Fables and Folklore

Jack Of The Lantern

First and foremost in Halloween symbology is the 'Jack-O-Lantern', or carved Pumpkin. The tradition of carving pumpkins originates from an Irish legend, about a man nicknamed 'Stingy Jack', who invited the devil to have a drink with him, but didn't want to pay for it. He convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin with which he could pay for the drinks, but instead, he put the coin into his pocket next to a silver cross. The cross prevented the devil from returning to his normal form, but Jack eventually freed him on condition that, for one year, the devil should not bother Jack, and not claim his soul, shoud he die.

The following year Jack, up to his tricks again, conned the devil into climbing a tree to pick a fruit, and carved a cross into the bark to prevent the devil from coming down. Again, he bargained with the devil that he should not bother Jack for ten years.

Not long after, Jack died, and the legend goes that God would not allow Jack into heaven, and the devil, keeping his word not to claim Jack's soul, would not allow jack into hell. Instead, he sent jack into the night with nothing but a burning coal. Jack put the coal into a carved out turnip to light his way, and roams the earth to this day.

Black cats

Black cats have been viewed as spiritual animals for thousands of years, and are linked closely to witches in superstitions. Since supernatural powers are believed to be strongest on All Hallows Eve, cats naturally came to be assosiated with Halloween.

Witches

As with cats, the belief that supernatural powers are at their zenith on Halloween lead witches to become another symbol.

Bats

Bats, thought to indicate the presense of spirits, and widely believed to be omens of bad luck led to a belief that on Halloween night owls would swoop down and eat the souls of the dying.

Ghosts, Skeletons, Masks & Costumes

...are all rooted in the Celtic origins of Halloween, which would require and entire page of it's own to summarise.

Phaethon tried to drive the horse-driven chariot of his father, Helios the sun god.

But Phaethon was young and unaccustomed to his father's exquisite chariot and team of horses. So he quickly lost control. As a consequence, the sun began to get too close to the earth. In order to save the earth Zeus, king of the ancient Greek gods, threw a thunderbolt at Phaethon and killed him.

This really comes down to:

1. identifying a story as being an urban legend and then
2. determining if there is any truth to it (nearly always it is fiction)

On point 1, typically urban legends

• occur with no known author beyond "I swear it happened to someone I know" or something similar
• appears mysteriously and spreads spontaneously in varying forms
• contains elements of humor or horror (the horror often "punishes" someone who flouts society's conventions).
• makes good storytelling (interesting and easy to retell)

On point 2, some suggestions are:

• Personally trace it back to the origin and confirm the facts; not just an original source of reporting but the actual source the report came from - an eye witness, a video tape of the incident, the actual crime report from the responding office (not just a report of what was supposed to be in the report). If you can't do that, it's probably fake
• Often the source of the story will tip you off; if it comes from The Onion or another satirical source, it's going to be false; the story is intended to entertain, not inform
• Check out Snopes.com or a similar website to see if it's a known UL. They are usually pretty good about documenting the authenticity of the stories - although they sometimes get duped.
• Like any scam - if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
• If you've heard the same story with altered details, it's probably false (urban legends tend to be modified in their details to fit the teller and audience)