All Halloween

Chinese Festival of the Dead

2011-12-13T09:02:00.001-08:00

This passage comes from pages 322 to 324 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

Dead, Festival of the Unforgotten. (Chinese, Ching Ming Chich.) The Chinese All Souls' Day. Ancestor worship is the most prominent feature of the Chinese religion. It was sanctioned by Confucius. Like the ancient Egyptians, the Chinese hold that every person has three souls. At death, one soul goes into the unseen world, the second remains with the body in the tomb, the third takes up its abode in the ancestral tablet, which is the holiest thing in the household. This tablet is simply a narrow niece of wood, about a foot long, two or three inches wide, and half an inch thick, set in a low pedestal, and on one side are inscribed the ancestral names. The eldest son has charge of the tablet and its worship. It is placed in the main hall of the house, offerings are presented before it, and incense is burned to it every day. The son regards this tablet as in very truth the abode of a personality which is far more to him for weal or woe than all the gods of the empire. The gods are to be feared and their favor is to be propitiated; but ancestors are loved and their needs in the spirit world are generously supplied. Food is offered daily before the tablet, in order to satisfy the hunger of the spirit, while paper money, suits of paper clothes, and paper figures representing men-servants and maid-servants are burnt to ashes, — the idea being that thus sublimated they pass without difficulty to the souls in the regions of the blest.

Twice in the year — the first time in the third month, when also, as we learn from the Gospels, it was customary to sweep and garnish the tombs in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, and again in the seventh — the males of every family of standing betake themselves to the graveyards, and, having cleansed and embellished the tombs, offer sacrifices of food and burn paper representations before an altar in front of the graves. Each worshipper bows repeatedly with his head to the ground, as though in the presence of a deity, and brings his devotions to an end by pouring libations of wine over the altar and firing volleys of crackers to drive to a distance any evil spirits that may be lurking in the neighborhood. But there are other evil spirits in the company of the deceased, who, being beyond the reach of the sound of fireworks, have to be propitiated. Lepers and beggars are believed to haunt the eternal regions, and, as these might become annoyingly clamorous if the offerings and presents were confined to the deceased alone, food, consisting of small cakes, and offerings of paper money are presented to them. But even these do not exhaust the unseen powers which have to be propitiated in order to secure the undisturbed repose of tho dead. "To leave out of count the local deity would be almost to invite the disturbance of the genial influences secured by the position of the tomb. Three dishes of food, three cups of wine, three incense sticks, two candles, and three packets of paper money are supposed to satisfy his wants, and these are readily offered at his shrine. When the service is over and the spiritual essence of the food offered has been consumed by the spirits, the worshippers gather round the altar and partake of the more material portion of the viands. This is but a prelude to a subsequent feast, which is held in the ancestral hall of the clan." (Prof. R. K. Douglass, in Good Words for January, 1895.)

In Formosa the feast in honor of the dead was differently conducted. The food was tied row upon row on great cone-like structures of bamboo poles, from five to ten feet in diameter at the base, and sometimes fifty or sixty feet high.

When the spirits had consumed the spiritual part, the carnal became the property of a vast mob that always assembled on the grounds. A gong gave the signal for the latter to rush in. "Scarcely had the first stroke fallen," says George Leslie Mackay, speaking of a Seventh Moon Feast he had witnessed at Bang-Kah, "when that whole scene was one mass of arms and legs and tongues. Screaming, cursing, howling, like demons of the pit, they all joined in the onset. A rush was made for the cones, and those nearest seized the supports and pulled now this way, now that. The huge, heavily laden structures began to sway from side to side until with a crash one after another fell into the crowd, crushing their way to the ground. Then it was every man for himself. In one wild scramble, groaning and yelling all the while, trampling on those who had lost their footing or were smothered by the falling cones, fighting and tearing one another like mad dogs, they all made for the coveted food. It was a very bedlam, and the wildness of the scene was enhanced by the irregular explosion of the firecrackers and the death groan of some one worsted in the fray. As each secured what he could carry, he tried to extricate himself from the mob, holding fast to the treasures for which he had fought and one of the less successful in the outskirts of the crowd would fain plunder him. Escaping the mob, he hurried to his home, expecting every moment to be attacked by those who thought it easier to waylay and rob the solitary spoilsman than to join in the general scramble in the plain."

These barbarities were abolished in 1894 by the Chinese governor, Lin Ming Chuan.

Bat Oracle

2011-12-08T13:19:00.001-08:00

Bats are a creepy Hollywood favorite, but in ancient times bats were steeped in magic. One piece of divination that comes to us from ancient Greece is a simple bat divination.

Belief states that when a person enters a cave, if the bats remain hanging and don't panic, that person can expect much good fortune. However, if the bats go into a panic when entering the cave, the Fates are working against that person.

For more oracle fun, check out The Halloween Tarot.

Halloween Lace

2011-11-21T22:52:00.001-08:00

Halloween is never truly over, so let's celebrate it all year round, or, at the very least, dedicate one little corner of the house to this favorite holiday. This Heritage Lace Going Batty is absolutely awesome for a quick Halloween throw that can be used to decorate a Goth bedroom or a quirky library/office.

Red Heart Super Saver Black Knit Hat

2011-11-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

A super easy knit hat pattern using only knit and purl rows to create the design. I made this black hat for Halloween. I might attach a spider pin to it or some other Halloweenie item. Maybe sew a few spider rings onto it after cutting off the ring part of the plastic spiders.

Yarn: Medium (4) worsted yarn. I used half of a skein Red Heart Super Saver color Black.

Size 9 needles.

Cast on 70 leaving a long tail for sewing up seam.

Hat brim:

Row 1: K1, P1 across.

Knit row 1 six times (6 rows total).

Hat pattern:

Rows 1-5: Knit across.

Row 6: Purl across.

Complete rows 1 through 6 five times. You will have 5 purl rows.

Knit every row until hat measures 10-inches long. Bind off and leave a long tail for closing the top of the hat.

