Halloween again!
I apologise for not having posted my 2nd Halloween post before now! I guess it's been a busy week.
I wanted to talk about Scottish customs & beliefs regarding Halloween. My main source of information is an amazing book my teacher Donald gave me, called THE GAELIC OTHERWORLD, by John Gregorson Campbell. Campbell lived from 1834 to 1891 and was a minister. This book (which combines two of his publications) come from stories and information he gathered in the 1850's & '60's.
In the old Celtic calender, Samhainn was the New Year. Great bonfires were built. Campbell writes:
"Whole districts were brilliant with bonfires, and their glare across a Highland loch...formed an exceedingly picturesque scene...there is no reason to look upon them otherwise than as the natural and defiant welcome of the season in which fires are most required..."
Many "games" of divination were performed by young single people, involving many different objects from apples to string, nuts to stocks of kail. I myself did not play any of these games, though I have in the past: one popular in America in the early 20th century was to look in the mirror and walk backwards downstairs, and supposedly you will see the face of your future intended looking over your shoulder in the mirror.
This Halloween, Katie and I went to two parties! One of her friends at school always has a grand party. This girl's father is obsessed with Halloween - possibly even more so than I am! Katie went early with another friend, and I joined them at about 9:30. They live in relative solitude beside a lake (very eerie!) and it was like a spook alley just walking up to their door - scenes of cemetaries and gorey, shrouded figures met me on every hand. It was marvellous. Then the Wednesday before Halloween we had a Young Womens/Young Men's Halloween party. We played pin the tail on the black cat, and an old parlor game I got from a Halloween book published in 1910. Then we listened to music and danced and ate cupcakes (made by yours truly).
On Halloween night itself we all dressed up and were joined by our friends the Reichert girls (from our branch) to trick-or-treat in Smithville Flats a little. Then we drove into Greene, and were joined by other friends from church and Katie's school. It had been raining earlier on, but we were lucky that it stopped during the official trick-or-treat hours: 5 to 8. Someone in an old 1920's pick-up truck (running board!) drove around with a fake skeleton in a trunk. It was wonderful. When we got home we ate chili (and some Halloween candy, of course!) and watched THE WOLFMAN with Lon Chaney, Jr. It was a really lovely evening.
Katie, by the way, is dressed up as a WW2 uniformed woman (inspiration from FOYLE'S WAR, and the girl who wears an MTC uniform). I was going to be a witch with Heather, but as I'd worn my witch costume to both the parties, I dressed as a fairy, of sorts.
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