and the Old Testament, in which the Witch of Endor summons the spirit of the prophet Samuel. Renaissance to Romanticism (1500 to 1840). One of the more recognizable ghosts in English literature is the shade of Hamlet's murdered father in Shakespeare's The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In Hamlet, it is the ghost who demands that Prince Hamlet investigate his "murder most foul" and seek revenge upon his usurping uncle, King Claudius. In English Renaissance theater, ghosts were often depicted in the garb of the living and even in armor, as with the ghost of Hamlet's father. Armor, being out-of-date by the time of the Renaissance, gave the stage ghost a sense of antiquity. The ghost of a pirate, from Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates (1903). The "classic" ghost story arose during the Victorian period, and included authors such as M. James, Sheridan Le Fanu, Violet Hunt, and Henry James. Modern era (1920 to 1970). Brown Lady of Raynham Hall, a claimed ghost photograph by Captain Hubert C. The writer Frank Edwards delved into ghost stories in his books of his, like Stranger than Science. Children's benevolent ghost stories became popular, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, created in the 1930s and appearing in comics, animated cartoons, and eventually a 1995 feature film. With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common, and spanned a variety of genres; the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions.

Novel-length tales have been difficult to adapt to cinema, although that of The Haunting of Hill House to The Haunting in 1963 is an exception. Sentimental depictions during this period were more popular in cinema than horror, and include the 1947 film The Ghost and Mrs.

It is also represented in children's television by such programs as The Ghost Hunter and Ghost Trackers. Ghost hunting also gave rise to multiple guidebooks to haunted locations, and ghost hunting "how-to" manuals. The 1990s saw a return to classic "gothic" ghosts, whose dangers were more psychological than physical. Examples of films from this period include 1999's The Sixth Sense and The Others. Asian cinema has also produced horror films about ghosts, such as the 1998 Japanese film Ringu (remade in the US as The Ring in 2002), and the Pang brothers' 2002 film The Eye.

[134] Indian ghost movies are popular not just in India, but in the Middle East, Africa, South East Asia, and other parts of the world. Some Indian ghost movies such as the comedy / horror film Chandramukhi have been commercial successes, dubbed into several languages. In fictional television programming, ghosts have been explored in series such as Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer, and Medium. In animated fictional television programming, ghosts have served as the central element in series such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Danny Phantom, and Scooby-Doo. Various other television shows have depicted ghosts as well. Nietzsche argued that people generally wear prudent masks in company, but that an alternative strategy for social interaction is to present oneself as an absence, as a social ghost "One reaches out for us but gets no hold of us"[136] a sentiment later echoed (if in a less positive way) by Carl Jung. Nick Harkaway has considered that all people carry a host of ghosts in their heads in the form of impressions of past acquaintances ghosts who represent mental maps of other people in the world and serve as philosophical reference points. Object relations theory sees human personalities as formed by splitting off aspects of the person that he or she deems incompatible, whereupon the person may be haunted in later life by such ghosts of his or her alternate selves. The sense of ghosts as invisible, mysterious entities is invoked in several terms that use the word metaphorically, such as ghostwriter (a writer who pens texts credited to another person without revealing the ghostwriter's role as an author); ghost singer (a vocalist who records songs whose vocals are credited to another person); and "ghosting" a date (when a person breaks off contact with a former romantic partner and disappears). A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed, or a common domestic cat of no particular breed.

The Cat Fanciers' Association (CFA) recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with solid black coats. [1] The Bombay breed is exclusively black. All-black fur pigmentation is slightly more prevalent in male cats than female cats. Their high melanin pigment content causes most black cats to have yellow (golden) eyes (irises)...

Any cat whose fur is a single color, including black, is known as a "solid" or "self". A "solid black" cat may be coal black, grayish black, or brownish black. Most solid-colored cats result from a recessive gene that suppresses the tabby pattern. Sometimes the tabby pattern is not completely suppressed; faint markings may appear in certain lights, even on a solid black cat. A cat having black fur with white roots is known as a black smoke. Black cats can also "rust" in sunlight, the coat turning a lighter brownish-red shade. Black: dense coal black, sound from roots to tip of fur. Free from any tinge of rust on the tips. Paw pads: black or brown. Oriental Ebony: dense coal black.

Free from any tinge of rust on tips or smoke undercoat. One level tone from nose to tip of tail. Ragamuffin Although black is not specifically mentioned, the standard allows for "any color, with or without white, " so technically speaking, an all-black Ragamuffin would be allowed under the breed standard. As a positive omen in Britain and Ireland[edit].

Scottish lore holds that a black cat's arrival at a new home signifies prosperity, while Welsh lore states that a black cat brings good health. However, both the Gaels and Celtic Britons had traditions of feral and sometimes malevolent black cats. In Scottish mythology, a fairy known as the Cat sìth takes the form of a black cat, while in Welsh mythology the monstrous Cath Palug grew from a black kitten. Cath ddu, mi glywais ddwedyd. A chadwr teulu lle maen byw. O afael pob rhyw glefyd. A black cat, Ive heard it said. Can charm all ill away. And keep the house wherein she dwells. A Welsh folklore rhyme, Celtic cultures have a history of positive association for black cats. Black cats were also considered good luck in parts of England. However in common with other Germanic cultures, some areas would associate them with witches and bad luck. This mix of positive and negative associations may have given rise to the later belief that black cats were omens of both good and bad luck. One tradition states that if a black cat walks towards someone, it is said to bring good fortune, but if it walks away, it takes the good luck with it. [8] This tradition was reversed at sea where 18th century Pirates came to believe that a black cat would bring bad luck if it walks towards someone, and good luck if it walks away from someone.

These superstitions led people to kill black cats. There is no evidence from England of regular large-scale massacres of "Satanic" cats, or of burning them in midsummer bonfires, as sometimes occurred elsewhere in Europe. In the folklore of Chiloé of southern Chile, black cats are an important element that is needed when hunting for the treasure of the carbunclo.

Black cats have been found to have lower odds of adoption in American shelters compared to other colors except brown, although black animals in general take more time to find homes. The reasons given include not only superstition, but also the perception of black as "boring" compared to other colors, as well as the belief that black cats do not photograph well. [16][17] Some shelters also suspend or limit adoptions of black cats around Halloween[18] for fear they will be tortured, or used as "living decorations" for the holiday and then abandoned. [19][20][21] Despite this, no one has ever documented in the history of humane work any relationship between adopting black cats and cats being killed or injured. When such killings are reported, forensic evidence has pointed to natural predators, such as coyotes, eagles, or raptors as the likely cause. [20] Limiting or suspending adoptions around Halloween also places more cats of all colors at risk of dying in shelters due to overcrowding. August 17 is Black Cat Appreciation Day. Morris created the day in honor of his late sister, June, who had a black cat, Sinbad. The day was chosen in memorial of June's passing. In the early days of television in the United States, many stations located on VHF channel 13 used a black cat as a mascot in order to make sport of being located on an "unlucky" channel number. See also: Black cat (anarchist symbolism).

More specifically, the black catoften called the "sab cat" or "sabo-tabby"[25]is associated with anarcho-syndicalism, a branch of anarchism that focuses on labor organizing (see Wildcat strike). In testimony before the court in a 1918 trial of Industrial Workers of the World leaders, Ralph Chaplin, who is generally credited with creating the IWW's black cat symbol, stated that the black cat was commonly used by the boys as representing the idea of sabotage. The idea being to frighten the employer by the mention of the name sabotage, or by putting a black cat somewhere around.

You know if you saw a black cat go across your path you would think, if you were superstitious, you are going to have a little bad luck. The idea of sabotage is to use a little black cat on the boss. The other patch made for STS-41-C which would have been STS-13, and it landed on Friday the 13th.

When the Space Shuttle program naming system for missions was reworked to avoid an STS-13, some sourced this to superstition and Apollo 13. [28] The crew for what would have been STS-13 (what turned out to be STS-41C) made a humorous mission patch that included a black cat and a number 13. [28] The mission was successful and even landed on Friday the 13th. [28] The other main reason for the new numbering system was to better accommodate a much higher number of launches. Gladstone, Chief Mouser to HM Treasury. The UK Government has adopted several cats from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home as mousers. Gladstone is known as Chief Mouser of HM Treasury. [29] India, also known as Willie, was a cat owned by George W. Bush and Laura Bush who lived with them at the White House. Trim sailed with Matthew Flinders as he mapped the coastline of Australia between 1801 and 1803.

Trim now accompanies him on several statues in Australia and England. 1769 was a cat belonging to Samuel Johnson. Most of what is known about Hodge comes from James Boswell's biography and a statue of Hodge stands outside Dr Johnson's House. Oscar the "bionic" cat had his back legs cut off by a combine harvester whilst sleeping in a field in Jersey.

He was flown to the UK and received prosthetic limbs in an innovative operation in 2010. Adoption and Black Cat Day[edit]. The Bombay cat breed is typically black in color. October 27 has been designated'Black Cat Day' by Cats Protection in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, [34] to celebrate the virtues of black cats and to encourage people to adopt an unwanted black cat. Cats Protection's own figures suggest that black cats are more difficult for them to find a new home for than other colors. [34] In 2014, the RSPCA reported that 70% of the abandoned cats in its care were black, suggesting a possible reason was that people considered black cats "un-photogenic"[35], although a more likely and obvious explanation is that black cats look more plain and less eyecatching than cats with patterns or bright colors, and thus might be perceived as more "boring" and less "cute". In the United States, "Black Cat Appreciation Day" is August 17. [36] Research by the ASPCA shows that black cats are the least likely to be adopted from shelters of any type of cat. [36] This can be partly because of the superstition behind black cats such as their association with witchcraft or bad luck, or because they appear dull next to more colorful cats. [37] This trend had now spread across the United States, with many shelters offering free adoption of black cats on Black Friday. With the success of the 2018 African-themed superhero film, Black Panther, there was a fad of adopting black domestic cats as pets and naming them after various characters of the film, such as T'Challa and Shuri. [38] It has been observed that usually people were not going out of their way to follow this fad, but visited animal shelters to simply adopt a pet under normal circumstances and were inspired by the Black Panther to adopt a black cat when they see one.

Common symptoms of hauntings, like cold spots and creaking or knocking sounds, can be found in most homes regardless of suspected paranormal presences. People are more likely to experience a haunting when they are about to fall asleep, when waking, if they are intoxicated or sleep deprived.

Carbon monoxide poisoning has been cited as a cause of suspected hauntings. If there is an expectation of a preternatural encounter, it is more likely that one will be perceived or reported... According to Owen Davies, a paranormal historian, hauntings in the British Isles were usually attributed to fairies, but today hauntings are usually associated with ghostly or supernatural encounters. [2]In other cultures around the world, various spirits are said to haunt vacant homes and locations. In Middle Eastern countries, for example, jinn are said to haunt such areas. [3] Historically, since most people died in their homes, whether they were mansions or hovels, these homes became natural places for ghosts to haunt, with bedrooms being the most common rooms to be haunted. Many houses gained a reputation for being haunted after they were empty or derelict. If people were to fail to occupy a human space, then external forces would move in. Cultural attitudes on haunted houses[edit]. Haunting is one of the most common paranormal beliefs around the world, according to Benjamin Radford, in his book, Investigating Ghosts: The Scientific Search for Spirits. He says that almost every town and city has at least one haunted place. [6] He states that, despite over 100 years of investigation, there has not been a... Single verifiable fact about ghosts having been established. In a 2005 Gallup poll, 37 percent of Americans, 28 percent of Canadians, and 40 percent of Britons expressed the belief that houses could be "haunted".

[8][9] In a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, about 29% of Americans believed they had been in touch with someone who has died. [10] According to results from a Research Co. Poll released in 2020, 40% of Canadian women and 25% of Canadian men stated they believe in haunted houses.

In Japan, there is a tradition, linked to Buddhism, of creating obakeyashiki (ghost houses) in August, when it is believed that ancestral spirits may visit. People will go to ghost houses to listen to frightening stories or seek elaborate decorations and costumes to experience shivers as a way to feel cooler in the hot summer temperatures. The Shanghai Disneyland Park planners decided against building The Haunted Mansion because of the local cultural beliefs about ghosts and hauntings. Building the house would have been considered a mockery of their fear. In Wuhan, China, the police have built a haunted house to train their police force by testing their nerves. They filled a dilapidated house with faked severed limbs, bones, skulls and a frightening atmosphere that includes lightning and rain. The house is also open to the public. According to Owen Davies' book, The Haunted, a Social History of Ghosts, Even the most devout believers in ghosts over the centuries recognized that many hauntings were frauds. "[15] In an interview with USA today, Davies states, "For skeptics in the past and present, the house was obviously the center of hauntings because it was where people slept and dreamed of the dead, or where people lay drunk, drugged or hallucinating in their sickbeds. [5] Such basic poltergeist phenomena as rapping or knocking were very easy to orchestrate with the help of accomplices or a variety of ploys. According to science writer Terence Hines, cold spots, creaking sounds, and odd noises are typically present in any home, especially older ones, and such noises can easily be mistaken for the sound of footsteps by those inclined to imagine the presence of a deceased tenant in their home. A sensed-presence effect, the feeling that there is someone else present in a room, is known to happen when people experience monotony, darkness, cold, hunger, fatigue, fear, and sleep deprivation. Skeptical investigator Joe Nickell writes that in most cases he investigated, he found plausible explanations for haunting phenomena, such as physical illusions, waking dreams, and the effects of memory.

