The original meaning of the spooky witch and owl sculptures at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park

Birds, rose petals, seasonal foliage—there’s just so much richly detailed loveliness carved into the staircases leading to Central Park’s Bethesda Fountain. But amid these whimsical carvings are some creepier reliefs of a witch riding a broomstick, a jack o’ lantern, a bat, an owl, and other figures representing the dark side. You might think these sculptures were intentionally meant to represent Halloween. In the early 1860s, when Bethesda Fountain was undergoing construction, Halloween was transforming from a harvest holiday inspired by ancient folklore to the spooky celebration of ghosts and goblins we revel in every October. Actually, the creepy carvings were designed to be emblems of nighttime. “The decorative elements for Bethesda Terrace itself were designed by English-born architect Jacob Wrey Mould,” explains Centralparkny.com. “Reasserting the primacy of nature, Mould chose representative wildlife and seasonal design motifs,” the site continued. “There are also carvings…