Post by Scruffy Brooky on Oct 27, 2011 22:19:08 GMT
There is much in the way of common ground between our modern day calendar, in the UK, and the folk practices of the past that happened in late October and early November. This commonality appears to be a mixture of design, evolution and sheer chance. These links stretch from the similarities superficial, commercial phenomenon that is Hallowe’en in the twenty-first century, past the less well known local customs, through to a seemingly coincidental similarity between ancient and modern life that is unwittingly recognized by the vast majority and must be in the consciousness of our entire nation.
Samhain was one of the most important dates in the Celtic calendar, and indeed Hallowe’en enjoys great popularity today despite the usual past attempts to suppress the importance of Pagan holy days amongst the masses. The Celtic year was essentially a two season year. Summer ran from Beltane to Samhain, when winter began. Indeed in areas of Wales October 31st was known as ‘Nos Calen Coef’ – literally the eve of winter’s first, it was the Hag’s feast and sacred to The Cailleach.
It was the time of year when farmers would slaughter their cattle, an act associated with this time of year believed to be pre-Celtic, and preserve the meat by salting it, with any leftovers being distributed amongst the local poor. Between this almost ritual killing and the beginning of the season when the earth would be barren and fruitless it is not hard to see where the associations with death first came from. As so often is the case the Christian festival that approximately coincides with the Pagan festival was moved, to this date for whatever purpose. The Feast of All Saints had previous dates in February and May prior to the ninth century decision to appoint the date now given, with some of the original meaning being retained in All Souls the following day.
In Somerset the last Thursday in October was Punkie night. Punkie being the name attributed to the lanterns made from hollowed out mangel wurzels, carried by children as they visited homes begging for money. Who says trick or treating and jack-o-lanterns are modern American imports? Also in keeping with modern Pagan thought about pumpkin lanterns, many folklorists assume that Punkies were representative of returning spirits from The Otherworld.
It is quite possible that the immigrant British and Irish took trick or treating to America, as opposed to the reverse. Costumes that concealed identity, and represented spirits of the dead, were traditional in many areas of the country, as were lanterns made from root vegetables such as turnips. Such lanterns were often placed on gateposts to ward off the wandering spirits. Modern costumes have the same connotations of darkness, death and The Underworld. In South Wales men and boys wore womens clothes and sung of the White Lady (read Goddess) sat on a tree, pigs (sacred to some native Hag Goddesses) and the apple (read immortality). In other areas of the country sheep skins or ragged clothes were worn with guiser masks as they went door to door collecting apples and nuts. The revellers then returned home for a traditional supper. The mash of nine kinds was a stew of all manor of vegetables including turnips, peas, parsnips, potatoes, carrots and leeks with milk and seasoning. A wedding ring would be placed in the stew and the person who found it amongst their portion would be the first to marry. This was followed with muffin-style cakes and a wassail of apples, sugar and beer.
November 4th has long been known as mischief night in the North. Local youngsters have long practiced the pranks that we attribute to the ASBO generation, although they did have the decency to keep it down to one day a year. Fireworks through letter boxes, whitewashing windows, treacle doorknobs and locks filled with glue have all been common tricks played on unwary homeowners on this date. It is worth noting that until the nineteenth century this was also the date of Hallowe’en itself.
Another thought familiar to modern Pagans will be that the veil between our world and The Otherworld was considered to be particularly thin on Samhain Eve and the ordinary folk felt compelled to protect themselves against the return of departed souls. In Ireland it was believed that the faery hills opened and the Sidhe roamed the Earth. In Wales Ladi Gwyn and a black sow were believed to chase anyone daring to travel on that night.
Divination being associated with Samhain is not a modern invention either. Many of the traditional acts of folk magic at this turn of the wheel are divinatory rites concerning a young lady wishing to find out whom she will marry. One such rite is to go outside at midnight on Samhain Eve and pick a cabbage, and his apparition will appear. Similarly if the lady were to sow seeds in the church yard, or cross roads at midnight her future suitor would come to collect the seed. A further variation was to chop an apple into nine pieces and throw them over the left shoulder (or eat an apple at the same time as the young lady combed her hair) whilst gazing into the mirror, where the wraith of her husband to be would appear. Apple peelings thrown over the left shoulder were said to form the future love’s initials on the floor. Apples are associated with love and divination within modern Paganism. Success at apple bobbing was indicative that the person would marry in the coming year.
The link to the recent harvest and divinatory rituals also extends to nuts and grain. It was considered auspicious, if such foods were thrown on the fire on Samhain Eve, that they should burn brightly. Couples would each place grain on hot shovels at the same time, if the grains also jumped at the same time it was foretold the couple would marry and start a family. With in Celtic terms apples, nuts and grains could be said to sum up the meaning of Samhain quite succinctly due to their correspondences with immortality and fertility.