According to Nickell, the power of suggestion along with confirmation bias plays a large role in perceived hauntings. He states that as a house, inn, or other place becomes thought of as haunted, more and more ghostly encounters are reported and that when people expect paranormal events, they tend to notice conditions that would confirm their expectations. [18] Many places deemed to be haunted are purposefully left in a decrepit condition, with wall paper peeling off, old carpeting, and antique decor. Toxicologist Albert Donnay believes that chronic exposure to substances such as carbon monoxide, pesticide, and formaldehyde can lead to hallucinations of the type associated with haunted houses. Donnay speculates on the connection between the prevalence of gas lamps, during the Victorian era and start of the 20th century, as well as stories of ghost sightings and hauntings, describing it as the "Haunted House Syndrome".

[20] Donnay says that carbon monoxide poisoning has been linked to haunted houses since at least the 1920s. He cites a 1921 journal article about a family who claimed hauntings because they suffered headaches, auditory hallucinations, fatigue, melancholy, and other symptoms which are also associated with carbon monoxide poisoning. [21] In a modern example, Carrie Poppy, a writer and co-host of the podcast Oh No, Ross and Carrie! Was convinced she was living in a haunted house. She felt she was being watched by a demon, experienced pressure on her chest and auditory hallucinations. Someone on a forum of skeptical paranormal investigators suggested she look into carbon monoxide poisoning. When the gas company arrived, unsafe levels of carbon monoxide were found. Michael Persinger, an American-Canadian professor of psychology, suggested that perceived apparitions, cold spots, and ghostly touches are perceptual anomalies caused by variations in naturally occurring or man-made magnetic fields. [24] However, a study by psychologist Chris French that attempted to replicate Persinger's findings found no link.

Investigations of supposed hauntings often result in simple explanations. For example, in an apparent haunted house in Somerset, England, in the eighteenth century, a boy would make the house shake by jumping on a beam in an adjoining property that ran through both houses. In 1857, a twelve-year-old girl confessed to tying her long hair around objects to give them the ghostly appearance of moving on their own.

[27] Tina Resch, a girl from Columbus Ohio who claimed that ghostly and paranormal activity occurred in her home, was photographed throwing a telephone while acting surprised at the sudden poltergeist activity. Ben Radford, of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, performed an investigation in 2003 on an allegedly haunted house in Buffalo, New York. The owner of the home, called Tom in the article (real names not used), alleged that he felt tapping on his foot at night. As described by Tom, I get a tapping on my feet, not a repetitive tap, a trying-to-wake-you-up tap After the tapping, if I dont pay attention to it, then I feel a kick.

Radford suggests the tapping was likely a case of hypnagogic hallucination (a sensory illusion that occurs in the transition to sleep), a fairly common phenomenon that can easily lead to misperceptions. His wife, called Monica (real names not used), also claimed to feel tapping similar to Tom. According to Radford, that can be explained by suggestion and what psychologists term Folie à deux, when one person (often a spouse) takes on the symptoms of another. Tom also describes that it will kick the bedit will hit the side of the bed. I feel my whole body move. [29] Tom and Monica also heard ghostly music and voices, noises that they recorded from the top of the stairs, causing them to leave their home in fright. Radford conducted an experiment where he set the recording device in the same spot, turned it on, then walked outside with Tom, talking constantly. Their conversations could be clearly heard, though muffled. The couple then agreed that what they were hearing in their house previously were outside noises and not noises from the paranormal. Another test done by Ben Radford in 2009 was to investigate the claim that batteries are drained by ghosts in haunted locations.

It is now a historic house museum and landmark that is decorated as a haunted house at Halloween. Corvin Castle, in Romania, is considered to be one of the top five haunted places around the world. According to locals, the castle has been haunted by its former occupant, Vlad the Impaler, ever since he was killed in an ambush.

Wukang Mansion, a historical house in Shanghai, has a reputation for being haunted because of the number of suicides of celebrities, intellectuals, and those persecuted as enemies of the state. Halloween themed haunted houses[edit]. Halloween themed haunted houses began appearing around the same time as "trick or treat", during the Great Depression, as a way to distract young people whose Halloween pranks had escalated to vandalism and harassment of passersby. These first haunted houses were primitive, being put together by groups of families in their basements. People would travel from home to home to experience a variety of frightening situations, such as hearing weird moans and howls, cardboard cutouts of black cats, damp sponges and hair nets hanging from the ceiling to touch people's faces, hanging fur on the walls of darkened hallways, and having to crawl through long dark tunnels.

In 1972 Jerry Falwell and Liberty University introduced one of the first "hell houses" as an anti-Halloween attraction. [38] Some Christian churches run these, which while being haunted houses, also promote their interpretation of the Christian gospel message. According to USA Today, in hell houses, participants walk through several'scenes' depicting the consequences of things like abortion, homosexuality and drunkenness. Fuji-Q - Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear, haunted hospital. The concept of the haunted house was capitalized on as early as 1915 with the Orton and Spooner Haunted House in the Hollycombe Steam Collection (England).

[40] The haunted house became a cultural icon when Disneyland's Haunted Mansion was opened in 1969. [38] By the 1970s, commercial haunted houses had sprung up all over the United States in cities like Louisville, Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Hollywood slasher films such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th had a large influence on commercial haunted houses in the 1980s and 1990s. Many of these houses included characters such as Freddy Krueger and Jason. [38] By 2005, an estimated 3,500 to 5,000 professional haunted attractions operated in the United States. Japanese commercial haunted houses, or obakeyashiki, are considered to be some of the best in the world. Experiences include being chased by gore-covered zombies, specially themed attractions, such as schools or hospital wards, and houses from which one must escape within 60 minutes or be found by "slaughtering criminals". Claiming to be the world's largest and most frightening haunted house, the Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear at Fuji-Q Highland Amusement Park, in Yamanashi Fujiyoshida-shi Shinnishihara, depicts horrific visual scenes, shrill cries, moans, and smells. It has been visited by over four million people. Haunted Attractions come in several different types from hayrides, indoor haunted houses to outdoor screamparks. Many amusement parks now host large Halloween events featuring haunted houses. In the case Stambovsky v. Having undertaken to inform the public at large, to whom she has no legal relationship, about the supernatural occurrences on her property, she may be said to owe no less a duty to her contract vendee. For homes that are thought to be haunted, the prices are usually 15-20% below market value. [46] Listings of so-called haunted houses can be found on the real estate website Squarefoot. Short stories and novels[edit]. Legends about haunted houses have long appeared in literature. [48] Nobody would live in the house until the philosopher Athenodorus c. 74 BCE 7 CE arrived in the city.

The apparition vanished once it reached the courtyard, and Athenodrus carefully marked the spot. The following morning he requested the magistrate to have the spot dug up, where the skeleton of an old man bound with chains was discovered. The ghost never appeared again after the skeleton was given a proper burial. Stories of haunted houses are also included in the Arabian Nights, as in the tale of Ali the Cairene and the Haunted House in Baghdad.

One of the most prominent 20th century books featuring the classic ideal of a haunted house is Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, which was the finalist for the National Book Award in 1959. Other notable works of fiction featuring haunted houses include Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, Stephen King's The Shining and Anne Rivers Siddons' The House Next Door. A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved pumpkin, turnip, or other root vegetable lantern[1] associated with Halloween. Its name comes from the phenomenon of a strange light flickering over peat bogs, called will-o'-the-wisp or jack-o'-lantern. The name is also tied to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a drunkard who bargains with Satan and is doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way. Jack-o'-lanterns are a yearly Halloween tradition that came to the United States from Irish immigrants. In a jack-o'-lantern, the top of the pumpkin or turnip is cut off to form a lid, the inside flesh is scooped out, and an imageusually a scary or funny faceis carved out of the rind to expose the hollow interior. To create the lantern effect, a light source, traditionally a flame such as a candle or tea light, is placed within before the lid is closed. However, artificial jack-'o-lanterns with electric lights are also marketed. It is common to see jack-o'-lanterns on doorsteps and otherwise used as decorations prior to and on Halloween...

[4] For example, gourds were used to carve lanterns by the Mori over 700 years ago;[5] the Mori word for a gourd also describes a lampshade. It is believed that the custom of making jack-o'-lanterns at Hallowe'en time began in Ireland.

[11] For example, sometimes they were used by Halloween participants to frighten people, [11][12][13] and sometimes they were set on windowsills to keep harmful spirits out of one's home. [12] It has also been suggested that the jack-o'-lanterns originally represented Christian souls in purgatory, as Halloween is the eve of All Saints' Day (1 November)/All Souls' Day (2 November). On Halloween in 1835, the Dublin Penny Journal published a long story on the legend of "Jack-o'-the-Lantern". [15] In 1837, the Limerick Chronicle refers to a local pub holding a carved gourd competition and presenting a prize to "the best crown of Jack McLantern". The term "McLantern" also appears in an 1841 publication of the same paper. There is also evidence that turnips were used to carve what was called a "Hoberdy's Lantern" in Worcestershire, England, at the end of the 18th century.

The folklorist Jabez Allies recalls[citation needed]. Adaptations of Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1820) often show the Headless Horseman with a pumpkin or jack-o'-lantern in place of his severed head. In the original story, a shattered pumpkin is discovered next to Ichabod Crane's abandoned hat on the morning after Crane's supposed encounter with the Horseman. The application of the term to carved pumpkins in American English is first seen in 1834. [17] The carved pumpkin lantern's association with Halloween is recorded in the 1 November 1866 edition of the Daily News (Kingston, Ontario).

The old time custom of keeping up Hallowe'en was not forgotten last night by the youngsters of the city. They had their maskings and their merry-makings, and perambulated the streets after dark in a way which was no doubt amusing to themselves. There was a great sacrifice of pumpkins from which to make transparent heads and face, lighted up by the unfailing two inches of tallow candle. James Fenimore Cooper wrote a nautical novel titled The Jack O'lantern (le Feu-Follet), Or the Privateer (1842). The poet John Greenleaf Whittier, who was born in Massachusetts in 1807, wrote the poem "The Pumpkin" (1850):[20]. When wood-grapes were purpling and brown nuts were falling! When wild, ugly faces we carved in its skin. Glaring out through the dark with a candle within! [26] In Switzerland, children will leave bowls of milk or cream out for mythical house spirits called Jack o' the bowl. [27] An old Irish folk tale from the mid-18th century tells of Stingy Jack, a lazy yet shrewd blacksmith who uses a cross to trap Satan. One story says that Jack tricked Satan into climbing an apple tree, and once he was up there, Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the bark, so that Satan couldn't get down. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack's wallet, only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the village. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped. In both folktales, Jack lets Satan go only after he agrees to never take his soul. Many years later, the thief died, as all living things do. Of course, Jack's life had been too sinful for him to go to heaven; however, Satan had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from hell as well. [29] Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and Satan mockingly tossed him a burning coal, to light his way. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which were his favorite food), put the coal inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. [30] He became known as "Jack of the Lantern", or jack o'lantern. 1884 recorded the use of the term in a rhyme used in Polperro, Cornwall, in conjunction with Joan the Wad, the Cornish version of Will-o'-the-wisp. The people of Polperro regarded them both as pixies.

Who tickled the maid and made her mad. Light me home, the weather's bad.

Jack-o-lanterns were also a way of protecting one's home against the undead. Superstitious people[32] used them specifically to ward off vampires. They thought this because it was said that the jack-o-lantern's light was a way of identifying vampires who, once their identity was known, would give up their hunt for you. Sections of the pumpkin or turnip are cut out to make holes, often depicting a face, which may be either cheerful, scary, or comical. [33] Complex carvings (or paintings on the gourds) are becoming more common such as: figures, logos, and symbols. Printed stencils can be used as a guide for increasingly complex designs. After carving, a light source (such as a flame candle, electric candle, or tea light) is placed inside the gourd, and the top is put back into place. The source is normally inserted to light the design from the inside and add an extra measure of spookiness. Sometimes a chimney is carved, too. It is possible to create surprisingly artistic designs, either simple or intricate in nature. Picking out and carving pumpkins for Halloween.

A Halloween cake topped with a jack-o'-lantern. Pumpkin craft for Halloween, using a commercial carving pattern.

Most jack-o'-lanterns carved and lit in one place[edit]. For a long time, Keene, New Hampshire, held the world record for most jack-o'-lanterns carved and lit in one place. The Life is Good Company up with Camp Sunshine, [34] a camp for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, to break the record.

A record was set on October 21, 2006, when 30,128 jack-o'-lanterns were simultaneously lit on Boston Common. [35] Highwood, Illinois, tried to set the record on October 31, 2011, with an unofficial count of 30,919 but did not follow the Guinness regulations, so the achievement did not count. In the modern era, some use "witch" to refer to benign, positive, or neutral practices of modern paganism, [7][8] such as divination or spellcraft, but this is primarily a modern, western, popular culture phenomenon. Belief in witchcraft is often present within societies and groups whose cultural framework includes a magical world view... Two of the Pendle witches, tried at Lancaster in 1612, in an illustration from William Harrison Ainsworth's 1849 novel The Lancashire Witches. The Magic Circle by John William Waterhouse, 1886. The concept of witchcraft and the belief in its existence have persisted throughout recorded history.

They have been present or central at various times and in many diverse forms among cultures and religions worldwide, including both primitive and highly advanced cultures, [10] and continue to have an important role in many cultures today. Historically, the predominant concept of witchcraft in the Western world derives from Old Testament laws against witchcraft, and entered the mainstream when belief in witchcraft gained Church approval in the Early Modern Period. It is a theosophical conflict between good and evil, where witchcraft was generally evil and often associated with the Devil and Devil worship. This culminated in deaths, torture and scapegoating (casting blame for misfortune), [11][12] and many years of large scale witch-trials and witch hunts, especially in Protestant Europe, before largely ceasing during the European Age of Enlightenment. Christian views in the modern day are diverse and cover the gamut of views from intense belief and opposition (especially by Christian fundamentalists) to non-belief, and even approval in some churches.

