The most celebrated Halloween decoration is the jack-o'-lantern, traditionally a hollowed-out pumpkin carved to resemble a grotesque face and illuminated by a candle placed inside. The jack-o'-lantern derives its name from a character in British folktales. According to these tales, the soul of a deceased person named Jack O'Lantern was barred from both heaven and hell and was condemned to wander the earth with his lantern. Orange and black, colors associated with pumpkins and darkness respectively; figure prominently in most Halloween decorations.

Trick-or-treat

Trick-or-treating is another Halloween tradition, in which costumed children go from one house to another soliciting candy or other treats from their neighbors. According to this custom, children greet each homeowner with the cry "Trick or Treat," suggesting that some sort of hoax will be played unless treats are provided. Formerly, trick-or-treaters vandalized the house if no treats were produced or if the treats met with their disapproval. Since the early 20th century, however, the threat of tricks has been largely ceremonial. Today, many parents accompany children when they go trick-or-treating. (Trick or Treat).

Broomsticks

Witches and broomsticks go hand in hand. They have been associated for centuries. Quite often witches are depicted riding them across the night sky with a black cat on the end. A more reasonable explanation may be that Halloween festivities happened during the rainy season. Women used their brooms to vault over the puddles and large amounts of water. As well, during the Witch's Sabbath, they performed a jumping dance while straddling the broom, using it to vault higher. It was thought that the higher the jumps, the higher the crop growth as in ancient time, the broom was thought to symbolize fertility.

Black Cats

Cats have been considered by many to be spiritual animals. They have been worshiped in many societies and are thought to have the ability to sense good and evil spirits. Western superstitions would have us believed that black cats have special powers, that they can represent spirits or even incarnated humans, thereby linking black cats to occultism. The color black is also commonly linked to the dark realm.

Apples

The idea behind ducking, dooking or bobbing for apples seems to have been that snatching a bite from the apple enables the person to grasp good fortune. Ducking for apples was a marriage divination. The first person to bite an apple would be the first to marry in the coming year. Apple peeling was a divination to see how long your life would be. The longer the unbroken apple peel, the longer your life was destined to be. In Scotland, people would place stones in the ashes of the hearth before retiring for the night. Anyone whose stone had been disturbed during the night was destined to die during the coming year.

Masks

A mask is a whole or partial cover for the face. The use of masks dates back to man's earliest history. Symbolic masks were worn during ceremonies of many ancient peoples. Druids wore masks on Halloween to ward off evil spirits, witches, goblins and ghosts. One of the most commonly recognized types of masks is the false face. It represents another person or creature and made usually of papier-mâché or plastic. It is most commonly worn on such occasions as Halloween and Marti Gras.

Moon

In mythology, the moon is thought of as a repository for souls. The ancient Greeks believed that the moon was the midway point for souls making the transition between realms. The moon has been associated with death because of its waing and waning cycles. Werewolves are said to be transformed by the moon during these cycles. Some astronomers believe jack-o-lantern carving was inspired by the rising, orange October moon. Full moons and moonlit nights are often described as settings for scary stories.

Scarecrows

Known by different names throughout the world, the scarecrow is commonly used as a means of scaring unwanted flying visitors away. Commonly they are dressed in ragged garb and mounted crucifix style to a pole or wooden stake. Though the origins are unknown, they are associated with Halloween and fall holidays in modern culture.

Costumes

Adults sometimes wore costumes when they begged house-to-house for a Halloween feast. In County Cork, Ireland, a man wearing a white robe and holding a wooden horse's head led the group. In parts of Scotland, costumed beggars out on Halloween were known as skeklets. In Wales, boys dressed as girls and girls dressed as boys to go house-to-house singing Halloween rhymes.

Halloween costumes were popularized in the United States by adults in the late 1800's. By the early 1900's, however, Halloween costumes were worn mainly by children. Some of the first children's costumes were fairies, Gypsies, and burglars.

Fortune Telling

Fortune telling is an important part of Halloween rituals and celebrations. In Ireland, objects, such as a coin, a ring, and a thimble, were baked into a cake or other food. It was believed that the person who found the coin would become wealthy. Whoever found the ring would marry soon, but the person who got the thimble would never get married.

Halloween magic is also associated with foods, such as apples and nuts. In one fortune telling game, a young woman would peel an apple in one long paring and throw it over her shoulder. People believed it would land in the shape of the initial of the man the woman would marry. Halloween's connection with apples and nuts is ancient, and Halloween was sometimes referred to as Nutcrack Night or Snap Apple Night. Today, some people use fortune telling techniques, such as tarot cards or palm reading, to predict the future on Halloween.

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