The celebration of Halloween is something that is done throughout the world. It is much more than just trick or treating, costumes and candy. The history of Halloween started with superstitions, goblins, witches, folklore and fantasy. I am going to discuss some of the more popular superstitions that seem to go hand-in-hand with Halloween.

One particularly old superstition arises from centuries ago and it says that a single woman looking for a husband should put a sprig of rosemary and sixpence under her pillow on the night of Halloween. The result would be a dream of who her future husband would be.

Next, there is the old Halloween superstition that states black cats are bad luck. Well, this was born from the thoughts at one point in time, that all cats with black fur were the devil in disguise. Now of course, we know this is not the case. But, at one point in history this is what people believed.

This next superstition makes me laugh, but let's see what you think....In the old days in Britain, people at one time believed that Satan was a nut-gatherer. On Halloween evening, nuts were used as magic charms throughout many households.

There was an old belief that if the flame on a candle goes out on Halloween then you have a ghost visiting you! Parents in those days probably used that superstition in order to keep their children from misbehaving.

Next in line is the superstition about witches! Some people claimed that if you wear your clothes inside out and then walked backwards on Halloween night, at midnight, you would see a witch riding on her broomstick in the sky. How many people do you think actually tried this out?

 When you ring a bell on Halloween, it is supposed to drive all of the scary, evil spirits away from you. Similar to hanging garlic to protect yourself from a vampire. Do you think that superstition applies to doorbells? If so, a ton of those get run on Halloween night by trick-or-treaters looking for candy!

The sound of a hooting owl used to scare a lot of people. In fact, some people believe that on the night of Halloween, owls would dive down from the trees to eat the souls of the dying that night. In order to protect yourself, if you hear a hooting owl, pull your pocket out and leave it hanging. I am amazed at how silly some of these superstitions actually are!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention a really good ancient superstition for Halloween! The Celtics would build a huge bonfire and watch it until it died out. The ashes from the bonfire were then used to make a huge circle where every family in the village would place a stone inside of the circle. The next day, they would check the circle and if any stone was moved out of place or damaged in any way, that indicated that someone in that family would die within the next year. This superstition is creepy as I really don't think I would want to know that kind of information.

Next on the list is the superstition of bats. If a bat flies into your house, beware! You may have some unwelcome visitors in your home such as spirits, demons or ghosts. If you think that is creepy, it is also said that if bats fly around your home or place of residence three times on Halloween night, death is inevitable. On a more cheerful note, if you spot a bat flying around in the early evening, that predicts that there will be good weather the next day.

Another superstition on the list is a claim to be able to rid yourself of all evil. Simply walk backwards around your home three times just before the sun sets on Halloween and that is said to banish all evil. Another route that people took was to bury animal bones in the front yard, or put a picture of an animal outside near your front door. This superstition is definitely creepy!

I would have to say that out of all of the Halloween superstitions that I have mentioned, my favorite one is the one regarding spiders. If you happen to see a spider on Halloween, then that indicates that the spirit of a loved one is watching over you.