To put together, lay out hat on a flat surface. Bring right sides together so that the wrong side is facing you. Pin side edges together, making sure the rows are matching. Sew up the side of the hat, starting at the brim.

Use bind off tail and weave it in and out of the last row. Pull tight to gather hat's top and knot in place. Weave in the ends and turn right side out.

Easy Knit Halloween Hat

2011-10-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Here is a very easy knit pattern for a Halloween hat using orange and black yarn.

Yarn: Medium (4) worsted yarn - colors black and orange. I used half of a skein Red Heart Super Saver color Black and Lion Brand Yarn Fun color Orange.

Size 9 knitting needles.

Cast on 70 leaving a long tail for sewing up seam.

Hat brim:

Row 1: In black - K1, P1 across.

Knit row 1 six times in black (6 rows total).

Hat pattern:

Rows 1 - 2: Knit in orange.

Row 3 - 8: Knit in black.

Rows 9 - 10: Knit in orange.

Rows 11 - 16: Knit in black.

Rows 17-18: Knit in orange.

Knit every row in black until hat measures 10-inches long. Bind off and leave a long tail for closing the top of the hat.

Use bind off tail and weave it in and out of the last row. Pull tight to gather hat's top and knot in place. Weave in the ends.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie FIlling

2011-10-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

As I keep telling everyone, you can make your own pureed pumpkin for pumpkin pie, and it is so much cheaper and plentiful than the canned pumpkin in the grocery stores. Here is a delicious recipe we use to make our own pumpkin pie.

Recipe for Pumpkin Pie Filling

2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup molasses
1-1/2 cups pumpkin mash
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients in large bowl. Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake at 425 degrees F for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for another 50 minutes. Remove pie from oven and let cool.

Pumpkin Pie Crust Recipe

2011-10-20T22:20:00.000-07:00

If my daughter could have things her way, we would be making pumpkin pie at least once a week. She loves anything and everything pumpkin flavored, so tonight we tried out a new pumpkin pie crust recipe that she now loves.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup soft butter
2 Tbsp milk

In a medium bowl, mix ingredients together with a fork or pastry cutter. Put mixed dough into an ungreased 9-inch pie pan and pat down crust on bottom and sides of pan. Refrigerate pie crust until you are ready to use it.

That's it! How simple and I didn't need to use the rolling pin for this pie crust.

Top 4 Ghost Cookies Recipes

2011-07-25T20:15:00.000-07:00

Baking Halloween treats is oodles of fun, and the internet has tons of ideas. Here are 4 great recipes for ghost cookies that I've found online for free.

1. Quick Ghost Cookies by Taste of Home Recipes - Adorable ghost cookies made out of Nutter Butter peanut butter cookies. Very easy to make.
2. Cookie Spooks - A fun way to make ghost cookies, especially if you have a group of kids to help you out.
3. Boo-tiful Ghost Cookies - Wilton has easy ghost cookie instruction up using roll out cookie dough melted chocolate. Very adorable.
4. Marshmallow Ghost Cookies - Very cute! These easy cookies are perfect for Halloween parties.

Skeleton Skull Toilet Paper Holder

2011-07-17T06:44:00.000-07:00

Collect skeletons and skulls? The spooky Halloween toilet paper holder is an awesome addition to anyone's wacky decor. The holder is made of polyresin and is not light or cheap looking. You hang it up permanently.

Skeleton Pink Flamingos

2011-07-16T18:42:00.000-07:00

There's no denying it. Halloween decorations are flippin' awesome and should be used to decorate the home year round. (At least in my opinion.) On the other hand, cheesy pink flamingos are also pretty cool, so when I saw these skeleton yard flamingos, I felt a moment of complete perfection. With these lawn decorations, I can fulfill my summertime lawn flavor and keep them up until Halloween. Heck, I may have to sew little Santa hats for them and keep them out year round.

Parentalia

2011-01-31T01:24:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from page 778 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

Parentalia. Among the ancient Romans the public festival in honor of deceased relatives, which lasted from the 13th to the 2lst of February. During these days all the temples were closed, marriages were prohibited, and the magistrates had to appear in public without the tokens of their office. The last day had the special name Feralia. Other festivals in honor of the dead were celebrated on August 24, October 5, and November 8, when the Manes or souls of the dead were believed to rise to the upper world. On these occasions the graves were decked with roses, violets, and other flowers.

About the Month of October

2011-01-17T01:15:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from pages 762 to 763 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

October. This month was so named because it was the eighth month in the primitive Roman calendar ascribed to Romulus. It became the tenth month in the calendar as revised by Numa, who added January and February, but it retained its original name, the more readily, perhaps, because it once more became the tenth month when the year commenced, as it did in early Christendom, with March. Julius Caesar in his revision of the calendar gave it thirty days, which number was changed to thirty-one by Augustus. As was the case with September, many Roman Emperors sought to change its name in their own honor. It was successively Germanicus, Antoninus, Tacitus, and Herculeus, the latter a surname of the Emperor Commodus. But none of these names clung. The Roman Senate had no better luck when they renamed it Faustinus, in honor of Faustina, wife of Antoninus.

The Anglo-Saxons called October Winterfylleth, a name which indicated that winter approached with the full moon of the month. In old almanacs the sport of hawking is adopted as emblematical of this which was accounted the last month of autumn. On October 23 the sun enters the sign Scorpio, the astronomical emblem said to typify, in the form of a destructive insect, the increasing power of cold over nature. In the same manner the equal influences of cold and heat are represented by Libra, or The Balance, the sign of the preceding month of September.

Hedge-crickets sing; and now, with treble soft,
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft.
(Keats.)

The warm sun is failing; the bleak wind is wailing;
The bare boughs are sighing; the pale flowers are dying.
(Shelley.)

The rivers run chill; the red sun is sinking,
And I am grown old, and life is fast shrinking.
(Hood.)

Yet for ever and aye I will bless his name,
While his winds blow fresh and his sunsets flame,
This prince of months, — October.
(Hayne.)