From the mid-20th century, witchcraft sometimes called contemporary witchcraft to clearly distinguish it from older beliefs became the name of a branch of modern paganism. It is most notably practiced in the Wiccan and modern witchcraft traditions, and it is no longer practiced in secrecy. The Western mainstream Christian view is far from the only societal perspective about witchcraft. Many cultures worldwide continue to have widespread practices and cultural beliefs that are loosely translated into English as "witchcraft", although the English translation masks a very great diversity in their forms, magical beliefs, practices, and place in their societies.

During the Age of Colonialism, many cultures across the globe were exposed to the modern Western world via colonialism, usually accompanied and often preceded by intensive Christian missionary activity (see "Christianization"). In these cultures beliefs that were related to witchcraft and magic were influenced by the prevailing Western concepts of the time. Witch-hunts, scapegoating, and the killing or shunning of suspected witches still occur in the modern era. Suspicion of modern medicine due to beliefs about illness being due to witchcraft also continues in many countries to this day, with serious healthcare consequences. HIV/AIDS[5] and Ebola virus disease[15] are two examples of often-lethal infectious disease epidemics whose medical care and containment has been severely hampered by regional beliefs in witchcraft. Other severe medical conditions whose treatment is hampered in this way include tuberculosis, leprosy, epilepsy and the common severe bacterial Buruli ulcer. The word is over a thousand years old: Old English formed the compound wiccecræft from "wicce" ("witch") and "cræft" ("craft"). [18] The word witch was also spelled "wicca" or "wycca" in Old English, and was originally masculine. [19] Folk etymologies link witchcraft "to the English words wit, wise, wisdom [Germanic root weit-, wait-, wit-; Indo-European root weid-, woid-, wid-]", so craft of the wise. In anthropological terminology, witches differ from sorcerers in that they don't use physical tools or actions to curse; their maleficium is perceived as extending from some intangible inner quality, and one may be unaware of being a witch, or may have been convinced of their nature by the suggestion of others. [21] This definition was pioneered in a study of central African magical beliefs by E. Evans-Pritchard, who cautioned that it might not correspond with normal English usage. Historians of European witchcraft have found the anthropological definition difficult to apply to European witchcraft, where witches could equally use (or be accused of using) physical techniques, as well as some who really had attempted to cause harm by thought alone. [2] European witchcraft is seen by historians and anthropologists as an ideology for explaining misfortune; however, this ideology has manifested in diverse ways, as described below. A Witch by Edward Robert Hughes, 1902. Professor Norman Gevitz wrote, that. It is argued here that the medical arts played a significant and sometimes pivotal role in the witchcraft controversies of seventeenth-century New England. Not only were physicians and surgeons the principal professional arbiters for determining natural versus preternatural signs and symptoms of disease, they occupied key legislative, judicial, and ministerial roles relating to witchcraft proceedings. Forty six male physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries are named in court transcripts or other contemporary source materials relating to New England witchcraft. The biblical Witch of Endor performed it 1 Sam. 28, and it is among the witchcraft practices condemned by Ælfric of Eynsham:[30][31][32] Witches still go to cross-roads and to heathen burials with their delusive magic and call to the devil; and he comes to them in the likeness of the man that is buried there, as if he arise from death. In Christianity and Islam[citation needed], sorcery came to be associated with heresy and apostasy and to be viewed as evil. Among the Catholics, Protestants, and secular leadership of the European Late Medieval/Early Modern period, fears about witchcraft rose to fever pitch and sometimes led to large-scale witch-hunts. The key century was the fifteenth, which saw a dramatic rise in awareness and terror of witchcraft, culminating in the publication of the Malleus Maleficarum but prepared by such fanatical popular preachers as Bernardino of Siena. [34] In total, tens or hundreds of thousands of people were executed, and others were imprisoned, tortured, banished, and had lands and possessions confiscated. The majority of those accused were women, though in some regions the majority were men. [35][36] In early modern Scots, the word warlock came to be used as the male equivalent of witch (which can be male or female, but is used predominantly for females). The Malleus Maleficarum, (Latin for "Hammer of The Witches") was a witch-hunting manual written in 1486 by two German monks, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. It was used by both Catholics and Protestants[40] for several hundred years, outlining how to identify a witch, what makes a woman more likely than a man to be a witch, how to put a witch on trial, and how to punish a witch. The book defines a witch as evil and typically female. The book became the handbook for secular courts throughout Renaissance Europe, but was not used by the Inquisition, which even cautioned against relying on The Work. Further information: Folk religion, Magical thinking, and Shamanism. A painting in the Rila Monastery in Bulgaria, condemning witchcraft and traditional folk magic. Throughout the early modern period in England, the English term "witch" was usually negative in meaning, unless modified in some way to distinguish it from cunning folk. Alan McFarlane writes, There were a number of interchangeable terms for these practitioners,'white','good', or'unbinding' witches, blessers, wizards, sorcerers, however'cunning-man' and'wise-man' were the most frequent. "[42] In 1584, Englishman and Member of Parliament, Reginald Scot wrote, "At this day it is indifferent to say in the English tongue,'she is a witch' or'she is a wise woman'.

[43] Folk magicians throughout Europe were often viewed ambivalently by communities, and were considered as capable of harming as of healing, [3] which could lead to their being accused as "witches" in the negative sense. Many English "witches" convicted of consorting with demons may have been cunning folk whose fairy familiars had been demonised;[44] many French devins-guerisseurs ("diviner-healers") were accused of witchcraft, [45] and over one half the accused witches in Hungary seem to have been healers. [46] Some of those who described themselves as contacting fairies described out-of-body experiences and travelling through the realms of an "other-world". Éva Pócs states that reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories:[23].

A person was reputed to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs or Occultism. She identifies three varieties of witch in popular belief:[23]. The "neighbourhood witch" or "social witch": a witch who curses a neighbour following some conflict.

The "magical" or "sorcerer" witch: either a professional healer, sorcerer, seer or midwife, or a person who has through magic increased her fortune to the perceived detriment of a neighbouring household; due to neighbourly or community rivalries and the ambiguity between positive and negative magic, such individuals can become labelled as witches. The "supernatural" or "night" witch: portrayed in court narratives as a demon appearing in visions and dreams. "Neighbourhood witches" are the product of neighbourhood tensions, and are found only in self-sufficient serf village communities where the inhabitants largely rely on each other. Claims of "sorcerer" witches and "supernatural" witches could arise out of social tensions, but not exclusively; the supernatural witch in particular often had nothing to do with communal conflict, but expressed tensions between the human and supernatural worlds; and in Eastern and Southeastern Europe such supernatural witches became an ideology explaining calamities that befell entire communities. Belief in witchcraft continues to be present today in some societies and accusations of witchcraft are the trigger for serious forms of violence, including murder. Such incidents are common in countries such as Burkina Faso, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal and Tanzania. Accusations of witchcraft are sometimes linked to personal disputes, jealousy, and conflicts between neighbors or family members over land or inheritance. Witchcraft-related violence is often discussed as a serious issue in the broader context of violence against women. [50][51][52][53][54]. In Tanzania, about 500 older women are murdered each year following accusations of witchcraft or accusations of being a witch. [55] Apart from extrajudicial violence, state-sanctioned violence also occurs in some jurisdictions. For instance, in Saudi Arabia practicing witchcraft and sorcery is a crime punishable by death and the country has executed people for this crime in 2011, 2012 and 2014. Children who live in some regions of the world, such as parts of Africa, are also vulnerable to violence that is related to witchcraft accusations. [59][60][61][62] Such incidents have also occurred in immigrant communities in the UK, including the much publicized case of the murder of Victoria Climbié. During the 20th century, interest in witchcraft in English-speaking and European countries began to increase, inspired particularly by Margaret Murray's theory of a pan-European witch-cult originally published in 1921, since discredited by further careful historical research. [65] Interest was intensified, however, by Gerald Gardner's claim in 1954 in Witchcraft Today that a form of witchcraft still existed in England. The truth of Gardner's claim is now disputed too. [66][67][68][69][70]. The first Neopagan groups to publicly appear, during the 1950s and 60s, were Gerald Gardner's Bricket Wood coven and Roy Bowers' Clan of Tubal Cain. They operated as initiatory secret societies. Other individual practitioners and writers such as Paul Huson[7] also claimed inheritance to surviving traditions of witchcraft. The Wicca that Gardner initially taught was a witchcraft religion having a lot in common with Margaret Murray's hypothetically posited cult of the 1920s. [71] Indeed, Murray wrote an introduction to Gardner's Witchcraft Today, in effect putting her stamp of approval on it. Wicca is now practised as a religion of an initiatory secret society nature with positive ethical principles, organised into autonomous covens and led by a High Priesthood.

There is also a large "Eclectic Wiccan" movement of individuals and groups who share key Wiccan beliefs but have no initiatory connection or affiliation with traditional Wicca. Wiccan writings and ritual show borrowings from a number of sources including 19th and 20th-century ceremonial magic, the medieval grimoire known as the Key of Solomon, Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis and pre-Christian religions.

[77] Widespread accessibility to related material through internet media such as chat rooms and forums is also thought to be driving this development. Which is dependent on one's accessibility to those media resources and material to influence their thoughts and views on religion [77]. Wiccan beliefs, or pop culture variations thereof, are often considered by adherents to be compatible with liberal ideals such as the Green movement, and particularly with some varieties of feminism, by providing young women with what they see as a means for self-empowerment, control of their own lives, and potentially a way of influencing the world around them.

[78][79] This is the case particularly in North America due to the strong presence of feminist ideals in some branches of the Neopagan communities. [76] The 2002 study Enchanted Feminism: The Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco suggests that some branches of Wicca include influential members of the second wave of feminism, which has also been redefined as a religious movement. Traditional witchcraft is a term used to refer to a variety of contemporary forms of witchcraft. Pagan studies scholar Ethan Doyle White described it as "a broad movement of aligned magico-religious groups who reject any relation to Gardnerianism and the wider Wiccan movement, claiming older, more "traditional roots. Although typically united by a shared aesthetic rooted in European folklore, the Traditional Craft contains within its ranks a rich and varied array of occult groups, from those who follow a contemporary Pagan path that is suspiciously similar to Wicca to those who adhere to Luciferianism. [80] According to British Traditional Witch Michael Howard, the term refers to "any non-Gardnerian, non-Alexandrian, non-Wiccan or pre-modern form of the Craft, especially if it has been inspired by historical forms of witchcraft and folk magic". [81] Another definition was offered by Daniel A. Schulke, the current Magister of the Cultus Sabbati, when he proclaimed that traditional witchcraft "refers to a coterie of initiatory lineages of ritual magic, spellcraft and devotional mysticism".

[82] Some forms of traditional witchcraft are the Feri Tradition, Cochrane's Craft and the Sabbatic craft. Modern Stregheria closely resembles Charles Leland's controversial late-19th-century account of a surviving Italian religion of witchcraft, worshipping the Goddess Diana, her brother Dianus/Lucifer, and their daughter Aradia. Leland's witches do not see Lucifer as the evil Satan that Christians see, but a benevolent god of the Sun. The ritual format of contemporary Stregheria is roughly similar to that of other Neopagan witchcraft religions such as Wicca.

The pentagram is the most common symbol of religious identity. Most followers celebrate a series of eight festivals equivalent to the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, though others follow the ancient Roman festivals. An emphasis is placed on ancestor worship and balance. Contemporary witchcraft, Satanism and Luciferianism. Main article: Satanism and Witchcraft. Modern witchcraft considers Satanism to be the "dark side of Christianity" rather than a branch of Wicca: the character of Satan referenced in Satanism exists only in the theology of the three Abrahamic religions, and Satanism arose as, and occupies the role of, a rebellious counterpart to Christianity, in which all is permitted and the self is central. Christianity can be characterized as having the diametrically opposite views to these. [86] Such beliefs become more visibly expressed in Europe after the Enlightenment, when works such as Milton's Paradise Lost were described anew by romantics who suggested that they presented the biblical Satan as an allegory representing crisis of faith, individualism, free will, wisdom and enlightenment; a few works from that time also begin to directly present Satan in a less negative light, such as Letters from the Earth. The two major trends are theistic Satanism and atheistic Satanism; the former venerates Satan as a supernatural patriarchal deity, while the latter views Satan as merely a symbolic embodiment of certain human traits. Organized groups began to emerge in the mid 20th century, including the Ophite Cultus Satanas (1948)[88] and The Church of Satan (1966). After seeing Margaret Murray's book The God of the Witches the leader of Ophite Cultus Satanas, Herbert Arthur Sloane, said he realized that the horned god was Satan (Sathanas). Sloane also corresponded with his contemporary Gerald Gardner, founder of the Wicca religion, and implied that his views of Satan and the horned god were not necessarily in conflict with Gardner's approach. However, he did believe that, while "gnosis" referred to knowledge, and "Wicca" referred to wisdom, modern witches had fallen away from the true knowledge, and instead had begun worshipping a fertility god, a reflection of the creator god. He wrote that "the largest existing body of witches who are true Satanists would be the Yezedees". They state "beliefs should conform to one's best scientific understanding of the world, " and the practice of magic does not fit into their belief as such. [94] It was estimated that there were up to 100,000 Satanists worldwide by 2006, twice the number estimated in 1990.

[95] Satanistic beliefs have been largely permitted as a valid expression of religious belief in the West. For example, they were allowed in the British Royal Navy in 2004, [96][97][98] and an appeal was considered in 2005 for religious status as a right of prisoners by the Supreme Court of the United States. [99][100] Contemporary Satanism is mainly an American phenomenon, [101] although it began to reach Eastern Europe in the 1990s around the time of the fall of the Soviet Union. Luciferianism, on the other hand, is a belief system[104] and does not revere the devil figure or most characteristics typically affixed to Satan. Rather, Lucifer in this context is seen as one of many morning stars, a symbol of enlightenment, [105] independence and human progression.

