CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE
By Judith Ashton
All the spirits, good and evil, fairy and pixie, witch and wizard, on this night will sure be stirring!”
Cultures around the world honour their ancestors and the dead, and Ireland’s distinctive traditions have spread worldwide.
Before the Catholic Church, Celts and ancient Britons celebrated Samhain to mark the end of the long, light, warm summer days, the harvests and the start of long, cold, dark winters. In these times, families lived off the land, survival was precarious and they were often sharing their meagre dwellings with animals. Food could be scarce, temperatures freezing. Life was short, fraught, cold and betimes hungry; the long, dismal, half-light days were tough.
Superstition abounded, people’s worlds were inhabited by the supernatural, little folk, nature spirits, fairies, elves, gnomes, pixies, witches and wizards. Spells and curses were common parlance. Stories and tales entertained and frightened; one such tale was about Stingy Jack. Jack had tricked the devil out of some money. At death, he was welcome neither in Heaven nor Hell but sentenced to roam the world in darkness for eternity with only a small ember to light his way, so he hollowed out a turnip to make a lantern…
To scare off Stingy Jack’s wandering tormented soul, it became a tradition to carve out turnips, beets or potatoes, put small tallow wicks or beeswax candles inside to make a lamp. A Jack o’ Lantern.
Whilst Samhain marked the end of summer and the start of New Year on Nov. 1st, folks believed this was a time that the veil between the worlds of the living and dead was very thin and porous, thus allowing souls to move easily between worlds.
In the 8th Century the Catholic Church moved All Saints’ Day to Nov. 1st. All Saints’ Day was a celebration of all the Catholic saints. October 31st then became All Hallows’ Eve or Halloween and some traditions from Samhain continued to supposedly protect the living from the roaming souls of the dead. People wore disguises as protection from ghosts and evil spirits. Bells were rung, fires were lit, green plants with protective powers were taken into homes, as were burning torches and carved lanterns were placed on thresholds.
As you can imagine simple folk were afraid, nervous and full of imagination and tales of Stingy Jack would have terrified both young and old.
“There’s something haunting in the light of the moon,” wrote Joseph Conrad.
As Irish people emigrated so did their folklore; habits that reminded them of home persisted and became part of their new lives and those of their neighbours. The traditions of Halloween and carving turnips arrived in America. Turnips were not so available but pumpkins harvested in the autumn were. Pumpkins are soft and easy to carve and hollow out and became symbols of Halloween and autumn harvests. Gradually, like all good things, Halloween became commercialised, and its ancient roots have become lost in the mists of time. Children now think of sweets, dressing up and having scary fun-times wearing throwaway costumes made in China!
Trick or treating was originally an ancient tradition in Britain. It was called “souling”. Poor people went from dwelling to dwelling and were given special, little spicy cakes called “soul cakes”. Each spicy cake symbolised the soul of a deceased and the callers, who were known as “The Messengers of The Dead”, promised, in exchange for a cake, to offer prayers for the departed.
Watch out! On this night of witches’ gatherings. There surely will be spirits and ghouls wandering the misty reaches of the county and beyond and no less than in Thomastown, along the quay and under the cliff there will be a very spooky meeting of little people who will bring their offerings of carved pumpkins to be placed in every nook and hollow of the cliffs to protect and light the town on this short and dark night.
Come along if you dare! “It’s Halloween! It’s Halloween! The moon is full and bright and we shall see that can’t be seen on any other night!”
There will be a witches’ brew of hot chocolate for the brave and pizza for the famished. The cliffs will flicker with shadows and who knows what will happen?
“Pumpkins in the Park” Sunday, Nov. 1st, 6pm, Thomastown, is a new spooky tradition which brings joy, revels and light to the community. Everyone is welcome and the incredible carved pumpkins are a sight to behold. There will be grotesque scary pumpkins and beautiful intricate ones. Please, carve a pumpkin, bring it along and make it a ghoulish evening to remember!
