ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS ?

A superstition is an age-old belief that something good or bad might happen if we say or do a certain thing.  Have you ever heard kids say, "Step on a crack, break your mother's back"?  This is an example of a superstition.  Superstitions go back to the time when people couldn't explain some of the things around them.  Today, most of us don't take superstitions seriously, but it's fun to find out how some of them started -- especially since Halloween is a very superstitious time of year.

How Halloween started
The Halloween custom goes back 2,000 years.  It is probably based on a ceremony that was held around the first of November.  The ceremony was led by Druids, who were Celtic priests in Great Britain, Ireland and parts of France.  During the event, they honored the souls of the dead who returned to Earth that night.  As a part of the celebration, people burned bonfires and wore costumes.

Witches
It used to be thought that witches were people who worked magic and cast spells on others.  They were thought to be evil because they were friendly withthe devil.  Halloween was their favorite night.

Toads
Toads have been linked with witches.  People believed they were poisonous because they thought other animals that ate toads got sick.  People also thought they could cause warts, small bumps on the skin, which is not true.

Bats
Hundreds of years ago, people linked bats with witches because they both came out at night and disappeared during the day.  People were also puzzled by the fact that bats could fly at night and not bump into things.
We also think of bats when we think about vampires. "Dracula", which was written in 1897, features a vampire who can turn into a bat.

Black cats
Ancient people thought that black cats were witches in disguise.  You may still hear people today say that if a black cat crosses your path, bad luck is on the way.  However, in some parts of the world, black cats are thought to bring good luck.  Have you seen a black cat lately ?