[108] In contemporary times luciferian witches exist within traditional witchcraft. The belief in sorcery and its practice seem to have been widespread in the ancient Near East and Nile Valley. It played a conspicuous role in the cultures of ancient Egypt and in Babylonia. The latter tradition included an Akkadian anti-witchcraft ritual, the Maqlû. A section from the Code of Hammurabi about 2000 B. If a man has put a spell upon another man and it is not justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go to the holy river; into the holy river shall he plunge. If the holy river overcome him and he is drowned, the man who put the spell upon him shall take possession of his house. If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death. The King James Version uses the words "witch", "witchcraft", and "witchcrafts" to translate the Masoretic ksháf (Hebrew pronunciation: [kaf]) and (qésem);[111] these same English terms are used to translate pharmakeia in the Greek New Testament. Verses such as Deuteronomy 18:1112 and Exodus 22:18 ("Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live") thus provided scriptural justification for Christian witch hunters in the early modern period (see Christian views on magic). The precise meaning of the Hebrew , usually translated as "witch" or "sorceress", is uncertain. In the Septuagint, it was translated as pharmakeía or pharmakous. In the 16th century, Reginald Scot, a prominent critic of the witch trials, translated , , and the Vulgate's Latin equivalent veneficos as all meaning "poisoner", and on this basis, claimed that "witch" was an incorrect translation and poisoners were intended. [112] His theory still holds some currency, but is not widely accepted, and in Daniel 2:2 is listed alongside other magic practitioners who could interpret dreams: magicians, astrologers, and Chaldeans. Suggested derivations of include "mutterer" (from a single root) or herb user (as a compound word formed from the roots kash, meaning "herb", and hapaleh, meaning "using"). The Greek literally means "herbalist" or one who uses or administers drugs, but it was used virtually synonymously with mageia and goeteia as a term for a sorcerer. The Bible provides some evidence that these commandments against sorcery were enforced under the Hebrew kings. And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, [a] and bring me him up, whom I shall name unto thee. And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die? See also: Christian views on magic. The New Testament condemns the practice as an abomination, just as the Old Testament had (Galatians 5:20, compared with Revelation 21:8; 22:15; and Acts 8:9; 13:6). The word in most New Testament translations is "sorcerer"/"sorcery" rather than "witch"/"witchcraft". Although Maimonides vigorously denied the efficacy of all methods of witchcraft, and claimed that the Biblical prohibitions regarding it were precisely to wean the Israelites from practices related to idolatry. It is acknowledged that while magic exists, it is forbidden to practice it on the basis that it usually involves the worship of other gods. Rabbis of the Talmud also condemned magic when it produced something other than illusion, giving the example of two men who use magic to pick cucumbers (Sanhedrin 67a). The one who creates the illusion of picking cucumbers should not be condemned, only the one who actually picks the cucumbers through magic. However, some of the rabbis practiced "magic" themselves or taught the subject.

For instance, Rabbah created a person and sent him to Rav Zeira, and Hanina and Hoshaiah studied every Friday together and created a small calf to eat on Shabbat (Sanhedrin 67b). In these cases, the "magic" was seen more as divine miracles i. Coming from God rather than "unclean" forces than as witchcraft. Judaism does make it clear that Jews shall not try to learn about the ways of witches (Book of Deuteronomy 18: 910) and that witches are to be put to death (Exodus 22:17).

Judaism's most famous reference to a medium is undoubtedly the Witch of Endor whom Saul consults, as recounted in 1 Samuel 28. See also: Islam and astrology. Divination, and magic in Islam, encompass a wide range of practices, including black magic, warding off the evil eye, the production of amulets and other magical equipment, evocation, casting lots, and astrology. [115] Muslims do commonly believe in magic (sihr)[116] and explicitly forbid its practice. [117] Sihr translates from Arabic as black magic. The best known reference to magic in Islam is chapter 113 (Al-Falaq) of the Qur'an, which is knownby whom? As a prayer to God to ward off black magic:original research?

Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the Dawn From the mischief of created things; From the mischief of Darkness as it overspreads; From the mischief of those who practise secret arts; And from the mischief of the envious one as he practises envy. Also according to the Qur'an:[117][118].

And they follow that which the devils falsely related against the kingdom of Solomon. Solomon disbelieved not; but the devils disbelieved, teaching mankind sorcery and that which was revealed to the two angels in Babel, Harut and Marut... And surely they do know that he who trafficketh therein will have no (happy) portion in the Hereafter; and surely evil is the price for which they sell their souls, if they but knew. Islam distinguishes between God-given gifts or good magic and black magic. Good supernatural powers are therefore a special gift from God, whereas black magic is achieved through help of jinn and demons. In the Qurnic narrative, the Prophet Sulayman had the power to speak with animals and command jinn, and he thanks God for this i. Gift, privilege, favour, bounty, which is only given to him with God's permission. [Quran 27:19][119] The Prophet Muhammad was accused of being a magician by his opponents. It is a common belief that jinn can possess a human, [121][122] thus requiring exorcism [123] derived from the Prophet's sunnah to cast off the jinn or devils from the body of the possessed. The practice of seeking help from the jinn is prohibited and can lead to possession. The exorcism contains verses of the Qur'an as well as prayers specifically targeted against demons. The knowledge of which verses of the Qur'an to use in what way is what is considered "magic knowledge". [126] Being pious and strictly following the teachings of the Qur'an can increase the probability to perform magic or miracles, that is distinguished from witchcraft, the latter practised in aid with demons. A hadith recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, 7:71:671 narrates that one who has eaten seven Ajwa dates in the morning will not be adversely affected by magic in the course of that day. Further information: Witchcraft accusations against children in Africa. For the percussion instrument, see Djembe. Shona witchdoctor (n'anga) in Zimbabwe. The Kolloh-Man January 1853, X, p. Much of what witchcraft represents in Africa has been susceptible to misunderstandings and confusion, thanks in no small part to a tendency among western scholars since the time of the now largely discredited Margaret Murray to approach the subject through a comparative lens vis-a-vis European witchcraft. Complimentary remarks about witchcraft by a native Congolese initiate: From witchcraft...

May be developed the remedy (kimbuki) that will do most to raise up our country. It can embellish or redeem (ketula evo vuukisa). "[135] "The ancestors were equipped with the protective witchcraft of the clan (kindoki kiandundila kanda). They could also gather the power of animals into their hands... If we could make use of these kinds of witchcraft, our country would rapidly progress in knowledge of every kind.

"[136] "You witches (zindoki) too, bring your science into the light to be written down so that... In eastern Cameroon, the term used for witchcraft among the Maka is djambe[138] and refers to a force inside a person; its powers may make the proprietor more vulnerable.

It encompasses the occult, the transformative, killing and healing. Every year, hundreds of people in the Central African Republic are convicted of witchcraft. [140] Christian militias in the Central African Republic have also kidnapped, burnt and buried alive women accused of being'witches' in public ceremonies. Democratic Republic of the Congo. As of 2006, between 25,000 and 50,000 children in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, had been accused of witchcraft and thrown out of their homes.

[142] These children have been subjected to often-violent abuse during exorcisms, sometimes supervised by self-styled religious pastors. Other pastors and Christian activists strongly oppose such accusations and try to rescue children from their unscrupulous colleagues.

[143] The usual term for these children is enfants sorciers (child witches) or enfants dits sorciers (children accused of witchcraft). In 2002, USAID funded the production of two short films on the subject, made in Kinshasa by journalists Angela Nicoara and Mike Ormsby.

In April 2008, in Kinshasa, the police arrested 14 suspected victims (of penis snatching) and sorcerers accused of using black magic or witchcraft to steal (make disappear) or shrink men's penises to extort cash for cure, amid a wave of panic. According to one study, the belief in magical warfare technologies (such as "bulletproofing") in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo serves a group-level function, as it increases group efficiency in warfare, even if it is suboptimal at the individual level. [145] The authors of the study argue that this is one reason why the belief in witchcraft persists. In Ghana, women are often accused of witchcraft and attacked by neighbours. [146] Because of this, there exist six witch camps in the country where women suspected of being witches can flee for safety. [147] The witch camps, which exist solely in Ghana, are thought to house a total of around 1000 women. [147] Some of the camps are thought to have been set up over 100 years ago. [147] The Ghanaian government has announced that it intends to close the camps. Arrests were made in an effort to avoid bloodshed seen in Ghana a decade ago, when 12 alleged penis snatchers were beaten to death by mobs. [148] While it is easy for modern people to dismiss such reports, Uchenna Okeja argues that a belief system in which such magical practices are deemed possible offer many benefits to Africans who hold them. For example, the belief that a sorcerer has "stolen" a man's penis functions as an anxiety-reduction mechanism for men suffering from impotence while simultaneously providing an explanation that is consistent with African cultural beliefs rather than appealing to Western scientific notions that are tainted by the history of colonialism (at least for many Africans). It was reported that a mob in Kenya had burnt to death at least 11 people accused of witchcraft in 2008. In Malawi it is also common practice to accuse children of witchcraft and many children have been abandoned, abused and even killed as a result. As in other African countries both African traditional healers and their Christian counterparts are trying to make a living out of exorcising children and are actively involved in pointing out children as witches. [151] Various secular and Christian organizations are combining their efforts to address this problem. Any contact with cash will snap their spell and leave the wizard naked and confused. So placing cash, such as kwacha around a room or bed mat will protect the resident from their malevolent spells. In Nigeria, several Pentecostal pastors have mixed their evangelical brand of Christianity with African beliefs in witchcraft to benefit from the lucrative witch finding and exorcism businesswhich in the past was the exclusive domain of the so-called witch doctor or traditional healers. These pastors have been involved in the torturing and even killing of children accused of witchcraft. [154] Over the past decade, around 15,000 children have been accused, and around 1,000 murdered. In the course of "exorcisms", accused children may be starved, beaten, mutilated, set on fire, forced to consume acid or cement, or buried alive. While some church leaders and Christian activists have spoken out strongly against these abuses, many Nigerian churches are involved in the abuse, although church administrations deny knowledge of it. Among the Mende (of Sierra Leone), trial and conviction for witchcraft has a beneficial effect for those convicted. The witchfinder had warned the whole village to ensure the relative prosperity of the accused and sentenced... Six months later all of the people... Accused, were secure, well-fed and arguably happier than at any [previous] time; they had hardly to beckon and people would come with food or whatever was needful. Instead of such old and widowed people being left helpless or (as in Western society) institutionalized in old people's homes, these were reintegrated into society and left secure in their old age...

Old people are'suitable' candidates for this kind of accusation in the sense that they are isolated and vulnerable, and they are'suitable' candidates for'social security' for precisely the same reasons. "[156] In Kuranko language, the term for witchcraft is suwa'ye[157] referring to "extraordinary powers. In Tanzania in 2008, President Kikwete publicly condemned witchdoctors for killing albinos for their body parts, which are thought to bring good luck. 25 albinos have been murdered since March 2007. [158] In Tanzania, albinos are often murdered for their body parts on the advice of witch doctors in order to produce powerful amulets that are believed to protect against witchcraft and make the owner prosper in life.

Native to the Zulu people, witches called sangoma protect people against evil spirits. They usual train for about five to seven years.

In the cities, this training could take only several months. Another type of witch are the inyanga, who are actual witch doctors that heal people with plant and animal parts.

This is a job that is passed on to future generations. In the Zulu population, 80% of people contact inyangas.

Bruja is an Afro-Caribbean religion and healing tradition that originates in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, in the Dutch Caribbean. A healer in this culture is called a kurioso or kuradó, a man or woman who performs trabou chikí (little works) and trabou grandi (large treatments) to promote or restore health, bring fortune or misfortune, deal with unrequited love, and more serious concerns, in which sorcery is involved. Sorcery usually involves reference to the almasola or homber chiki, a devil-like entity. Transcultural Psychiatry published a paper called "Traditional healing practices originating in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao: A review of the literature on psychiatry and Brua" by Jan Dirk Blom, Igmar T. Van Gellecum and Hans W. Hoek of the Parnassia Psychiatric Institute. Examination of a Witch by T. Matteson, inspired by the Salem witch trials. In 1645, Springfield, Massachusetts, experienced America's first accusations of witchcraft when husband and wife Hugh and Mary Parsons accused each other of witchcraft. At America's first witch trial, Hugh was found innocent, while Mary was acquitted of witchcraft but sentenced to be hanged for the death of her child.

Prior to the witch trials, nearly 300 men and women had been suspected of partaking in witchcraft, and 19 of these people were hanged, and one was "pressed to death". Despite being generally known as the "Salem" witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in a variety of towns across the province: Salem Village (now Danvers), Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover. The best known trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town.

[165][citation needed][166] In Maryland, there is a legend of Moll Dyer, who escaped a fire set by fellow colonists only to die of exposure in December 1697. The historical record of Dyer is scant as all official records were burned in a courthouse fire, though the county courthouse has on display the rock where her frozen body was found. A letter from a colonist of the period describes her in most unfavourable terms. A local road is named after Dyer, where her homestead was said to have been. Many local families have their own version of the Moll Dyer affair, and her name is spoken with care in the rural southern counties. [171] While perhaps the most common variety seen in horror fiction by non-Navajo people, the yee naaldlooshii is one of several varieties of Navajo witch, specifically a type of ántihnii. Corpse-powder or corpse-poison (Navajo: át, literally "witchery" or "harming") is a substance made from powdered corpses.

The powder is used by witches to curse their victims. Traditional Navajos do usually hesitate to discuss things like witches and witchcraft with non-Navajos. Witchcraft was an important part of the social and cultural history of late-Colonial Mexico, during the Mexican Inquisition. Spanish Inquisitors viewed witchcraft as a problem that could be cured simply through confession. Yet, as anthropologist Ruth Behar writes, witchcraft, not only in Mexico but in Latin America in general, was a conjecture of sexuality, witchcraft, and religion, in which Spanish, indigenous, and African cultures converged.