Some divinatory acts were associated with the theme of death. If the querent saw a coffin having picked nine sage leaves on the ninth stroke of midnight she would die a spinster. Servants hung their blouses before the fire and if one should move as midnight was struck they would be dead by next Samhain. In the Welsh borders it was rumoured that a voice in the church recited the names of those due to depart the mortal world within the next year. Apparently the sound of doors of pews could be heard opening and shutting followed by footsteps as the spirits of those called out processed down the aisle. Sometimes a listener would be sent on behalf of the parish to find out who was called out. There are reports of listeners achieving surprising accuracy in their predictions. One listener reported that an elderly lady, who had been told by medical professionals that she would soon pass away, would not die that year and indeed she did not.
As part of the celebration of the season rooms were decorated with evergreens, similarly to the custom associated with Christmas. Apples and nuts were roasted on the fire and added to hot ale along with raisins, sugar and spice. As the ale flowed ghost stories were told around the fire. Fires were often lit outside, to keep the witches away and horns were blown to drive away evil. The singing and dancing would continue into the small hours. The burning of effigies on fires pre-dates that most British of terrorists, Guy Fawkes, and goes back to these folk rituals. Queen Victoria is supposed to have been present at such an event in Balmoral, when the effigy in question was an old lady, possibly a reconstruction of a medieval witch trial.
Boundaries of houses, sometimes even of parishes were patrolled with flaming torches to cleanse the area of evil for the year. In some areas Hallowtide cakes were made by six to eight women passing the dough around a circle sun-ways. The space in the kitchen where these were made was consecrated ground and a small fine was payble by anyone other than those preparing the cakes, should they enter the area. The principal ingredients were oatmeal, aniseed, cinnamon and sugar. The cakes were toasted on the griddle by “The Queen”. The first cake was given to a man whose wife had been unfaithful to him. Doing so was supposed to ensure other local men were spared the same indignity.
In early November we find the tradtion of souling. Soul singers would visit each house giving out small, spiced fruit buns called soul cakes. In return for a cake the recipient was asked to pray for the souls of those who died during the year and for a good harvest in the year to come. Sometimes the singers were accompanied by the hooden horse. The costume being a white cloth, a blackened horse skull on a stick, was decorated with bells and ribbons.
1605 made sure forever of what the British people would associate with the date November 5th. Early celebrations seemed more appropriate than the current celebratory re-enactment of what the plotters tried to achieve. Initially bell ringing and thanksgiving for the failure of the plot was widespread. Eventually the older traditions of Samhain were assimilated into this date. There were races in towns where two teams would push flaming barrels of tar and over time it grew into the modern festival of fire that we know today.
Another historical event determines the significance of November 11th. We all know that is Armistice Day, and that this is so because of an indisputable past occurrence. Nonetheless one can’t help but think, given all the history and tradition, there can’t be a much better time to honour our dead than early November.
The next time someone tells you Hallowe’en is a modern foreign import, please feel free to tell them otherwise!
Samhain was one of the most important dates in the Celtic calendar, and indeed Hallowe’en enjoys great popularity today despite the usual past attempts to suppress the importance of Pagan holy days amongst the masses. The Celtic year was essentially a two season year. Summer ran from Beltane to Samhain, when winter began. Indeed in areas of Wales October 31st was known as ‘Nos Calen Coef’ – literally the eve of winter’s first, it was the Hag’s feast and sacred to The Cailleach.
It was the time of year when farmers would slaughter their cattle, an act associated with this time of year believed to be pre-Celtic, and preserve the meat by salting it, with any leftovers being distributed amongst the local poor. Between this almost ritual killing and the beginning of the season when the earth would be barren and fruitless it is not hard to see where the associations with death first came from. As so often is the case the Christian festival that approximately coincides with the Pagan festival was moved, to this date for whatever purpose. The Feast of All Saints had previous dates in February and May prior to the ninth century decision to appoint the date now given, with some of the original meaning being retained in All Souls the following day.
In Somerset the last Thursday in October was Punkie night. Punkie being the name attributed to the lanterns made from hollowed out mangel wurzels, carried by children as they visited homes begging for money. Who says trick or treating and jack-o-lanterns are modern American imports? Also in keeping with modern Pagan thought about pumpkin lanterns, many folklorists assume that Punkies were representative of returning spirits from The Otherworld.
It is quite possible that the immigrant British and Irish took trick or treating to America, as opposed to the reverse. Costumes that concealed identity, and represented spirits of the dead, were traditional in many areas of the country, as were lanterns made from root vegetables such as turnips. Such lanterns were often placed on gateposts to ward off the wandering spirits. Modern costumes have the same connotations of darkness, death and The Underworld. In South Wales men and boys wore womens clothes and sung of the White Lady (read Goddess) sat on a tree, pigs (sacred to some native Hag Goddesses) and the apple (read immortality). In other areas of the country sheep skins or ragged clothes were worn with guiser masks as they went door to door collecting apples and nuts. The revellers then returned home for a traditional supper. The mash of nine kinds was a stew of all manor of vegetables including turnips, peas, parsnips, potatoes, carrots and leeks with milk and seasoning. A wedding ring would be placed in the stew and the person who found it amongst their portion would be the first to marry. This was followed with muffin-style cakes and a wassail of apples, sugar and beer.
