Halloween: Old English Folklore or Fact?

Posted by Laura on Oct 13, 2010 in News | 4 comments

Halloween or ‘All Hallows Eve’ as it used to be called is fast approaching! I said I wasn’t going to write a Halloween post as my next article, but the history behind it is actually pretty interesting…

Halloween was once considered a very dangerous time -during this festival, hundreds of years ago in rural England,they believed witches’ magical powers were at their strongest and the dead could enter into our world and, if they wanted to, attack people and their animals. In the old Celtic calendar, ‘Samhain’ marked the beginning of the New Year, and the preparation for the coming hardship of winter – all the animals that were not breeding stock were slaughtered, and their meat salted and stored for the dark months. A celebration and great feast was held and bonfires were lit throughout the countryside. The festival was also associated with the dead, and remembering the ancestors. The witching hour was seen as the time when the departed returned, and silence was often kept for a short time in their honour – as the chimes of midnight rang out.

"Silence was often kept for a short time in their honour"

Old folklore also states that Halloween thins the veil between the living and the dead, therefore, on all hallows eve – rituals were done to predict the future…

Hazelnuts were often used in husband divination, to denote a future love each of the nuts would be given the name of a possible lover and placed in front of the fire, the hopeful young lady would then recite “If you love me, pop and fly; and if you hate me burn and die.” The first nut to pop would be the girls’ likely suitor.

Another method of providing clues to a future spouse was to throw a fully peeled apple skin over the shoulder. This would then spell out the initial of her future lover.

The traditions of the well-known game of Apple Bobbing had somewhat more painful origins than the game of today – In that version, an apple and a lighted candle were placed on either end of a stick balanced in the middle and suspended from the ceiling by a piece of string. This was then spun, and those playing the game had to attempt to bite the apple without getting burned.

Halloween

The Halloween pumpkin originates from the custom of using lanterns to ward off the evil spirits, which were thought to wander through the thin veil into our world.

These days most people carve pumpkins for fun and decoration – and the cheapest ones can be sourced from a local supermarket. However there’s no need to stick to a simple ‘scary face’ design…..these ideas are stylish, without being too comical, plus gourds and swede are a less bulky, and more subtle alternative to pumpkins that can be used at all times of the year:

Gourds and swede

Gourds

Alternatively, pumpkin designs can be very imaginative:

Pumpkins can look very stylish

Have fun!