The presence of the witch is a constant in the ethnographic history of colonial Brazil, especially during the several denunciations and confessions given to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of Bahia (15911593), Pernambuco and Paraíba (15931595). Belief in the supernatural is strong in all parts of India, and lynchings for witchcraft are reported in the press from time to time. [177] Around 750 people were killed as witches in Assam and West Bengal between 2003 and 2008. [178] Officials in the state of Chhattisgarh reported in 2008 that at least 100 women are maltreated annually as suspected witches.

[179] A local activist stated that only a fraction of cases of abuse are reported. [180] In Indian mythology, a common perception of a witch is a being with her feet pointed backwards. Apart from other types of Violence against women in Nepal, the malpractice of abusing women in the name of witchcraft is also really prominent. According to the statistics in 2013, there was a total of 69 reported cases of abuse to women due to accusation of performing witchcraft. The perpetrators of this malpractice are usually neighbors, so-called witch doctors and family members. [181] The main causes of these malpractices are lack of education, lack of awareness and superstition. According to the statistics by INSEC, [182] the age group of women who fall victims to the witchcraft violence in Nepal is 2040. Okabe The cat witch, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. In Japanese folklore, the most common types of witch can be separated into two categories: those who employ snakes as familiars, and those who employ foxes. [184] The fox witch is, by far, the most commonly seen witch figure in Japan. Differing regional beliefs set those who use foxes into two separate types: the kitsune-mochi, and the tsukimono-suji. The first of these, the kitsune-mochi, is a solitary figure who gains his fox familiar by bribing it with its favourite foods. The kitsune-mochi then strikes up a deal with the fox, typically promising food and daily care in return for the fox's magical services. The fox of Japanese folklore is a powerful trickster in and of itself, imbued with powers of shape changing, possession, and illusion. These creatures can be either nefarious; disguising themselves as women in order to trap men, or they can be benign forces as in the story of "The Grateful foxes". [185] By far, the most commonly reported cases of fox witchcraft in modern Japan are enacted by tsukimono-suji families, or "hereditary witches". Philippine witches are the users of black magic and related practices from the Philippines. They include a variety of different kinds of people with differing occupations and cultural connotations which depend on the ethnic group they are associated with. They are completely different from the Western notion of what a witch is, as each ethnic group has their own definition and practices attributed to witches.

The curses and other magics of witches are often blocked, countered, cured, or lifted by Philippine shamans associated with the indigenous Philippine folk religions. Main articles: Capital punishment in Saudi Arabia, Freedom of religion in Saudi Arabia, and Human rights in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia continues to use the death penalty for sorcery and witchcraft.

[189] In 2006 Fawza Falih Muhammad Ali was condemned to death for practicing witchcraft. [190] There is no legal definition of sorcery in Saudi, but in 2007 an Egyptian pharmacist working there was accused, convicted, and executed. Saudi authorities also pronounced the death penalty on a Lebanese television presenter, Ali Hussain Sibat, while he was performing the hajj (Islamic pilgrimage) in the country. In 2009, the Saudi authorities set up the Anti-Witchcraft Unit of their Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice police. [192] In April 2009, a Saudi woman Amina Bint Abdulhalim Nassar was arrested and later sentenced to death for practicing witchcraft and sorcery. In December 2011, she was beheaded. [193] A Saudi man has been beheaded on charges of sorcery and witchcraft in June 2012. [194] A beheading for sorcery occurred in 2014. See also: Human rights in ISIL-controlled territory. In June 2015, Yahoo reported: "The Islamic State group has beheaded two women in Syria on accusations of "sorcery, the first such executions of female civilians in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday.

[195] ISIS decapitated a man in Iraq over sorcery. An expedition sent to what is now the Xinjiang region of western China by the PBS documentary series Nova found a fully clothed female Tocharian mummy wearing a black conical hat of the type now associated with witches in Europe in the storage area of a small local museum, indicative of an Indo-European priestess. Main articles: European witchcraft and Witch trials in Early Modern Europe. Francisco Goya's Los Caprichos: ¡Linda maestra!

In addition, heresy denies witches the recognition of important Christian values such as baptism, salvation, Christ and sacraments. [197] The beginning of the witch accusations in Europe took place in the 14th and 15th centuries; however as the social disruptions of the 16th century took place, witchcraft trials intensified. Current scholarly estimates of the number of people executed for witchcraft vary between about 40,000 and 100,000. [199] The total number of witch trials in Europe known for certain to have ended in executions is around 12,000. In Early Modern European tradition, witches were stereotypically, though not exclusively, women. The peak years of witch-hunts in southwest Germany were from 1561 to 1670. It was commonly believed that individuals with power and prestige were involved in acts of witchcraft and even cannibalism. [204] Because Europe had a lot of power over individuals living in West Africa, Europeans in positions of power were often accused of taking part in these practices. Though it is not likely that these individuals were actually involved in these practices, they were most likely associated due to Europe's involvement in things like the slave trade, which negatively affected the lives of many individuals in the Atlantic World throughout the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. Early converts to Christianity looked to Christian clergy to work magic more effectively than the old methods under Roman paganism, and Christianity provided a methodology involving saints and relics, similar to the gods and amulets of the Pagan world. As Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe, its concern with magic lessened. The Protestant Christian explanation for witchcraft, such as those typified in the confessions of the Pendle witches, commonly involves a diabolical pact or at least an appeal to the intervention of the spirits of evil. The witches or wizards engaged in such practices were alleged to reject Jesus and the sacraments; observe "the witches' sabbath" (performing infernal rites that often parodied the Mass or other sacraments of the Church); pay Divine honour to the Prince of Darkness; and, in return, receive from him preternatural powers.

It was a folkloric belief that a Devil's Mark, like the brand on cattle, was placed upon a witch's skin by the devil to signify that this pact had been made. Further information: Witch trials in early modern Scotland. In the north of England, the superstition lingers to an almost inconceivable extent. Lancashire abounds with witch-doctors, a set of quacks, who pretend to cure diseases inflicted by the devil... The witch-doctor alluded to is better known by the name of the cunning man, and has a large practice in the counties of Lincoln and Nottingham.

Historians Keith Thomas and his student Alan Macfarlane study witchcraft by combining historical research with concepts drawn from anthropology. [208][209][210] They argued that English witchcraft, like African witchcraft, was endemic rather than epidemic. Older women were the favorite targets because they were marginal, dependent members of the community and therefore more likely to arouse feelings of both hostility and guilt, and less likely to have defenders of importance inside the community. Witchcraft accusations were the village's reaction to the breakdown of its internal community, coupled with the emergence of a newer set of values that was generating psychic stress. Illustration of witches, perhaps being tortured before James VI, from his Daemonologie (1597). In Wales, fear of witchcraft mounted around the year 1500. There was a growing alarm of women's magic as a weapon aimed against the state and church. The Church made greater efforts to enforce the canon law of marriage, especially in Wales where tradition allowed a wider range of sexual partnerships. There was a political dimension as well, as accusations of witchcraft were levied against the enemies of Henry VII, who was exerting more and more control over Wales. The records of the Courts of Great Sessions for Wales, 15361736 show that Welsh custom was more important than English law.

His goal was to divert suspicion away from male homosociality among the elite, and focus fear on female communities and large gatherings of women. He thought they threatened his political power so he laid the foundation for witchcraft and occultism policies, especially in Scotland. The point was that a widespread belief in the conspiracy of witches and a witches' Sabbath with the devil deprived women of political influence. Occult power was supposedly a womanly trait because women were weaker and more susceptible to the devil.

In 1944 Helen Duncan was the last person in Britain to be imprisoned for fraudulently claiming to be a witch. In the United Kingdom children believed to be witches or seen as possessed by evil spirits can be subject to severe beatings, traumatic exorcism, and/or other abuse. There have even been child murders associated with witchcraft beliefs.

The problem is particularly serious among immigrant or former immigrant communities of African origin but other communities, such as those of Asian origin are also involved. Step children and children seen as different for a wide range of reasons are particularly at risk of witchcraft accusations. [216] Children may be beaten or have chilli rubbed into their eyes during exorcisms. [217] This type of abuse is frequently hidden and can include torture. [218] A 2006 recommendation to record abuse cases linked to witchcraft centrally has not yet been implemented. Lack of awareness among social workers, teachers and other professionals dealing with at risk children hinders efforts to combat the problem. The Metropolitan Police said there had been 60 crimes linked to faith in London so far [in 2015]. It saw reports double from 23 in 2013 to 46 in 2014. Half of UK police forces do not record such cases and many local authorities are also unable to provide figures. The NSPCC said authorities "need to ensure they are able to spot the signs of this particular brand of abuse". London is unique in having a police team, Project Violet, dedicated to this type of abuse. Its figures relate to crime reports where officers have flagged a case as involving abuse linked to faith or belief. Many of the cases involve children. An NSPCC spokesman said: While the number of child abuse cases involving witchcraft is relatively small, they often include horrifying levels of cruelty. The authorities which deal with these dreadful crimes need to ensure they are able to spot the signs of this particular brand of abuse and take action to protect children before a tragedy occurs. Pastors accuse a child of being a witch and later the family pays for exorcism. If a child at school says that his/her pastor called the child a witch that should become a child safeguarding issue. A particularly rich source of information about witchcraft in Italy before the outbreak of the Great Witch Hunts of the Renaissance are the sermons of Franciscan popular preacher, Bernardino of Siena (13801444), who saw the issue as one of the most pressing moral and social challenges of his day and thus preached many a sermon on the subject, inspiring many local governments to take actions against what he called servants of the Devil. [220] As in most European countries, women in Italy were more likely suspected of witchcraft than men. [223] This left many women on a desperate quest for marriage leaving them vulnerable to the accusation of witchcraft whether they took part in it or not. [223] Trial records from the Inquisition and secular courts discovered a link between prostitutes and supernatural practices. Professional prostitutes were considered experts in love and therefore knew how to make love potions and cast love related spells. [222] Up until 1630, the majority of women accused of witchcraft were prostitutes. From the 16th-18th centuries, the Catholic Church enforced moral discipline throughout Italy. [227] With the help of local tribunals, such as in Venice, the two institutions investigated a woman's religious behaviors when she was accused of witchcraft. Main articles: Akelarre (witchcraft), Catalan mythology about witches, Galicians, and Galicia (Spain). Franciscan friars from New Spain introduced Diabolism, belief in the devil, to the indigenous people after their arrival in 1524. [228] Bartolomé de las Casas believed that human sacrifice was not diabolic, in fact far off from it, and was a natural result of religious expression.

[228] Mexican Indians gladly took in the belief of Diabolism and still managed to keep their belief in creator-destroyer deities. Galicia is nicknamed the "Land of the Witches" due to its mythological origins surrounding its people, culture and its land. [230][231] The Basque Country also suffered persecutions against witches, such as the case of the Witches of Zugarramurdi, six of which were burned in Logroño in 1610 or the witch hunt in the French Basque country in the previous year with the burning of eighty supposed witches at the stake.

This is reflected in the studies of José Miguel de Barandiarán and Julio Caro Baroja. Euskal Herria retains numerous legends that account for an ancient mythology of witchcraft. The town of Zalla is nicknamed as "Town of the Witches".

In pre-Christian times, witchcraft was a common practice in the Cook Islands. The native name for a sorcerer was tangata purepure (a man who prays).

[233] The prayers offered by the ta'unga (priests)[234] to the gods worshiped on national or tribal marae (temples) were termed karakia;[235] those on minor occasions to the lesser gods were named pure. All these prayers were metrical, and were handed down from generation to generation with the utmost care. There were prayers for every such phase in life; for success in battle; for a change in wind (to overwhelm an adversary at sea, or that an intended voyage be propitious); that his crops may grow; to curse a thief; or wish ill-luck and death to his foes. Few men of middle age were without a number of these prayers or charms.

The succession of a sorcerer was from father to son, or from uncle to nephew. So too of sorceresses: it would be from mother to daughter, or from aunt to niece.

Sorcerers and sorceresses were often slain by relatives of their supposed victims. A singular enchantment was employed to kill off a husband of a pretty woman desired by someone else. The expanded flower of a Gardenia was stuck uprighta very difficult performancein a cup i. Half a large coconut shell of water. A prayer was then offered for the husband's speedy death, the sorcerer earnestly watching the flower. Should it fall the incantation was successful. But if the flower still remained upright, he will live. The sorcerer would in that case try his skill another day, with perhaps better success. According to Beatrice Grimshaw, a journalist who visited the Cook Islands in 1907, the uncrowned Queen Makea was believed to have possessed the mystic power called mana, giving the possessor the power to slay at will. It also included other gifts, such as second sight to a certain extent, the power to bring good or evil luck, and the ability already mentioned to deal death at will. A local newspaper informed that more than 50 people were killed in two Highlands provinces of Papua New Guinea in 2008 for allegedly practicing witchcraft. [239] An estimated 50150 alleged witches are killed each year in Papua New Guinea. It was reported in 2019 that a father blamed witchcraft for the death of his family, claiming that his in-laws were "too much into witchcraft".

Among the Russian words for witch, (ved'ma) literally means "one who knows", from Old Slavic "to know". Pagan practices formed a part of Russian and Eastern Slavic culture; the Russian people were deeply superstitious. The witchcraft practiced consisted mostly of earth magic and herbology; it was not so significant which herbs were used in practices, but how these herbs were gathered. Ritual centered on harvest of the crops and the location of the sun was very important. [243] One source, pagan author Judika Illes, tells that herbs picked on Midsummer's Eve were believed to be most powerful, especially if gathered on Bald Mountain near Kiev during the witches' annual revels celebration.

