Planning your Halloween Invitations for your scary Halloween Party is always loads of fun and even better when you make the Invitations Halloween a spooky theme. But, it might be interesting and helpful to know a bit about the history of Halloween so your Halloween Invitations theme really stands out.

First, the name is actually a corruption of All Hallow’s Eve, and all Hallow’s Day was a religious event for the worship of Catholic saints. Since the festivities always occurred on November 1st, October 31st became known as All Hallow’s Eve. However, this date was significant long before the Catholic religion became a dominant force in Europe. For example, the Irish Celts referred to the day as Samhain and was celebrated as the last day of summer and the first day of the New Year.

Matching Creative Halloween Invitations to Your Costumes

But what about all of the customs we associate with Halloween Invites and entertainment? Where did these come from? Where did all the really cute Halloween Invitations Savings originate? The custom of wearing spooky costumes during this holiday was brought to the U.S. with the Irish immigrants. These souls were fleeing starvation caused by the great potato famine in the 19th century when the concept of trick r treating was already in practice.

They used a term referred to as ‘souling’ that had been commonly used during the 9th century in Europe. Basically, every November 2nd Christians would go from house to house asking for ‘soul cakes’, which were pieces of bread baked with currants. The Christians would promise to pray for the giver’s dead relatives in exchange for the soul cakes. It was believed that the dead relatives were believed to be trapped in limbo and could only be freed faster by prayer.

Gradually, the souling combined with Halloween, and the trickery aspect began and became quite popular. Those who did not receive treats after begging would tip over outhouses, unhinge gates, or other types of mischievous acts as retribution. So, when you are preparing your FREE Halloween Invitations consider serving some soul cakes. The recipe is available on many internet sites.

Lots of Traditions to Use for Your Halloween Invitations

And, the traditions don’t stop there! What kind of Invitation Halloween wouldn’t include a mention of ‘bobbing for apples’ and what is some good Halloween Invitation Wording? It is believed that this tradition dates back to ancient Europe also. The Romans, after conquering most of the continent, decided to include the Samhain traditions into their own. However, the Romans already had their own Halloween Invite for celebrating Pomona in October.

Since Pomona was the goddess of fruit and trees, it just made good sense that her symbol was the apple. So, you ask, “was that just a coincidence”? Many will just say that when it comes to determining the facts about spooky Halloween traditions, there just aren’t any coincidences.

Jack-o-lanterns Always Part of Halloween Invitations

Few people will dare prepare Halloween Party Invitations without including Jack-o-lanterns. However, most people don’t know that this tradition came from two entirely different sources. The old Celtic legend about Jack, who tricked the devil into climbing a tree only to trap him there using a cross is considered to be the more interesting one.

It is told that the devil was so angry about getting tricked that he placed a curse on Jack, requiring him to walk around for eternity carrying only a carved out turnip for light. And, these carved out turnips with lights were called Jack’s lanterns. Using this ole tale, you might consider using a turnip on your printable Halloween Invitations instead of the traditional pumpkin.

Pumpkins and the Halloween Invitations

When the Irish immigrants brought these stories to the U.S., the Jack’s lanterns story changed. Our pumpkins were larger and much easier to carve so they replaced the turnips as the lantern gourd of choice. Although this was the primary reason for the change, it is not the only one.

Long before the Irish immigrants introduced the Jack-o-Lantern concept, the Americans had long before been carving the pumpkin and using as decorations for the Harvest festivals during autumn season. So, there are a couple of reasons for pumpkins being a theme for your scary Halloween Invitations each year.

More Holiday Invitation Resources:

Christmas Invitations

Halloween Invitations

Holiday Invitations