Key of Death

2011-01-16T01:06:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from page 596 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

Key of Death. (It. Chiave della Morte.) A large key preserved in the arsenal at Venice. It is so constructed that the handle may be turned around, revealing a small spring, which, being pressed, drives a very fine needle with considerable force from the other end. This needle is so delicate that the flesh closed over the wound immediately, leaving no mark. It was invented by Tebaldo, a stranger, who established himself as a merchant, in Venice, about 1600. Becoming enamoured of the daughter of an ancient house, he sought her hand in marriage, but was rejected, as she was already affianced. Enraged and seeking revenge, he waited at the church door as the maiden of his choice passed in to her marriage, and then, unperceived, he sent the needle into the breast of the bridegroom. The latter, seized with a sharp pain, fainted, was carried home, and died soon after, his strange illness baffling the skill of the physicians. Tebaldo again asked for the maiden's hand, was again refused, and in a few days both her parents died in the same mysterious manner. Upon examination of their bodies, the small steel instrument was found embedded in the flesh. The young lady went into a convent during her mourning, and here Tebaldo pressed his suit, but, with an instinctive horror of the man, she declined his offer, whereupon he contrived to wound her. Upon her return to her room she felt a pain in her breast, saw a single drop of blood, and when surgeons were hastily summoned, with ready intuition, they cut into the wounded part, extracted the needle, and saved her life. Suspicion immediately falling upon the right culprit, his house was searched, the key was discovered, and Tebaldo was executed.

Lich or Corpse Gate

2011-01-15T00:54:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from pages 621 to 622 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

Lich or Corpse Gate. The word lich means "corpse," and the fundamental idea of the lich gate is that of a resting place at the entrance to the churchyard, where the coffin may be set down. This was primarily for the benefit of the pall bearers, as most of the old English churches are set well back from the street. It is also customary to set down the coffin while the bier is brought from the church. The coffin is placed on the bier and carried into the church. This has been long the custom at the Church of the Transfiguration. The rubrical direction in the Prayer Book now in use says that the priest and clerks are to meet the body at the entrance to the churchyard, but Prayer Books printed in the sixteenth century direct that the body shall be met at the church stile or lich gate. The gate also serves as a general entrance to the churchyard.

It is known that lich gates existed in England thirteen centuries ago, but comparatively few remain, and hardly any of these are more than four hundred years old. The explanation is that at first most of the gates were built entirely of wood. These have disappeared by decay. Most of the older remaining lich gates are found in widespread parishes and mountainous districts. They are most common in Devon, Cornwall, and Wales. In olden times the body was borne to its burial by friends or neighbors, and where the distances were great the time of arrival was somewhat uncertain, and the lich gate, being roofed, afforded shelter on rainy days and a waiting place at all times.

The most common form of the lich gate is a simple shed composed of a roof with two gable ends, covered with either tiles or thatch, and supported by strong timbers, well braced together. Frequently, however, they are built of stone, and they vary greatly in the manner of construction. At Berry Harbor is a lich gate in the form of a cross. At Troutbeck, in Westmoreland, there are three lich gates in one churchyard. Some of the gates have chambers over them. At Tavistock there is a small room on each side of the gate, having seats on three sides and a table in the centre. In this, as in some other cases, provision is made either for the distribution of alms or for the rest and refreshment of funeral attendants. It was once a common custom at funerals, especially in Scotland, to hold a feast at the church gate. These feasts sometimes led to great excesses. The custom has been discontinued, but it may afford an explanation of the purpose for which the lich gate rooms were built.

In some gates lich stones are found. Frequently such stones are found without the gate. The lich stone is used as a rest for the coffin. It is either oblong, with the ends of equal width, or in the shape of the ancient coffin, narrower at one end than at the other, but without any bend at the shoulder. It stands at the centre of the entrance, and has on each side stone seats on which the bearers rest while the coffin remains on the stone. Very rarely lich stones are found at a distance from the churchyard, being doubtless intended as rests for the coffin on its way to burial. It is thought the several beautiful crosses erected by King Edward I. at the points where the body of his queen, Eleanor, rested on its way from Herdeby, in Lincolnshire, to Westminster were built over the lich stones on which her coffin was placed.

Pumpkin Souffle

2011-01-14T12:44:00.000-08:00

This recipe comes from The American Woman's Cook Book by Ruth Berolzheimer (Garden City Publishing Co., 1943).

Pumpkin Souffle

1 cup mashed cooked pumpkin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 egg whites

1/8 tsp salt

Rub pumpkin through a colander, add cinnamon and sugar and mix well. Beat egg whites until stiff, add salt and fold into pumpkin mixture. Fill greased baking dish or individual molds not more than 2/3 full and set in pan of hot water. Bake in moderate oven (350 F) about 40 minutes for a large mold, 25 to 30 minutes for individual molds. Serves 6.

History and Customs of Halloween

2011-01-13T12:46:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from pages 501 to 511 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

Halloween or All Hallow Even (also known locally as Nutcrack Night and Snapapple Night). The name given to the night of October 31, as the eve or vigil of All Saints' or All Hallows Day (November 1). Of all nights in the year this is the one upon which supernatural influences most prevail. The spirits of the dead wander abroad, together with witches, devils, and mischief-making elves, and in some cases the spirits of living persons have the temporary power to leave their bodies and join the ghostly crew. Children born on this day preserve through their youth the power to converse with these airy visitants. But often the latter reveal themselves to ordinary folk, to advise or warn them. Hence it is the night of all nights for divination. Impartially weighed against the others, it is the very best time of the whole year for discovering just what sort of husband or wife one is to be blessed withal.