[244] Botanicals should be gathered, During the seventeenth minute of the fourteenth hour, under a dark moon, in the thirteenth field, wearing a red dress, pick the twelfth flower on the right. Spells dealing with midwifery and childbirth focused on the spiritual wellbeing of the baby. [245] Shape-shifting spells involved invocation of the wolf as a spirit animal. [246] To keep men faithful, lovers would cut a ribbon the length of his erect penis and soak it in his seminal emissions after sex while he was sleeping, then tie seven knots in it; keeping this talisman of knot magic ensured loyalty. [247] Part of an ancient pagan marriage tradition involved the bride taking a ritual bath at a bathhouse before the ceremony. Her sweat would be wiped from her body using raw fish, and the fish would be cooked and fed to the groom. Demonism, or black magic, was not prevalent. Placing these items in sachet in the victim's pillow completes a spoiler. The Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and the ancient Egyptians recognized the evil eye from as early as 3,000 BCE; in Russian practices it is seen as a sixteenth-century concept. The dominant societal concern those practicing witchcraft was not whether paganism was effective, but whether it could cause harm. [249] Peasants in Russian and Ukrainian societies often shunned witchcraft, unless they needed help against supernatural forces. Impotence, stomach pains, barrenness, hernias, abscesses, epileptic seizures, and convulsions were all attributed to evil (or witchcraft). This is reflected in linguistics; there are numerous words for a variety of practitioners of paganism-based healers. Russian peasants referred to a witch as a chernoknizhnik (a person who plied his trade with the aid of a black book), sheptun/sheptun'ia (a "whisperer" male or female), lekar/lekarka or znakhar/znakharka (a male or female healer), or zagovornik (an incanter). Ironically enough, there was universal reliance on folk healers but clients often turned them in if something went wrong. According to Russian historian Valerie A. Kivelson, witchcraft accusations were normally thrown at lower-class peasants, townspeople and Cossacks. People turned to witchcraft as a means to support themselves. The ratio of male to female accusations was 75% to 25%. Males were targeted more, because witchcraft was associated with societal deviation. Because single people with no settled home could not be taxed, males typically had more power than women in their dissent. The history of Witchcraft had evolved around society. More of a psychological concept to the creation and usage of Witchcraft can create the assumption as to why women are more likely to follow the practices behind Witchcraft. Identifying with the soul of an individual's self is often deemed as "feminine" in society. There is analyzed social and economic evidence to associate between witchcraft and women. A true and iust Recorde, of the Information, Examination and Confession of all witches.. Witchcraft trials frequently occurred in seventeenth-century Russia, although the "great witch-hunt" is believedby whom? To be a predominantly Western European phenomenon. However, as the witchcraft-trial craze swept across Catholic and Protestant countries during this time, Orthodox Christian Europe indeed partook in this so-called witch hysteria. This involved the persecution of both males and females who were believed to be practicing paganism, herbology, the black art, or a form of sorcery within and/or outside their community. Very early on witchcraft legally fell under the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical body, the church, in Kievan Rus' and Muscovite Russia. [256] Sources of ecclesiastical witchcraft jurisdiction date back as early as the second half of the eleventh century, one being Vladimir the Great's first edition of his State Statute or Ustav, another being multiple references in the Primary Chronicle beginning in 1024. Goya's drawing of result of a presumed witch's trial: " [so she must be a witch]"[258]. The sentence for an individual who was found guilty of witchcraft or sorcery during this time, as well as in previous centuries, typically included either burning at the stake or being tested with the "ordeal of cold water" or judicium aquae frigidae. [262] Ivan IV, as a true believer in witchcraft, was deeply convinced[citation needed] that sorcery accounted for the death of his wife, Anastasiia in 1560, which completely devastated and depressed him, leaving him heartbroken. [263] Stemming from this belief, Ivan IV became majorly concerned with the threat of witchcraft harming his family, and feared he was in danger. So, during the Oprichnina (15651572), Ivan IV succeeded in accusing and charging a good number of boyars with witchcraft whom he did not wish to remain as nobles. Rulers after Ivan IV, specifically during the Time of Troubles (15981613), increased the fear of witchcraft among themselves and entire royal families, which then led to further preoccupation with the fear of prominent Muscovite witchcraft circles. After the Time of Troubles, seventeenth-century Muscovite rulers held frequent investigations of witchcraft within their households, laying the groundwork, along with previous tsarist reforms, for widespread witchcraft trials throughout the Muscovite state. [265] Between 1622 and 1700 ninety-one people were brought to trial in Muscovite courts for witchcraft. [266] Although Russia did partake in the witch craze that swept across Western Europe, the Muscovite state did not persecute nearly as many people for witchcraft, let alone execute a number of individuals anywhere close to the number executed in the west during the witch hysteria. Louhi, a powerful and wicked witch queen of the land known as Pohjola in the Finnish epic poetry Kalevala, attacking Väinämöinen in the form of a giant eagle with her troops on her back.

(The Defense of the Sampo, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, 1896). Witches have a long history of being depicted in art, although most of their earliest artistic depictions seem to originate in Early Modern Europe, particularly the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Many scholars attribute their manifestation in art as inspired by texts such as Canon Episcopi, a demonology-centered work of literature, and Malleus Maleficarum, a "witch-craze" manual published in 1487, by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. Canon Episcopi, a ninth-century text that explored the subject of demonology, initially introduced concepts that would continuously be associated with witches, such as their ability to fly or their believed fornication and sexual relations with the devil.

The text refers to two women, Diana the Huntress and Herodias, who both express the duality of female sorcerers. Diana was described as having a heavenly body and as the "protectress of childbirth and fertility" while Herodias symbolized "unbridled sensuality". They thus represent the mental powers and cunning sexuality that witches used as weapons to trick men into performing sinful acts which would result in their eternal punishment. These characteristics were distinguished as Medusa-like or Lamia-like traits when seen in any artwork (Medusa's mental trickery was associated with Diana the Huntress's psychic powers and Lamia was a rumored female figure in the Medieval ages sometimes used in place of Herodias). One of the first individuals to regularly depict witches after the witch-craze of the medieval period was Albrecht Dürer, a German Renaissance artist. His famous 1497 engraving The Four Witches, portrays four physically attractive and seductive nude witches. Their supernatural identities are emphasized by the skulls and bones lying at their feet as well as the devil discreetly peering at them from their left. The women's sensuous presentation speaks to the overtly sexual nature they were attached to in early modern Europe. Moreover, this attractiveness was perceived as a danger to ordinary men who they could seduce and tempt into their sinful world. [222] Some scholars interpret this piece as utilizing the logic of the Canon Episcopi, in which women used their mental powers and bodily seduction to enslave and lead men onto a path of eternal damnation, differing from the unattractive depiction of witches that would follow in later Renaissance years. Dürer also employed other ideas from the Middle Ages that were commonly associated with witches. Specifically, his art often referred to former 12th- to 13th-century Medieval iconography addressing the nature of female sorcerers. In the Medieval period, there was a widespread fear of witches, accordingly producing an association of dark, intimidating characteristics with witches, such as cannibalism (witches described as "[sucking] the blood of newborn infants"[222]) or described as having the ability to fly, usually on the back of black goats. As the Renaissance period began, these concepts of witchcraft were suppressed, leading to a drastic change in the sorceress' appearances, from sexually explicit beings to the'ordinary' typical housewives of this time period. This depiction, known as the'Waldensian' witch became a cultural phenomenon of early Renaissance art. The term originates from the 12th-century monk Peter Waldo, who established his own religious sect which explicitly opposed the luxury and commodity-influenced lifestyle of the Christian church clergy, and whose sect was excommunicated before being persecuted as "practitioners of witchcraft and magic". Subsequent artwork exhibiting witches tended to consistently rely on cultural stereotypes about these women. These stereotypes were usually rooted in early Renaissance religious discourse, specifically the Christian belief that an "earthly alliance" had taken place between Satan's female minions who "conspired to destroy Christendom". Another significant artist whose art consistently depicted witches was Dürer's apprentice, Hans Baldung Grien, a 15th-century German artist. His chiaroscuro woodcut, Witches, created in 1510, visually encompassed all the characteristics that were regularly assigned to witches during the Renaissance. Social beliefs labeled witches as supernatural beings capable of doing great harm, possessing the ability to fly, and as cannibalistic. [270] The urn in Witches seems to contain pieces of the human body, which the witches are seen consuming as a source of energy. Meanwhile, their nudity while feasting is recognized as an allusion to their sexual appetite, and some scholars read the witch riding on the back of a goat-demon as representative of their "flight-inducing [powers]".

This connection between women's sexual nature and sins was thematic in the pieces of many Renaissance artists, especially Christian artists, due to cultural beliefs which characterized women as overtly sexual beings who were less capable (in comparison to men) of resisting sinful temptation. Trick-or-treating is a Halloween a traditional custom for children and adults in some countries. Children in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "Trick or treat". The "trick" refers to a threat, usually idle, to perform mischief on the homeowner(s) or their property if no treat is given. Trick-or-treating usually occurs on the evening of October 31.

Some homeowners signal that they are willing to hand out treats by putting up Halloween decorations outside their doors; others simply leave treats available on their porches for the children to take freely. Houses may also leave their porch light on as a universal indicator that they have candy. In Scotland and Ireland, the tradition of going house to house collecting food at Halloween goes back at least as far as the 16th century, as does the tradition of people wearing costumes at Halloween. [1] In North America, trick-or-treating has been a Halloween tradition since the 1920s. [3] While going house to house in costume has long been popular among the Scots and Irish, it is only recently that saying "Trick or treat" has become common in Scotland and Ireland. In the last, this practice is called calaverita (Spanish diminutive for calavera, "skull" in English), and instead of "Trick or treat", the children ask, ¿Me da mi calaverita? " "Can you give me my little skull? , where a calaverita is a small skull made of sugar or chocolate... Traditions similar to the modern custom of trick-or-treating extend all the way back to classical antiquity, although it is extremely unlikely that any of them are directly related to the modern custom. The ancient Greek writer Athenaeus of Naucratis records in his book The Deipnosophists that, in ancient times, the Greek island of Rhodes had a custom in which children would go from door-to-door dressed as swallows, singing a song, which demanded the owners of the house to give them food and threatened to cause mischief if the owners of the house refused. [4][5][6] This tradition was claimed to have been started by the Rhodian lawgiver Cleobulus. Since the Middle Ages, a tradition of mumming on a certain holiday has existed in parts of Britain and Ireland. The custom of trick-or-treating on Halloween may come from the belief that supernatural beings, or the souls of the dead, roamed the earth at this time and needed to be appeased. It may otherwise have originated in a Celtic festival, held on 31 October1 November, to mark the beginning of winter. It was Samhain in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, and Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. The festival is believed to have pre-Christian roots. In the 9th century, the Catholic Church made 1 November All Saints' Day. Among Celtic-speaking peoples, it was seen as a liminal time, when the spirits or fairies (the Aos Sí), and the souls of the dead, came into our world and were appeased with offerings of food and drink. [11][12] People would visit houses and take soul-cakes, either as representatives of the dead, or in return for praying for their souls. [13] Later, people went from parish to parish at Halloween, begging soul-cakes by singing under the windows some such verse as this:'Soul, souls, for a soul-cake; Pray you good mistress, a soul-cake! "[14] They typically asked for "mercy on all Christian souls for a soul-cake. [15] It was known as'Souling' and was recorded in parts of Britain, Flanders, southern Germany, and Austria. [16] Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering or whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas". The wearing of costumes, or "guising", at Hallowmas, had been recorded in Scotland in the 16th century[18] and was later recorded in other parts of Britain and Ireland. [19] There are many references to mumming, guising or souling at Halloween in Britain and Ireland during the late 18th century and the 19th century. If the household donated food it could expect good fortune from the'Muck Olla', but if they refused to do so, it would bring misfortune. [20] In Scotland, youths went house to house in white with masked, painted or blackened faces, reciting rhymes and often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed. [19][21][22] In parts of Wales, peasant men went house to house dressed as fearsome beings called gwrachod, or presenting themselves as the cenhadon y meirw (representatives of the dead). [19] In western England, mostly in the counties bordering Wales, souling was common. Girl in a Halloween costume in 1928 in Ontario, Canada, the same province where the Scottish Halloween custom of "guising" is first recorded in North America. [24] The earliest known occurrence of the practice of guising at Halloween in North America is from 1911, when a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada reported on children going "guising" around the neighborhood. American historian and author Ruth Edna Kelley of Massachusetts wrote the first book length history of the holiday in the US; The Book of Hallowe'en (1919), and references souling in the chapter "Hallowe'en in America"; The taste in Hallowe'en festivities now is to study old traditions, and hold a Scotch party, using Burn's poem Hallowe'en as a guide; or to go a-souling as the English used. In short, no custom that was once honored at Hallowe'en is out of fashion now. [25] Kelley lived in Lynn, Massachusetts, a town with 4,500 Irish immigrants, 1,900 English immigrants, and 700 Scottish immigrants in 1920. The earliest known use in print of the term "trick or treat" appears in 1927, from Blackie, Alberta. Halloween provided an opportunity for real strenuous fun. No real damage was done except to the temper of some who had to hunt for wagon wheels, gates, wagons, barrels, etc. Much of which decorated the front street. The youthful tormentors were at back door and front demanding edible plunder by the word trick or treat to which the inmates gladly responded and sent the robbers away rejoicing. The thousands of Halloween postcards produced between the start of the 20th century and the 1920s commonly show children but do not depict trick-or-treating. [30] The editor of a collection of over 3,000 vintage Halloween postcards writes, There are cards which mention the custom [of trick-or-treating] or show children in costumes at the doors, but as far as we can tell they were printed later than the 1920s and more than likely even the 1930s. Tricksters of various sorts are shown on the early postcards, but not the means of appeasing them. Trick-or-treating does not seem to have become a widespread practice until the 1930s, with the first U. Appearance of the term in 1932, [32] and the first use in a national publication occurring in 1939. Behavior similar to trick-or-treating was more commonly associated with Thanksgiving from 1870 (shortly after that holiday's formalization) until the 1930s. In New York City, a Thanksgiving ritual known as Ragamuffin Day involved children dressing up as beggars and asking for treats, which later evolved into dressing up in more diverse costumes. [34][35] Increasing hostility toward the practice in the 1930s eventually led to the begging aspects being dropped, and by the 1950s, the tradition as a whole had ceased. Almost all pre-1940 uses of the term "trick-or-treat" are from the United States and Canada. Trick-or-treating spread throughout the United States, stalled only by World War II sugar rationing that began in April, 1942 and lasted until June, 1947.

