“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble” — Shakespeare’s Macbeth, April 1611 The Celts celebrated four seasons every year closely connected to nature. Samhain, on Oct. 31, marked the end of their autumn, the harvest of the growing season, the start of their new year and cold season — the one time of year when the veil between this world and the next was the thinnest.
The Summerland was a ghost world free of hunger, pain and disease. Souls lived here waiting to be born again into the mortal world. Samhain was a time to contact ghost ancestors for guidance.
Bats and owls were seen around large Samhain bonfires eating insects. Children would carry candles and go house to house asking for pastries called soul cakes and give a blessing in return. Celebrations during the Halloween season from Oct.
31 to Nov. 2 each year include a neopagan sabbat called Samhain held on the evening of Oct. 31 and three Christian holy days; All Saints’ Day (All Hallows’ Day on Nov.
1, All Souls’ Day (Day of the Dead) held on Nov. 2 primary by Roman Catholics and Reformation Day on Oct. 31 by Protestants.
There are 12 objects of our secular Halloween that I see each year on people’s lawns. Large spider and skeleton on the front lawn of the old Coldwater church. Since we are celebrating ancestors who have died and waiting in the ghost world, that explains the first four — skulls, skeletons, graves and ghosts.
It was the end of the growing season and a time for.