Halloween is a curious recrudescence of classic mythology, Druidic beliefs, and Christian superstitions. On November 1 the Romans had a feast to Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, and it was then that the stores laid up in the summer for use in the winter were opened. Hence the appropriateness of the use of nuts and apples at this time. November 1 or thereabouts was also the great autumn festival to the sun which the Druids celebrated in thanksgiving for their harvest. Now, the Druids believed in transmigration, and taught that on the eve of this festival Saman, the Lord of Death, called together the wicked souls that within the last twelve months had been condemned to occupy the bodies of animals. But Saman might be propitiated through the priests by means of gifts and incantations to mitigate his sentences.

November was also one of the quaternary periods when the Druids lighted their bonfires in honor of Baal. The custom was kept up in many portions of Great Britain until a comparatively recent period. Wales was especially tenacious of it, and the observances which marked the November fire may be held to have descended directly from the Druids.

Each family used to make its own fire, and as it was dying out each member would throw a white stone into it, the stones being marked for future identification. Then all said their prayers and went to bed, and in the morning they tried to find all the stones again. If any stone was missing it betokened that the owner of it would die within a year. Some superstitions are pretty and picturesque and attractive; this was one of the many which were cruel as well as picturesque. It would take but a slight accident to cause a fright that might be actually dangerous to a superstitious person, and it would not be hard for an enemy of such a person to cause that fright by stealing his stone from the fire.

These fires in Wales were commonly followed by feasting on nuts, apples, and parsnips, and by the games of which something will be said presently. Sometimes nuts were thrown into the fires, in the belief that they indicated prosperity to those who threw them if they burned well and the reverse if they simply smoldered and turned black. There were fires also in Scotland, and there, in some parts of the country at least, the ashes were carefully raked into a circle and just within this the stones were placed, one for each person present. If in the morning any of these appeared to have been disturbed, it betokened death. Sometimes it was the custom to make large torches by binding combustible material to the tops of poles and to bear them blazing about the village, lighting new ones as often as the old were burned out. Fires were also used at different times and places on All Saints' Night, which is the eve of All Souls' Day, and on All Souls' Day itself, the 2nd of November. In these cases the fires were regarded as typical of immortality, and were thought to be efficacious, as an outward and visible sign at least, for lighting souls from purgatory.

But if anything were wanting to prove the Druidic origin of many of the Halloween observances it would be found in the fact that in some parts of Ireland October 31 was known as Oidhche Shamhna, or Vigil of Saman. Vallancey's "Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis" tells us that on this night the peasants in Ireland assemble with sticks and clubs, "going from house to house, collecting money, breadcake, butter, cheese, eggs, etc, for the feast, repeating verses in honor of the solemnity, demanding preparations for the festival in the name of St. Columb Kill, desiring them to lay aside the fatted calf and to bring forth the black sheep. The good women are employed in making the griddlecake and candles; these last are sent from house to house in the vicinity, and are lighted up on the (Saman) next day, before which they pray, or are supposed to pray, for the departed soul of the donor. Every house abounds in the best viands they can afford: apples and nuts are devoured in abundance; the nut shells are burnt, and from the ashes many strange things are foretold; cabbages are torn up by the root; hemp seed is sown by the maidens, and they believe that if they look back they will see the apparition of the man intended for their future spouse; they hang a smock before the fire, on the close of the feast, and sit up all night, concealed in a corner of the room, convinced that his apparition will come down the chimney and turn the smock; they throw a ball of yarn out of the window, and wind it on the reel within, convinced that if they repeat the Pater Noster back wards, and look at the ball of yarn without, they will then also see his sith or apparition; they dip for apples in a tub of water, and endeavor to bring one up in the mouth; they suspend a cord with a cross stick, with apples at one point, and candles lighted at the other, and endeavor to catch the apple, while it is in a circular motion, in the mouth." Vallancey sagely concludes that these superstitious practices, the remains of Druidism, will never be eradicated while the name of Saman is permitted to remain.

In the island of Lewis the name Shamhna, or Saman, seems to have been corrupted to Shony. Martin talks with considerable disgust of "an ancient custom here to sacrifice to a sea god, called Shony, at Hallowtide." The inhabitants, it seems, used to gather to the church of St. Mulvay, at night, each family bringing provisions, and also furnishing a peck of malt, which was brewed into ale. One who was chosen for the purpose waded into the sea up to his middle and poured out a cup of ale, calling on Shony to favor the people through the coming year. "At his return to land they all went to church, where there was a candle burning upon the altar: and then standing silent for a little time, one of them gave a signal, at which the candle was put out, and immediately all of them went to the fields, where they fell a-drinking their ale, and spent the remainder of the night in dancing and singing." He adds, "The ministers in Lewis told me they spent several years before they could persuade the vulgar natives to abandon this ridiculous piece of superstition."

If in the word Saman the Irish preserve a distinct evidence of Druidism, on the other hand in the drink called "Lambs-wool they equally confess the Roman intermixture. Lambs-wool is made by bruising roasted apples and mixing them with ale or sometimes with milk. The Gentleman's Magazine for May, 1784, says "this is a constant ingredient at a merrymaking on Holy Eve." Now, Vallancey makes a shrewd etymological guess when he says, "The first day of November was dedicated to the angel presiding over fruits, seeds, etc., and was therefore named La Mas Ubhal, — that is, the day of the apple fruit, — and being pronounced Lamasool, the English have corrupted the name to Lambs-wool." The "angel presiding over fruits, seeds, etc.," was obviously a reminiscence of Pomona.

It may be interesting to record a few of the Halloween customs which are now practically extinct.

A curious little book called "The Festyvall" (1511) mentions a custom obsolete even at that time. "We rede," it says, "in olde tyme good people wolde on All halowen daye bake brade and dele it for all crysten soules." Yet bread or cake in one form or other was locally associated with Halloween until a far more recent period. Indeed, even at the present moment it is said that the women of Ripon, Yorkshire, on this night make a cake for every one in the family, so that it is popularly known as Cake Night. In Warwickshire and elsewhere seed-cake was an accompaniment of Halloween, as indicating the end of wheat seedtime. This custom seems to have been general in the time of Thomas Tusser:

Wife, some time this weeke, if the wether hold cleere,
An end of wheat-sowing we make for this yeare.
Remember you, therefore, though I do it not,
The Seed-Cake, the Pasties, and Furmentie pot.
(Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, 1580.)