Early national attention to trick-or-treating was given in October, 1947 issues of the children's magazines Jack and Jill and Children's Activities, [38] and by Halloween episodes of the network radio programs The Baby Snooks Show in 1946 and The Jack Benny Show and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet in 1948. [39] Trick-or-treating was depicted in the Peanuts comic strip in 1951. [40] The custom had become firmly established in popular culture by 1952, when Walt Disney portrayed it in the cartoon Trick or Treat, and Ozzie and Harriet were besieged by trick-or-treaters on an episode of their television show.

[41] In 1953 UNICEF first conducted a national campaign for children to raise funds for the charity while trick-or-treating. Although some popular histories of Halloween have characterized trick-or-treating as an adult invention to re-channel Halloween activities away from Mischief Night vandalism, there are very few records supporting this. Des Moines, Iowa is the only area known to have a record of trick-or-treating being used to deter crime. [43] Elsewhere, adults, as reported in newspapers from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, typically saw it as a form of extortion, with reactions ranging from bemused indulgence to anger. [44] Likewise, as portrayed on radio shows, children would have to explain what trick-or-treating was to puzzled adults, and not the other way around. [49] In Ireland before the phrase "trick or treat" became common, children would say "Help the Halloween Party". Very often, the phrase "trick or treat" is simply said and the revellers are given sweets, with the choice of a trick or a treat having been discarded. Two children trick-or-treating on Halloween in Arkansas, United States. Trick-or-treating typically begins at dusk which can vary according to region on October 31st. It can range between 5:30PM9:00PM.

Some municipalities specify times that can be found on city/town sites. Some municipalities choose other dates. [50] Homeowners wishing to participate sometimes decorate their homes with artificial spider webs, plastic skeletons and jack-o-lanterns. While not every residence may be decorated for the holiday, those participating in the handing out of candy will opt to leave a porch light on to signify that the opportunity for candy is available. Some homeowners may go as far as asking trick-or-treaters for a "trick" before providing them with candy, while others simply leave the candy in bowls on the porch.

In more recent years, when? Participation has spread through whole neighborhoods, with children even visiting senior residences and condominiums. The nonprofit Food Allergy Research & Education says on its website that in 2014 it started the practice of teal pumpkins as decorations to indicate that a house is giving out items other than food. This inspired Alicia Plumer, the mother of an autistic son, to start the blue bucket movement in 2018. Plumer's son carried a blue bucket, and National Autism Association president Wendy Fournier encouraged the use of blue buckets by other autistic children, to indicate that they might not have the abilities of other children but still deserved to be included. For other uses, see Guising (disambiguation). Halloween shop in Derry, Northern Ireland. Halloween masks are called false faces in Ireland.

In Scotland and Ireland, "guising" children going from door to door in disguise is traditional, and a gift in the form of food, coins or "apples or nuts for the Halloween party" (in more recent times chocolate) is given out to the children. [53][54] The tradition is called "guising" because of the disguises or costumes worn by the children. [2][55] In the West Mid Scots dialect, guising is known as "galoshans". [56] Halloween masks are referred to as false faces in Ireland and Scotland. [24] Guising also involved going to wealthy homes, and in the 1920s, boys went guising at Halloween up to the affluent Thorntonhall, South Lanarkshire.

[57] An account of guising in the 1950s in Ardrossan, North Ayrshire, records a child receiving 12 shillings and sixpence, having knocked on doors throughout the neighborhood and performed. [48] Growing up in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 1960s, Michael Bradley recalls kids wearing their masks and costumes to go knocking on doors asking, Any nuts or apples? There is a significant difference from the way the practice has developed in North America with the jocular threat. In Scotland and Ireland, the children are only supposed to receive treats if they perform a party trick for the households they go to. This normally takes the form of singing a song or reciting a joke or a funny poem which the child has memorised before setting out. [48] Occasionally a more talented child may do card tricks, play the mouth organ, or something even more impressive, but most children will earn plenty of treats even with something very simple. Often they won't even need to perform. [53] While going from door to door in disguise has remained popular among Scots and Irish at Halloween, the North American saying "trick-or-treat" has become common. Trunk-or-treating event held at St. John Lutheran Church & Early Learning Center in Darien, Illinois.

Some organizations around the United States and Canada sponsor a "Trunk-or-Treat" on Halloween night (or on occasion, a day immediately preceding Halloween or a few days from it on a weekend, depending on what is convenient), where trick-or-treating is done from parked car to parked car in a local parking lot, often at a school or church. This annual event began in the mid-1990s as a "Fall Festival" for an alternative to trick-or-treating, but became "Trunk-or-Treat" two decades later. The activity involves the open trunk of a car, displaying candy, and often games and decorations.

Some parents regard trunk-or-treating as a safer alternative to trick-or-treating;[59] while other parents see it as an easier alternative to walking the neighborhood with their children. Some have called for more city or community group-sponsored Trunk-or-Treats, so they can be more inclusive. [60] These have become increasingly popular in recent years. Louis, Missouri area are expected to perform a joke, usually a simple Halloween-themed pun or riddle, before receiving any candy; this "trick" earns the "treat".

[62] Children in Des Moines, Iowa also tell jokes or otherwise perform before receiving their treat. In most areas where trick-or-treating is practiced, it is strictly meant for children. In fact, there are a diversity of opinions regarding when to end trick or treating, the most restrictive of which is age 12, the least restrictive at any age, and a common rule of thumb being "if you are old enough to drive a car you are too old to beg strangers for candy".

[63] It is generally expected that a teenager will transition into more mature expressions of celebrating the holiday, such as fancy dress, games, and diversions like bonfires and bobbing for apples, and sweets like caramel apples, and teenagers will often attend school or community events with a Halloween theme where there will be dancing and music. [64] Dressing up is common at all ages, adults will often dress up to accompany their children, and young adults may dress up to go out and ask for gifts for a charity. In some parts of Canada, children sometimes say "Halloween apples" instead of "trick or treat". This probably originated when the toffee apple was a popular type of candy.

Apple-giving in much of Canada, however, has been taboo since the 1960s when stories (of almost certainly questionable authenticity) appeared of razors hidden inside Halloween apples; parents began to check over their children's "loot" for safety before allowing them to eat it. In Quebec, children also go door to door on Halloween. However, in French-speaking neighbourhoods, instead of "Trick or treat", they will simply say "Halloween", though it traditionally used to be "La charité, s'il-vous-plaît" ("Charity, please"). It is to share with your deceased...

[70] After this ritual begging, takes place the Magusto and big bonfires are lit with the "firewood of the souls". The young people play around smothering their faces with the ashes. The ritual begging for the deceased used to take place all over the year as in several regions the dead, those who were dear, were expected to arrive and take part in the major celebrations like Christmas and a plate with food or a seat at the table was always left for them. In Sweden, children dress up as witches and monsters when they go trick-or-treating on Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter) while Danish children dress up in various attires and go trick-or-treating on Fastelavn (or the next day, Shrove Monday).

In Norway, "trick-or-treat" is called "knask eller knep", which means almost the same thing, although with the word order reversed, and the practice is quite common among children, who come dressed up to people's doors asking for, mainly, candy. The Easter witch tradition is done on Palm Sunday in Finland (virvonta). In parts of Flanders and some parts of the Netherlands and most areas of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, children go to houses with homemade beet lanterns or with paper lanterns (which can hold a candle or electronic light), singing songs about St. Martin's Day (the 11th of November), in return for treats. [72] In Northern Germany and Southern Denmark, children dress up in costumes and go trick-or-treating on New Year's Eve in a tradition called "Rummelpott [de]". A plate is a broad, concave, but mainly flat vessel on which food can be served. [1] A plate can also be used for ceremonial or decorative purposes. Most plates are circular, but they may be any shape, or made of any water-resistant material. Generally plates are raised round the edges, either by a curving up, or a wider lip or raised portion. Vessels with no lip, especially if they have a more rounded profile, are likely to be considered as bowls or dishes, as are very large vessels with a plate shape. Plates are dishware, and tableware. Plates in wood, pottery and metal go back into antiquity in many cultures. In Western culture and many other cultures, the plate is the typical form of vessel off which food is eaten, and on which it is served if not too liquid. The main rival is the bowl, which predominates for both purposes in South Asian cultures, for example... A plate is typically composed of. The well, the bottom of the plate, where food is placed. The lip, the flattish raised outer part of the plate (sometimes wrongly called the rim). Its width in proportion to the well can vary greatly. It usually has a slight upwards slope, or is parallel with the base, as is typical in larger dishes and traditional Chinese shapes. Not all plates have a distinct lip. The rim, the outer edge of the piece; often decorated, for example with gilding. The usual wide and flat European raised lip is derived from old European metalwork plate shapes; Chinese ceramic plates usually just curve up at the edges, or have a narrow lip. A completely flat serving plate, only practical for dry foods, may be called a trencher, especially if in wood. Plates are commonly made from ceramic materials such as bone china, porcelain, glazed earthenware, and stoneware, as well as other traditional materials like, glass, wood or metal; occasionally, stone has been used. Despite a range of plastics and other modern materials, ceramics and other traditional materials remain the most common, except for specialized uses such as plates for young children. Dinner plates: large 1012 inches (2530 cm), including buffet plates, serving plates which tend to be larger 1114 inches (2836 cm). Soup plates, typically between the lunch and dinner sizes, with a much deeper well and wider lip. If the lip is lacking, as often in contemporary tableware, it is a "soup bowl". May also be used for desserts. Platters (US English) or serving plates: oversized dishes from which food for several people may be distributed at table.

Decorative plates: for display rather than used for food. Commemorative plates have designs reflecting a particular theme.

Charger: a decorative plate placed under a separate plate used to hold food, larger 1314 inches (3336 cm). Plates can be any shape, but almost all have a rim to prevent food from falling off the edge. They are often white or off-white, but can be any color, including patterns and artistic designs. Round: the most common shape, especially for dinner plates and saucers. Square: more common in Asian traditions like sushi plates or bento, and to add modern style. Squircle: holding more food than round ones but still occupying the same amount of space in a cupboard. Coupe (arguably a type of bowl rather than a plate): a round dish with a smooth, round, steep curve up to the rim (as opposed to rims that curve up then flatten out). Ribbon plate: decorative plate with slots around the circumference to enable a ribbon to be threaded through for hanging. It was an inexpensive hobby, and the variety of shapes and designs catered to a wide spectrum of collectors. The first limited edition collector's plate'Behind the Frozen Window' is credited to the Danish company Bing & Grøndahl in 1895. Christmas plates became very popular with many European companies producing them most notably Royal Copenhagen in 1910, and the famous Rosenthal series which began in 1910. A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid materials, paper, plant fibers, etc. One of the world's oldest handicraft is Dhokra; this is a sort of metal casting that has been used in India for over 4,000 years and is still used. In Iranian Baluchistan, women still make red ware hand made pottery with dotted ornaments much similar to the 5000 year old pottery tradition of Kalpurgan, an archaeological site near the village. Usually, the term is applied to traditional techniques of creating items (whether for personal use or as products) that are both practical and aesthetic. Handicraft industries are those that produce things with hands to meet the needs of the people in their locality. Collective terms for handicrafts include artisanry, handicrafting, crafting, handicraftsmanship and handcrafting. The term arts and crafts is also applied, especially in the United States and mostly to hobbyists' and children's output rather than items crafted for daily use, but this distinction is not formal, and the term is easily confused with the Arts and Crafts design movement, which is in fact as practical as it is aesthetic. Handicraft has its roots in the rural craftsthe material-goods necessitiesof ancient civilizations, and many specific crafts have been practiced for centuries, while others are modern inventions or popularizations of crafts which were originally practiced in a limited geographic area. Many handcrafters use natural, even entirely indigenous, materials while others may prefer modern, non-traditional materials, and even upcycle industrial materials. The individual artisanship of a handcrafted item is the paramount criterion; those made by mass production or machines are not handicraft goods. Seen as developing the skills and creative interests of students, generally and sometimes towards a particular craft or trade, handicrafts are often integrated into educational systems, both informally and formally. Most crafts require the development of skill and the application of patience but can be learned by virtually anyone.

Like folk art, handicraft output often has cultural and/or religious significance, and increasingly may have a political message as well, as in craftivism. Many crafts become very popular for brief periods of time (a few months, or a few years), spreading rapidly among the crafting population as everyone emulates the first examples, then their popularity wanes until a later resurgence... The Arts and Crafts movement in the West[edit]. Main article: Arts and Crafts.

The Arts and Crafts movement originated as late 19th-century design reform and social movement principally in Europe, North America and Australia, and continues today. Its proponents are motivated by the ideals of movement founders such as William Morris and John Ruskin, who proposed that in pre-industrial societies, such as the European Middle Ages, people had achieved fulfillment through the creative process of handicrafts. This was held up in contrast to what was perceived to be the alienating effects of industrial labor. Works Progress Administration, Crafts Class, 1935. The Industrial Revolution and the increasing mechanization of production processes gradually reduced or eliminated many of the roles professional craftspeople played, and today many handicrafts are increasingly seen, especially when no longer the mainstay of a formal vocational trade, as a form of hobby, folk art and sometimes even fine art. The term handicrafts can also refer to the products themselves of such artisanal efforts, that require specialized knowledge, maybe highly technical in their execution, require specialized equipment and/or facilities to produce, involve manual labor or a blue-collar work ethic, are accessible to the general public, and are constructed from materials with histories that exceed the boundaries of Western "fine art" tradition, such as ceramics, glass, textiles, metal and wood. These products are produced within a specific community of practice, and while they mostly differ from the products produced within the communities of art and design, the boundaries often overlap, resulting in hybrid objects.

