Leading into autumn, some of our thoughts turn to warm fires, hearty meals and seasonal celebrations. The first of these celebrations is Halloween, a tradition long celebrated in the United States but now taking hold more here too.
Origins
Ironically Halloween or All Hallows Eve as it was once named has its origins here in ancient Celtic ritual and Christianity.
The Festival of Samhain on 31 October celebrated the end of summer and the harvest. On this night our ancestors believed that the boundary between the worlds inhabited by the living and the dead were blurred. Ghosts were able to return to earth to play havoc with our lives and especially with crops on which we were dependent to survive the winter. The Celts wore costumes to scare the ghosts away.
In the 8th century Pope Gregory III made November 1st the day to recognise all saints and Halloween became all souls days – a day to remember the dead.
The pumpkin
The Celts originally occupied Ireland, Great Britain and parts of France. Immigration took the old beliefs to America. The idea of carved pumpkins or ‘Jack-o-lanterns’ came from Ireland where an old miserly man made several wagers with the devil on condition that he was spared going to Hell when he died. Trouble was they wouldn’t let him into Heaven either. He wanders that region somewhere between life and death and when the barriers are very thin at Halloween people carved turnips in Ireland to frighten him away from their homes. In America it was natural to use large, orange pumpkins, a native vegetable.
Halloween decorations
Carved pumpkins are the most common Halloween decoration seen all over the UK as well now. Most people just hollow out the pumpkin – big or small – and carve a scary face to keep those ghosts at bay. But you could be more adventurous.
bhg blog
[All other images via Country Living]
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