Aubrey says that in his time in Shropshire and elsewhere there was set upon the board at All Hallows Eve a high heap of Soul-cakes, about the bigness of twopenny cakes, lying one upon another, like the picture of the shew bread in the old Bibles. Every visitor was expected to take one. "There is an old rhyme or saying," he adds, — "A Soule-cake, a Soule-cake, have mercy on all Christen soules for a Soule-cake."

Tollet in a note in his Variorum Shakespeare to the "Two Gentlemen of Verona" (Act ii. Sc. 2) says, "It is worth remarking that on All Saints' Day the poor people in Staffordshire, and perhaps in other country places, go from parish to parish a-souling, as they call it, — i.e., begging and puling (or singing small, as Bailey's Dictionary explains puling) for Soul Cakes, or any good thing to make them merry. This custom is mentioned by Peck, and seems a remnant of Popish superstition to pray for departed souls, particularly those of friends."

Another Popish practice was summarily stopped by the Reformation. This was the custom of ringing bells at this season for all Christian souls.

In the draught of a letter which King Henry VIII. was to send to Cranmer "against superstitious practices" (Burnet: Hist Ref., 1683), "the Vigil and ringing of bells all the night long upon Allhallow Day at night" are directed to be abolished; and the said Vigil to have no watching or ringing. And in the appendix to Strype's "Annals of the Reformation" the following injunction, made early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, occurs: "That the superfluous ringing of bels, and the superstitious ringing of bells at Allhallowntide, and at Al Souls' Day, with the two nights next before and after, be prohibited."

In the Churchwardens' Accounts of the parish of Heybridge, near Maiden, in Essex, under a.d. 1517 are the following items:

"Imprimis, payed for frankyncense agense Hollowmasse, Ol. Os. Id.

"Item, payed to Andrew Elyott, of Maldon, for newe mendynge of the third bell knappell agenste Hallowmasse, 01.

"Item, payed to John Gidney, of Maldon, for a new bell rope agenste Hallowmasse, 01. Os. 8d."

Among articles to be inquired of within the archdeaconry of Yorke by the churchwardens and sworn men, between the years 1630 and 1640, one is, "Whether there be any within your parish or chappelry that use to ring bells superstitiously upon any abrogated holiday, or the eves thereof."

Everybody is familiar with Burns's famous poem "Halloween," which gives a panoramic insight into the customs of Old Scotia on this night of mirth and mystery. Perhaps no influence has done more than this to preserve and spread these observances among English-speaking folk. All of them are based on immemorial custom.

But what was once a ceremony of belief has now become a thing of sport, of welcome sport in a day of such serious thought and work and sense of responsibility that any excuse for sport should be laid hold of; so that now its observances are all a jest which young people play upon themselves, not in the least believing in the consequences, only half hoping there may be something in it, and saying to themselves that stranger things have happened.

So they practice matrimonial vaticinations of all sorts. Most common of all and most intimately associated with the season is the roasting of nuts. These are placed together on the bar of the grate side by side in pairs, and named for supposed lovers. If a nut burns quietly and brightly it indicates sincerity of affection. If it cracks and jumps it tells of unfaithfulness, while if the nuts burn together the youth and maid so indicated will be married.

These glowing nuts are emblems true
Of what in human life we view.
The ill-matched couple fret and fume,
And thus in strife themselves consume,
Or from each other wildly start,
And with a noise forever part.
But see the happy, happy pair,
Of genuine love and truth sincere:
With natural fondness while they burn,
Still to each other kindly turn,
And as the vital sparks decay.
Together gently sink away,
Till, life's fierce ordeal being past,
Their mingled ashes rest at fast.
(Charles Graydon: Poems, Dublin, 1801.)

Or perchance two hazel-nuts are thrown into the hot coals by a maiden. She secretly gives a lover's name to each. If one of the nuts bursts, then that lover is unfaithful; but if it burns with a steady glow until it becomes ashes, she knows that her lover's faith is true. Sometimes it happens, but not often, that both nuts will burn steadily, and then is the maiden's heart sore perplexed.

Burns's stanza on this subject is as pretty as any in his poem:

Jean slips in twa, wi' tentie e'e;
Wha 'twas she wadna tell;
But this is Jock and this is me,
She says in to hersel;
He bleez'd owre her, an' she owre him,
As they wad never mair part;
Till, fuff! he started up the lum,
An' Jean had e'en a sair heart
To see't that night.

Gay has also some pretty lines about a girl who proved her lover in this way:

Two hazel-nuts I threw into the flame,
And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name;
This with the loudest bounce me sore amazed.
That in a flame of brightest color blazed;
As blazed the nut, so may thy passion grow,
For 'twas thy nut that did so brightly glow!

Next to nuts in importance come apples.

Endless are the methods of extracting from these fruit either fun or prophecy. What greater fun can there be when you are at the right age and in the right mood, than ducking for apples? These apples are set afloat in a tub of water. They must be caught with the teeth, and the hands must not be used at all. The surest way to get an apple, it is said, is to force it to the bottom of the tub, and there hold it close while it is caught by the teeth. Any other way is hard to manage and uncertain of result. Another trick is to suspend a stick by a string tied in the middle. An apple is placed at one end and a lighted candle at the other. The stick is then whirled around, and the purpose is to catch the apple with the teeth and not to catch the candle.

And as to prophecy, any maiden may find out at least the first letter of the name of her future husband by peeling a pippin, taking the paring by one end in her fingers, swinging it three times about her head, and then letting it drop. The pippin-paring thus dropped will surely fall in the shape of the initial of his name, as she will readily see, though the rest of the company, not having quite so discerning eyes as hers, may not.

It is said to help among the witches wonderfully to repeat these North of England lines while swinging the paring about the head:

I pare this pippin round and round again,
My sweetheart's name to flourish on the plain:
I fling the unbroken paring o'er my head,
My sweetheart's letter on the ground is read.

