Happy Halloween!

We really can’t believe it’s that time of year again! As most of you will know, and those that don’t can probably guess,  we do LOVE a bit of Halloween here at Disco Beads HQ!

In the past, we’ve indulged in all sorts including spooking up the shop and a spot of dressing up. We even have our very own Halloween logos... Get us! Before we tell you the little treat we have up our sleeves this year, how about a few Halloween facts to get you in the mood?

 

1. Did you know that Halloween is more Irish than St Patricks Day? In its original form, it was actually a Celtic festival for the dead called ‘Samhain’. The Celts believed that, on that day, the dead roamed the earth, and so used to leave treats out to appease them. It’s also where the dressing up as ghosts and ghouls came from. They thought that if they dressed up as one, the wandering ghosts wouldn’t notice them!

 

2. The idea of carving out a pumpkin and putting a candle in it came from an old Irish tale about a man named Stingy Jack. Following a deal he made with the Devil which included his soul never being allowed to go to hell, when he died, God decided he couldn’t be in heaven either, and so banished Jack to roam the earth with only a burning piece of coal for a light. He then put the coal into a carved out turnip to use as a lantern. Jack became Jack of the Lantern, which became Jack o’Lantern. Based on this myth, the Irish began carving scary faces into turnips, beetroots and all sorts to scare away Stingy Jack.

 

3. The traditional Halloween game of apple bobbing dates back to when the Romans invaded Britain, and had nothing at all to do with anything scary. The Romans brought the apple tree with them to represent the goddess of plenty, then every year young unmarried people would try to take a bite out of an apple floating in water or hanging from a string, and the first person to get lucky would be the next to marry.

 

4. ‘Souling’ is what Trick or Treating started off as originally where the poor would go door-to-door on Hallowmas (November 1^st) offering prayers for the dead in exchange for cake.

5. Back in the day, just putting on a costume and knocking on doors wasn’t enough; you actually had to dance for your treats!

Obviously the treats now are more confectionary than they are cake, and we won’t ask you to dance for ours either!

 

Basically we’ve created two extra special Halloween bracelets to celebrate all things Naughty and Nice. So, which one are you...? You decide!

Happy Halloween!