November 4th has long been known as mischief night in the North. Local youngsters have long practiced the pranks that we attribute to the ASBO generation, although they did have the decency to keep it down to one day a year. Fireworks through letter boxes, whitewashing windows, treacle doorknobs and locks filled with glue have all been common tricks played on unwary homeowners on this date. It is worth noting that until the nineteenth century this was also the date of Hallowe’en itself.
Another thought familiar to modern Pagans will be that the veil between our world and The Otherworld was considered to be particularly thin on Samhain Eve and the ordinary folk felt compelled to protect themselves against the return of departed souls. In Ireland it was believed that the faery hills opened and the Sidhe roamed the Earth. In Wales Ladi Gwyn and a black sow were believed to chase anyone daring to travel on that night.
Divination being associated with Samhain is not a modern invention either. Many of the traditional acts of folk magic at this turn of the wheel are divinatory rites concerning a young lady wishing to find out whom she will marry. One such rite is to go outside at midnight on Samhain Eve and pick a cabbage, and his apparition will appear. Similarly if the lady were to sow seeds in the church yard, or cross roads at midnight her future suitor would come to collect the seed. A further variation was to chop an apple into nine pieces and throw them over the left shoulder (or eat an apple at the same time as the young lady combed her hair) whilst gazing into the mirror, where the wraith of her husband to be would appear. Apple peelings thrown over the left shoulder were said to form the future love’s initials on the floor. Apples are associated with love and divination within modern Paganism. Success at apple bobbing was indicative that the person would marry in the coming year.
The link to the recent harvest and divinatory rituals also extends to nuts and grain. It was considered auspicious, if such foods were thrown on the fire on Samhain Eve, that they should burn brightly. Couples would each place grain on hot shovels at the same time, if the grains also jumped at the same time it was foretold the couple would marry and start a family. With in Celtic terms apples, nuts and grains could be said to sum up the meaning of Samhain quite succinctly due to their correspondences with immortality and fertility.
Some divinatory acts were associated with the theme of death. If the querent saw a coffin having picked nine sage leaves on the ninth stroke of midnight she would die a spinster. Servants hung their blouses before the fire and if one should move as midnight was struck they would be dead by next Samhain. In the Welsh borders it was rumoured that a voice in the church recited the names of those due to depart the mortal world within the next year. Apparently the sound of doors of pews could be heard opening and shutting followed by footsteps as the spirits of those called out processed down the aisle. Sometimes a listener would be sent on behalf of the parish to find out who was called out. There are reports of listeners achieving surprising accuracy in their predictions. One listener reported that an elderly lady, who had been told by medical professionals that she would soon pass away, would not die that year and indeed she did not.
As part of the celebration of the season rooms were decorated with evergreens, similarly to the custom associated with Christmas. Apples and nuts were roasted on the fire and added to hot ale along with raisins, sugar and spice. As the ale flowed ghost stories were told around the fire. Fires were often lit outside, to keep the witches away and horns were blown to drive away evil. The singing and dancing would continue into the small hours. The burning of effigies on fires pre-dates that most British of terrorists, Guy Fawkes, and goes back to these folk rituals. Queen Victoria is supposed to have been present at such an event in Balmoral, when the effigy in question was an old lady, possibly a reconstruction of a medieval witch trial.
Boundaries of houses, sometimes even of parishes were patrolled with flaming torches to cleanse the area of evil for the year. In some areas Hallowtide cakes were made by six to eight women passing the dough around a circle sun-ways. The space in the kitchen where these were made was consecrated ground and a small fine was payble by anyone other than those preparing the cakes, should they enter the area. The principal ingredients were oatmeal, aniseed, cinnamon and sugar. The cakes were toasted on the griddle by “The Queen”. The first cake was given to a man whose wife had been unfaithful to him. Doing so was supposed to ensure other local men were spared the same indignity.
In early November we find the tradtion of souling. Soul singers would visit each house giving out small, spiced fruit buns called soul cakes. In return for a cake the recipient was asked to pray for the souls of those who died during the year and for a good harvest in the year to come. Sometimes the singers were accompanied by the hooden horse. The costume being a white cloth, a blackened horse skull on a stick, was decorated with bells and ribbons.
1605 made sure forever of what the British people would associate with the date November 5th. Early celebrations seemed more appropriate than the current celebratory re-enactment of what the plotters tried to achieve. Initially bell ringing and thanksgiving for the failure of the plot was widespread. Eventually the older traditions of Samhain were assimilated into this date. There were races in towns where two teams would push flaming barrels of tar and over time it grew into the modern festival of fire that we know today.
Another historical event determines the significance of November 11th. We all know that is Armistice Day, and that this is so because of an indisputable past occurrence. Nonetheless one can’t help but think, given all the history and tradition, there can’t be a much better time to honour our dead than early November.
The next time someone tells you Hallowe’en is a modern foreign import, please feel free to tell them otherwise!