Two cut apple-seeds stuck on the lids of the eyes help one immmensely on Halloween in determining which of two lovers is the more desirable. All that is necessary is to name the apple seeds after the lovers, respectively, and that which drops from the eye first points to him whose love is not adhesive. The advantage of this spell is that a body may help the Fates along, if they seem undecided, by winking.

The hemp seed divination is known both to the United States and to Britain. The experimenter must go out alone and unperceived with a handful of hemp seed, which he must sow on the ground, dragging after him anything that may be convenient by way of a harrow. He must then say, "Hemp seed, I sow thee, hemp seed, I sow thee: and him or her that is to be my true love come after me and pou thee." If he then looks over his left shoulder, he ought to see a likeness of his future sweetheart pulling the seed which he has sowed. If he sees nobody, he may conclude that he is never to marry, or that there is some mistake in the experiment. A trial very like this may be made on Midsummer Eve.

If a girl would see her husband by an Irish method, here it is. Let her throw a ball of yarn out of the window, holding the end of the thread, and then rewind it, at the same time saying the Pater Noster backward. Watching the ball of yarn without, she will see the desired apparition. Burns shows that the Scottish form of this test was more solemn. He says nothing of the Pater Noster, but he says that the yarn must be blue, and that the experimenter must go out to a limekiln and throw the ball therein; then, when the rewinding is nearly finished, something will hold the thread. To the question, "Wha hauds?" the name of the future husband will be returned in answer. Of course it is understood that this or any of the other methods of divination of this night may be used with equal effect by a man or a woman.

Wet the sleeve of a shirt and hang it on a chair before the fire, as if to dry. Then go to bed, but do not go to sleep, only watch. At about midnight you may confidently expect to see your spouse that is to be enter the room and turn the drying garment. If you do not see him, it must be because you allow yourself to drop asleep, if only for a minute, and so miss him when he comes. Burns adds to the difficulty of this trial, and therefore to its probable success if carried out rightly, by requiring that the shirt shall be wet in a spring or rivulet running towards the south at a point where three lairds' lands meet. It is the left sleeve that must be wet. This, also, is a test which may be tried equally well at midsummer.

Numerous are the other ways in which the beatific vision of the future spouse may be conjured up. Lovers set three dishes on the floor, one empty, one with clean water, and one with foul water, and then approaching blindfolded dip their hands at random: they who dip in the empty one shall remain unmarried, and they who dip in the foul shall get one that is widowed, and they who dip in the clean shall be joined to a virgin. Or all alone they eat an apple before a mirror, feeling creepy as they look over the shoulder in the glass for the face of the sweetheart or spouse to be; or they go down the cellar stairs with a candle in one hand and a mirror in the other, for the same expected vision. Or they winnow in the dark three measures of nothing, simply with empty mimicry of winnowing, whereupon the face is to appear; or they pull the dead stalk from the garden, and judge by the earth clinging to the roots whether or not the lover has gold and gear; or they drop the yolk of an egg in water, and take heed of the indications concerning a lover's trade and tools, be they pen or be they spade.

But the mysterious rites of Halloween are not complete when the merrymaking is done and "goodnight" is said. Each young lady, in order to complete the charms of the night, on reaching her home must pluck two roses with long stems, naming one for herself and the other for her lover. She must then go directly to her sleeping room without speaking to any one, and, kneeling beside her bed, must twine together the stems of the two roses and repeat the following lines, gazing meanwhile intently upon the lover's rose:

Twine, twine, and intertwine,
Let my love be wholly mine.
If his heart be kind and true,
Deeper grow his rose's hue.

If her swain be faithful, the color of the rose will grow darker and more intense.

The moment has at last arrived for the final and, to many, the most convincing and satisfactory test as to the identity of the maid's lover if she is still in doubt. A glass of water, in which a small sliver of wood has been placed, must stand on a small table by her bedside. In the night she will dream of falling from a bridge into a river; but scarcely will she touch the water when her future husband, whose face she can plainly see, will jump in and rescue her.

A noteworthy circumstance in the Scottish observance of the night which has not been largely followed elsewhere is the extraordinary and varied use to which cabbage, or kail, is put in the traditions and merrymaking of the occasion. Kail brose, or cabbage broth, is inseparable from the Scotch Halloween feast. Mischievous boys push the pith from the stalk, fill the cavity with tow which they set on fire, and then through the keyholes of houses of folk who have given them offense blow darts of flame a yard in length. If on Halloween a farmer's or crofter's kail yard still contains ungathered cabbages, the boys and girls of the neighborhood descend upon it en masse, and the entire crop is harvested in five minutes time and thumped against the owner's doors, which rattle as though pounded by a thunderous tempest. In some shires at the "pulling of the kail" the youths of both sexes go into the kail yard blindfolded and in pairs, holding each other's hands. They each pull the first "runt" or stalk they find, not being permitted to make selection. All thus gathered are carried back to the house for inspection. The straightness or crookedness, leanness or fatness, and other peculiarities of the stalks are indicative of the general appearance of their future husbands or wives, while the taste of the pith, whether sweet, bitter, or vapid, forecasts their disposition and character. But the most singular of all beliefs in Scotland regarding the cabbage stalk is confined to the minds of very young children, though it is so peculiarly a tender delusion that the midwife holds it in respect to her dying day. The idea is universal among the little folks in the Land o' Cakes that where a new brother or sister appears in the household it has come, through fairy aid, from the roots of the cabbage stalk. So that when all the bairns of Scotland are singing, —

This is the nicht o' Halloween,
When a' the witchie micht be seen;
Some o' them black, some o' them green,
Some o' them like a turkey bean, —

however mad and merry all their games, they never lay their joy weary heads upon their pillows until with their own hands they have laid generous piles of "kail runts" against doorsill and windowledge, so that the gracious and kindly fairies of blessed Halloween night shall set free at least one baby soul from the roots and mould, and the household shall not fail of welcoming another tiny bairn within the coming year.

