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Halloween Myths
Excerpts from a true/false quiz by Joyce Brothers:
1. The holiday of Halloween came from a night of sacrifice by the Celts that was named after their lord of the dead, Samhain.It's a good link to forward to anyone who's spreading "Halloween is all about Satanism"....FALSE. There was no Celtic "lord of the dead," and the translation of "Samhain" is simply "summer's end" -- which represents a good time for a party. Originally, back in the Middle Ages, people did believe that ghosts and spirits sometimes passed into the real living world, and they would dress up in costumes designed to play tricks on the witches or fool the spirits who they feared were treading close to Earth.3. Stories about razor blades and needles in candy can almost always be traced to hoaxes by the parents or children themselves on Halloween.TRUE. A University of Delaware sociology professor analyzed 40 years' worth of newspaper stories relating to Halloween pins, needles, etc., and found that no children had been seriously injured by needles or razors in apples or candy. [...]4. The only documented incident of a child being fatally poisoned by Halloween crime actually involved a parent killing his own child for the insurance money.TRUE. In 1974, in Houston, Ronald O'Bryan poured cyanide into a candy-filled-straw Halloween treat and gave it to his 8-year-old son, in order to collect insurance money. O'Bryan was executed in 1984.5. Halloween is a field day for Satanists bent on human sacrifice and witches attempting to turn Christian children away from God.FALSE. Again, the urban myths outnumber the examples of human sacrifice and threat to religion. Although Wiccans (witches) celebrate the autumn with Circles, they are not anti-religious, and Satanists are rare and often the result of "false memory syndrome" dredged up by dubious hypnosis practices. There is some evidence that black cats should be kept inside around Halloween, though, as sadistic pranksters find it a good day to carry out their crimes.