More than 1,200 people in Britain list religion as witchcraft: records

Ghostly goings on, children trick-or-treating and people celebrating one of the oldest festivals in the world are planned as Halloween fast approaches.

Statisticians at Britain's Office for National Statistics have been looking through their records to discover what the festival will mean for many people.

ONS said Friday records show that in the last census 1,276 people in Britain listed their religion as witchcraft, with 11,766 describing themselves as Wicca followers, and 502 members of occults.

Halloween, celebrated on Oct. 31, means different things to different people. Members of the Gaelic community believed it is the time when the walls between world of the living and the next became thin and porous, allowing spirits to pass through, coming back to life on the day of Halloween and even causing damage to crops.

Gaels would even set places were set at the dinner table to appease and welcome the spirits. They would also offer food and drink, and light bonfires to ward off the evil spirits.

For generations many children in Britain have enjoyed, or been scared, by Halloween games, often with a ghoulish twist.

ONS said more than 500 couples are expected to choose Halloween to marry, and on the day.

There were over 9,500 Halloween weddings in England and Wales between 1995 and 2013, an average of 510 each year.

Theologians, philosophers and psychologists have expressed mixed feelings over whether Halloween should be celebrated. Endit