The following extract is taken from the Guardian (November 11, 1874): "Halloween was duly celebrated at Balmoral Castle. Preparations had been made days beforehand, and farmers and others for miles around were present. When darkness set in, the celebration began, and her majesty and the Princess Beatrice, each bearing a large torch, drove out in an open phaeton. A procession formed of the tenants and servants on the estates followed, all carrying huge torches lighted. They walked through the grounds and round the castle, and the scene as the procession moved onwards was very weird and striking. When it had arrived in front of the castle, an immense bonfire, composed of old boxes, packing cases, and other materials, stored up during the year for the occasion, was set fire to. When the flames were at their brightest, a figure dressed as a hobgoblin appeared on the scene, drawing a car surrounded by a number of fairies carrying long spears, the car containing the effigy of a witch. A circle having been formed by the torch bearers, the presiding elf tossed the figure of the witch into the fire, where it was speedily consumed. This cremation over, reels were begun, and were danced with great vigor to the stirring strains of Willie Ross, her majesty's piper."

A custom that prevails in Ireland and Scotland, and that is religiously followed in the United States by the people of those countries, has to do with the character of the evening meal. A dish, largely made up of mashed parsnips and potatoes and chopped onions, is served as the principal item on the bill of fare. It is called "call-cannon," though why it is thus designated only these people understand. A deep bowl filled to the brim with the food is placed in the middle of the table. Somewhere in the bowl is a gold ring, and in the center is a deep well filled with melted butter. Portions are distributed to each person, and the one who finds the ring is certain to be married within a year, unless already married, in which event good luck will follow the finder.

A loaf cake is often made and in it are placed a ring and a key. The former signifies marriage, the latter a journey, and the finder of either must accept the inevitable.

In the United States it is to be regretted that the spirit of rowdyism has in a measure superseded the kindly old customs. In towns and villages gangs of hoodlums throng the streets, ringing the doorbells or wrenching the handles from their sockets, and taking gates from off their hinges. In Washington the boys carry flour in a bag. Care is taken to have the web of the bags so worn that a slight blow will release a generous supply of the white powder. The bags are long and narrow, and are handled as if they were slung shots. These the boys use upon one another as well as upon non-belligerent passers-by.

History of Excommunication

2011-01-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from pages 411 to 412 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

Excommunication. The formal exclusion of a person from religious communion and privileges. Excommunication, often with very severe consequences, was practiced in various ways by the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Jews. It is still in use among Mohammedans. In the early Christian Church it consisted simply in the exclusion of an offending member from fellowship by some formal action. This is still the practice among most Protestant denominations. As the power of the Church increased, excommunication became more complicated in method and severe in effect. In the Roman and related Churches excommunication may be either partial or total, temporary or perpetual. By the partial, or excommuncatio minor, the culprit is merely excluded from the sacraments; by the total, or excommunicatio major, he is excluded from the mass, from all intercourse with Christians, from ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and from burial in consecrated ground. Bell, book, and candle are the three instruments employed in the formal ceremony of excommunication. The ringing of the bell apprises the faithful within the church of what is about to happen, the sentence is read out of the book, and the lighted candle is then extinguished to denote the spiritual darkness in which the excommunicated person must for the future abide.

Dead Cakes Funeral Customs

2011-01-11T12:08:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from pages 338 to 339 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

Doed-Koecks. (Dutch, meaning literally "dead-cakes.") A sort of cookies served in old New York to the attendants at funerals. Alice Morse Earle, in "Colonial Days in Old New York," cites an old receipt for their manufacture: "Fourteen pounds of flour, six pounds of sugar, five pounds of butter, one quart of water, two teaspoonfuls of pearlash, two teaspoonfuls of salt, one ounce of caraway seed. Cut in thick slices four inches in diameter." Sometimes the cakes were marked with the initials of the deceased. Friends and acquaintances frequently carried them home to retain them for years as mementos of the occasion. In Albany, a well known bakery made a specialty of these cakes; but they were frequently of domestic manufacture. Families of extra good breeding sometimes sent a couple of the cakes, with a bottle of wine and a pair of gloves, as a summons to the funeral.

Burial cakes were not unknown in England, and, indeed, they are still baked in Lincolnshire and Cumberland, to be served at funerals. So late as 1748 they are advertised by a Philadelphia baker.

Japanese Festival of the Dead

2011-01-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from page 322 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

Dead, Festival of the (Japanese, Bon Matsuri), in Japan. This is celebrated from the 13th to the 15th of July. Foreigners often call it the Feast of Lanterns, from the lanterns which form a prominent feature in the celebration. It is believed that on these days the dead come back and mingle with their relations. Early on the morning of the 13th offerings of fruit and vegetables are laid upon the altars in churches and the little shrines before which the morning and evening prayers are said in every believing home. Clear water is sprinkled from time to time, and tea is poured out every hour for the viewless visitors. So for three days the dead are feasted. At sunset pine torches are kindled to guide their steps, and lanterns are suspended over houses and tombs.

On the third night the ghostly visitants are supposed to return to their abodes, and all the living can do is to speed them on their journey. Little boats, barely a foot in length, are launched on canal, river, or lake, each with a miniature lantern glowing at the prow and incense burning at the stern, and so they are allowed to float down to the sea. A recent law, however, has forbidden the launching of these shoryobuni, or "boats of the blessed ghosts," in the large seaport towns, owing to the danger to the shipping. There is some analogy both in the object of the feast and in the lighting of the lanterns with the Christian feast of All Souls.

A Funeral Feast Called Arval

2011-01-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from page 66 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

Arval or Avril. (Dan. arveol, "a wake," "a funeral feast.") In the northern parts of England a feast or entertainment at funerals. After the interment, the relations first, and then their attendants, throw upon the grave sprigs of bay, rosemary, or other odoriferous evergreens, which have previously been distributed among them. The company then adjourn to a neighboring public house, where they are severally presented with a cake and a glass of ale, which refreshment is called an arval.