Additionally, as the interpretation and validation of art is frequently a matter of context, an audience may perceive handcrafted objects as art objects when these objects are viewed within an art context, such as in a museum or in a position of prominence in one's home. At the Buell Children's Museum in Pueblo, Colorado, children and their guardians partake in "arts and crafts" i. Simple "arts and crafts" projects are a common elementary and middle school activity in both mainstream and alternative education systems around the world. In some of the Scandinavian countries, more advanced handicrafts form part of the formal, compulsory school curriculum, and are collectively referred to as slöjd in Swedish, and käsityö or veto in Finnish. Students learn how to work mainly with metal, textile and wood, not for professional training purposes as in American vocationaltechnical schools, but with the aim to develop children's and teens' practical skills, such as everyday problem-solving ability, tool use, and understanding of the materials that surround us for economical, cultural and environmental purposes.

Secondary schools and college and university art departments increasingly provide elective options for more handicraft-based arts, in addition to formal "fine arts", a distinction that continues to fade throughout the years, especially with the rise of studio craft, i. The use of traditional handicrafts techniques by professional fine artists. Many community centers and schools run evening or day classes and workshops, for adults and children, offering to teach basic craft skills in a short period of time. Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including glass jewelry and tableware. As a decorative and functional medium, glass was extensively developed in Egypt and Assyria. Invented by the Phoenicians, was brought to the fore by the Romans. In the Middle Ages, the builders of the great Norman and Gothic cathedrals of Europe took the art of glass to new heights with the use of stained glass windows as a major architectural and decorative element. Glass from Murano, in the Venetian Lagoon, (also known as Venetian glass) is the result of hundreds of years of refinement and invention. Murano is still held as the birthplace of modern glass art. The turn of the 19th century was the height of the old art glass movement while the factory glass blowers were being replaced by mechanical bottle blowing and continuous window glass. Great ateliers like Tiffany, Lalique, Daum, Gallé, the Corning schools in upper New York state, and Steuben Glass Works took glass art to new levels...

The first uses of glass were in beads and other small pieces of jewelry and decoration. Beads and jewelry are still among the most common uses of glass in art and can be worked without a furnace. It later became fashionable to wear functional jewelry with glass elements, such as pocket watches and monocles.

Starting in the late 20th century, glass couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing made from sculpted glass. These are made to order for the body of the wearer. They are partly or entirely made of glass with extreme attention to fit and flexibility. The result is usually delicate, and not intended for regular use. 19th-century glass from Persia, The Hague Municipal Museum. Some of the earliest and most practical works of glass art were glass vessels. Goblets and pitchers were popular as glassblowing developed as an art form.

Many early methods of etching, painting, and forming glass were honed on these vessels. For instance, the millefiori technique dates back at least to Rome. More recently, lead glass or crystal glass were used to make vessels that rang like a bell when struck. In the 20th century, mass-produced glass work including artistic glass vessels was sometimes known as factory glass.

Starting in the Middle Ages, glass became more widely produced and used for windows in buildings. Stained glass became common for windows in cathedrals and grand civic buildings. Glass facades and structural glass[edit]. The invention of plate glass and the Bessemer process allowed for glass to be used in larger segments, to support more structural loads, and to be produced at larger scales.

A striking example of this was the Crystal Palace in 1851, one of the first buildings to use glass as a primary structural material. In the 20th century, glass became used for tables and shelves, for internal walls, and even for floors. Sarpaneva and the Iittala glassworks explored new techniques in glass art during the 20th century. Some of the best known glass sculptures are statuesque or monumental works created by artists Livio Seguso, Karen LaMonte, and Stanislav Libenský and Jaroslava Brychtová. Another example is René Roubícek's "Object" 1960, a blown and hot-worked piece of 52.2 cm (20.6 in)[1] shown at the "Design in an Age of Adversity" exhibition at the Corning Museum of Glass in 2005. [2] A chiselled and bonded plate glass tower by Henry Richardson serves as the memorial to the Connecticut victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Even individual glassblowers making their own personalized designs would do their work in those large shared buildings. The idea of "art glass", small decorative works made of art, often with designs or objects inside, flourished. Pieces produced in small production runs, such as the lampwork figures of Stanislav Brychta, are generally called art glass. By the 1970s, there were good designs for smaller furnaces, and in the United States, this gave rise to the "studio glass" movement of glassblowers who blew their glass outside of factories, often in their own studios. This coincided with a move towards smaller production runs of particular styles. This movement spread to other parts of the world as well... Water Walk by Paul Housberg.

Combining many of the above techniques, but focusing on art represented in the glass rather than its shape, glass panels or walls can reach tremendous sizes. These may be installed as walls or on top of walls, or hung from a ceiling. Large panels can be found as part of outdoor installation pieces or for interior use. Dedicated lighting is often part of the artwork.

Techniques used include stained glass, carving (wheel carving, engraving, or acid etching), frosting, enameling, and gilding (including Angel gilding). An artist may combine techniques through masking or silkscreening. Glass panels or walls may also be complemented by running water or dynamic lights.

The earliest glass art paperweights were produced as utilitarian objects in the mid 1800s in Europe. Modern artists have elevated the craft to fine art. Glass art paperweights, can incorporate several glass techniques but the most common techniques found are millefiori and lampworkboth techniques that had been around long before the advent of paperweights. In paperweights, the millefiori or sculptural lampwork elements are encapsulated in clear solid crystal creating a completely solid sculptural form.

In the mid 20th century there was a resurgence of interest in paperweight making and several artist sought to relearn the craft. In the US, Charles Kaziun started in 1940 to produce buttons, paperweights, inkwells and other bottles, using lampwork of elegant simplicity. In Scotland, the pioneering work of Paul Ysart from the 1930s onward preceded a new generation of artists such as William Manson, Peter McDougall, Peter Holmes and John Deacons. A further impetus to reviving interest in paperweights was the publication of Evangiline Bergstrom's book, Old Glass Paperweights, the first of a new genre. A number of small studios appeared in the middle 20th century, particularly in the US. These may have several to some dozens of workers with various levels of skill cooperating to produce their own distinctive "line". Notable examples are Lundberg Studios, Orient and Flume, Correia Art Glass, St. Clair, Lotton, and Parabelle Glass.

Starting in the late 1960s and early 70s, artists such as Francis Whittemore, [5] Paul Stankard, [6] his former assistant Jim D'Onofrio, [7] Chris Buzzini, [8] Delmo[9] and daughter Debbie Tarsitano, [10] Victor Trabucco[11] and sons, Gordon Smith, [12] Rick Ayotte[13] and his daughter Melissa, the father and son team of Bob and Ray Banford, [14] and Ken Rosenfeld[15] began breaking new ground and were able to produce fine paperweights rivaling anything produced in the classic period. Kiln-formed glass sculpture "United Earth" by Tomasz Urbanowicz. Several of the most common techniques for producing glass art include: blowing, kiln-casting, fusing, slumping, pâté-de-verre, flame-working, hot-sculpting and cold-working. Cold work includes traditional stained glass work as well as other methods of shaping glass at room temperature. Glass can also be cut with a diamond saw, or copper wheels embedded with abrasives and polished to give gleaming facets; the technique used in creating Waterford crystal.

Since the late 1930s, a small number of very skilled artists have used this art form to express themselves, using mostly the classic techniques of millefiori and lampwork. Art is sometimes etched into glass via the use of acid, caustic, or abrasive substances. Traditionally this was done after the glass was blown or cast. In the 1920s a new mould-etch process was invented, in which art was etched directly into the mould so that each cast piece emerged from the mould with the image already on the surface of the glass. This reduced manufacturing costs and, combined with a wider use of colored glass, led to cheap glassware in the 1930s, which later became known as Depression glass. In 2015, the Mediated Matter group and Glass Lab at MIT produced a prototype 3D printer that could print with glass, through their G3DP project. This printer allowed creators to vary optical properties and thickness of their pieces. The first works that they printed were a series of artistic vessels, which were included in the Cooper Hewitt's Beauty exhibit in 2016. Glass printing is theoretically possible at large and small physical scales and has the capacity for mass production.

Modern works of glass art can be seen in dedicated glass museums and museums of contemporary art. These include the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Virginia, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Toledo Museum of Art, and Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, NY, which houses the world's largest collection of glass art and history, with more than 45,000 objects in its collection.

[20] The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston features a 42.5 feet (13.0 m) tall glass sculpture, Lime Green Icicle Tower, by Dale Chihuly. [21] In February 2000 the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows, located in Chicago's Navy Pier, opened as the first museum in America dedicated solely to stained glass windows.

The museum features works by Louis Comfort Tiffany and John Lafarge, and is open daily free to the public. The Harvard Museum of Natural History has a collection of extremely detailed models of flowers made of painted glass. These were lampworked by Leopold Blaschka and his son Rudolph, who never revealed the method he used to make them.

The Blaschka Glass Flowers are still an inspiration to glassblowers today. [23] The UK's National Glass Centre is located in the city of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. Glass fusing is the joining together of pieces of glass at high temperature, usually in a kiln.

[1][2] This is usually done roughly between 700 °C (1,292 °F) and 820 °C (1,510 °F), [3][4] and can range from tack fusing at lower temperatures, in which separate pieces of glass stick together but still retain their individual shapes, [5] to full fusing at higher ones, in which separate pieces merge smoothly into one another... While the precise origins of glass fusing techniques are not known with certainty, there is archeological evidence that the Egyptians were familiar with techniques ca. [7] Although this date is generally accepted by researchers, some historians argue that the earliest fusing techniques were first developed by the Romans, who were much more prolific glassworkers. [8] Fusing was the primary method of making small glass objects for approximately 2,000 years, until the development of the glass blowpipe.

Glassblowing largely supplanted fusing due to its greater efficiency and utility. While glass working in general enjoyed a revival during the Renaissance, fusing was largely ignored during this period.

Fusing began to regain popularity in the early part of the 20th century, particularly in the U. Modern glass fusing is a widespread hobby but the technique is also gaining popularity in the world of fine art.

Disparate pieces of glass must be compatible in order to ensure they can be fused properly. It is a common misconception that glasses having the same coefficient of expansion (COE) will be compatible. Coefficient of expansion is one indicator that glasses may be compatible, but there are many other factors that determine whether glasses are compatible. If incompatible glasses are fused together, it is unlikely that the fused piece will be able maintain structural integrity. The piece may shatter during the cooling process, or develop stress originating from the point of contact between the incompatible glasses over time, leading to fractures within the glass, and eventually breakage.

Generally, kiln-glass manufacturers will rate their glasses for compatibility with other glasses they make. The stress in two pieces of incompatible glass that were fused can be observed by placing the item between two polarizing filters. This will show areas of tension which will develop stress and fracture over time. This section does not cite any sources.

Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

The glass is then allowed to cool slowly over a specified time, soaking at specified temperature ranges which are essential to the annealing process. This prevents uneven cooling and breakage and produces a strong finished product.

This cooling takes place normally for a period of 1012 hours in 3 stages. The first stage- the rapid cool period is meant to place the glass into the upper end of the annealing range 516 °C (961 °F). The second stage- the anneal soak at 516 °C (961 °F) is meant to equalize the temperature at the core and the surface of the glass at 516 °C (961 °F) relieving the stress between those areas. The last stage, once all areas have had time to reach a consistent temperature, is the final journey to room temperature. The kiln is slowly brought down over the course of 2 hours to 371 °C (700 °F), soaked for 2 hours at 371 °C (700 °F), down again to 260 °C (500 °F) which ends the firing schedule. The glass will remain in the closed kiln until the pyrometer reads room temperature. Note that these temperatures are not hard and fast rules. Depending on the kiln, the size of the project, the number of layers, the desired finished look, and even the brand of glass, ramp and soak temperatures and times may vary. Small pendants can be fired and cooled very rapidly. For instance, small glass pieces can be fired in as little as one hour. Fused glass techniques are generally used to create art glass, glass tiles, and jewellery, notably beads. Slumping techniques allow the creation of larger, functional pieces like dishes, bowls, plates, and ashtrays. Producing functional pieces generally requires 2 or more separate firings, one to fuse the glass and a second slump it to shape. Since the 1970s, more hobbyists have focused on using kiln-fused glass to make beads and components for jewellery. This has become especially popular since the introduction of glass manufactured for the specific purpose of fusing in a kiln. The item "2003 PEGGY KARR BOO GLASS PLATE halloween decoration signed 10 square dish RARE" is in sale since Saturday, September 19, 2020.

This item is in the category "Collectibles\Holiday & Seasonal\Halloween\Current (1991-Now)\Decorations\Other Current Halloween Décor". The seller is "sidewaysstairsco" and is located in Santa Ana, California. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, South africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Malaysia, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Dominican republic, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, El salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Antigua and barbuda, Aruba, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Saint kitts and nevis, Saint lucia, Montserrat, Turks and caicos islands, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei darussalam, Bolivia, Egypt, French guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Liechtenstein, Sri lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macao, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion, Uruguay, Russian federation, Philippines.

• Handmade: Yes
• Modified Item: Yes
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
• Modification Description: Etched signature
• Occasion: Halloween
• Brand: Peggy Karr Glass
• Time Period Manufactured: Current (1991-Now)