Here are some fun facts about one of the scariest times of the year -- Halloween:
**Black cats are a symbol of Halloween because it was once believed that souls could travel back into the world of the living in the body of an animal -- usually a black cat.
**Halloween marks the modern witches' New Year's eve. It is a time spent celebrating death, fertility and renewal.
**Halloween is believed to be the time when the dead and other demonic creatures rise to walk the earth once more.
**The ancient Celtic fire festival called "Samhain" [[ sow in ]] is the origin of modern Halloween. This festival was the feast of the dead in Pagan and Christian times, marking the close of harvest and the initiation of the winter season.
**The tradition of witches riding their brooms isn't just because they were the handiest flight objects available. The broomstick is symbolic of the magical powers of females, because it is employed in the cleansing of ritual places.
**"Hallow" is an old word meaning holy, whilst "e'en" is Scottish for evening.
**It is estimated that between the 15th to 18th centuries, approximately two million people were executed for witchcraft, 80 percent of this number were women.