Halloween Mantle Lace

2011-01-08T05:08:00.000-08:00

I just love black, spooky lace! I bought this, hoping to have a mantle in my next home, or maybe I will just hang a shelf on the wall to place the lace on it along with some purple and silver candles. Heritage Lace Spooky Hollow 19-Inch by 84-Inch Mantle Scarf, Black is great for setting the scene for spooky ceramics, as well.

All Souls' Day

2011-01-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from pages 28 to 32 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925).

All Souls' Day. A festival of the Roman Catholic Church (November 2) distinguished by solemn commemoration of an prayer for all the souls in purgatory. The mass said on that day is always the mass of the dead, and priests are obliged to recite in private the matins and lauds from the office of the dead. This solemnity owes its origin to the Abbot Odilon of Cluny, who instituted it for all the monasteries of his congregation in the year 998. Some authorities see traces of at least a local celebration of this day before Odilin's time. With the Greeks Saturday was a day of special prayer for the dead, particularly the Saturday before Lent and the one before Pentecost.

The observance of All Souls' Day after its establishment was deemed of such importance that in the event of its falling on Sunday it was ordered that not to be postponed till Monday, as happens with some other festivals, but to take place on the previous Saturday, so that the souls in purgatory should not have the ministrations in their behalf unnecessarily postponed. Thus All Saints' and All Souls' Days were occasionally celebrated together.

In ancient times it was customary for criers dressed in black to parade the streets, ringing a bell of mournful sound and calling on all good Christians to remember the poor souls in purgatory and join in prayer for their relief. In Southern Italy, notably in Salerno, there was another ancient custom, which was put to an end in the 15th century because it was thought to savor of paganism. Every family used to spread a table abundantly for the regalement of the souls of its dead members on their way from purgatory. All then spent the day at church, leaving the house open, and if any of the food remained on the table when they came back it was an ill omen. Curiously enough, large numbers of thieves used to resort to the city at this time, and there was seldom any of the food left to presage evil. A story strangely like this is told in the Apocryphal book of Bel and the Dragon.

All Souls' Day is a natural corollary to its predecessor All Saints' Day (November 1). That is a day dedicated specially to all the faithful dead who have achieved paradise. This is a day dedicated specially to the faithful dead who still remain in purgatory. Nevertheless, like most Christian festivals, it is a rehabilitation of a pagan feast. Days specifically set apart for ceremonies in honor of the dead are common to humanity. Even in China and in Japan there is a feast of the dead, known best under the alternative name of Feast of Lanterns. What is more to the point, the very dates of November 1 and November 2 were the dates on which our Druidical ancestors celebrated their festivals of the dead. It was then that the god Samhan was held to pass judgement upon the souls of the defunct.

All Souls' Day possesses a peculiar sanctity for all who have ever felt the poetry which underlies the services of the Catholic Church. In the toil and moil of life we too easily forget the dead, or remember them only with a sense of loss instead of gratitude. Hence it seems well that once in the year an opportunity should be afforded for dwelling on them in a different way, for recalling all that endeared them to us, which often means all that has lent our past life its emotional value, for drawing close to them in the spiritual bonds which according to the Catholic CHurch are not severed by death, and for offering them that pious meed of prayer which, the same authority guarantees, will shorten their stay in purgatory and open out to them the sooner the final glory and peace of paradise.

In nothing does the strange contrast of feeling appear more strongly that in the different ways in which this day is celebrated in countries or districts which are equally Roman Catholic in their profession of faith. In all, the religious services are substantially the same; masses for the dead are read, the "Dies Irae" is sung, and the prayer "Eternal rest grant them, O Lord, and let perpetual life shine upon them," rises from thousands of hearts as well as lips. But outside the church nothing can be more unlike than the bearing of the worshippers.

In France the Jour des Morts, as it is generally known, is a decorous, pathetic, and beautiful occasion among all believers. For 2 or 3 weeks before the day arrives the shop windows and the news vendors' kiosks are laden with wreaths and garlands of immortelles, some in their natural color, some dyed blue, pink, or purple. On All Saints' the people stream to the cemeteries. Thousands of people, thousands of wreaths. The cemeteries are one mass of brilliant color, of moving throngs, for not even the remotest corner of the potter's field is neglected. Above the dust of the pauper as well as of the prince is left some token of remembrance. Pains are taken that no graves of friends and relatives are neglected, lest their spirits should have their feelings hurt during their visit by perceiving this neglect. The children, especially, are encouraged to delight in the thought of pleasing the little dead brother, sister, or friend by making the tiny mounds that mark their resting places gay and bright looking.

The higher classes behave with the quietude and self restraint of well bred people everywhere. But down among the common people are manifested the emotions of the heart, sad remembrance, reawakened grief, love outlasting its object.

It is true that even into the midst of this pathetic ceremony the Parisians sometimes manage to obtrude politics. On November 2, 1868, a strange scene was enacted in the cemetery of Montmartre. The Empire was then at the height of its unpopularity. A large number of its enemies came bearing flowers to seek for the tomb of Alphonse Baudin, the representative of the people who had died at the barricades on December 2, 1851. For 17 years this tomb had been reported lost. But thousands of eager searchers soon located it, and it was covered with a pyramid of immortelles and other flowers. Revolutionary speeches were made, and there were some conflicts with the police. Next morning some of the liberal journals opened a subscription list for a monument to Baudin. But the movement was stopped by the Imperial government, and several of the editors were fined.

Scenes of this sort, however, are infrequent, and occur only among unbelievers. Now contrast the Frenchman with the Southern Italian.

Nothing can be more gruesome, incongruous, and flippant - to the Northern mind - than the All Souls' celebration in Naples. The Saturday Review of January 7, 1888, gives an account of these which is as true today as it was then:

"In Naples All Souls' Day is regarded as a holiday, and the visit of the families to the churchyard for the purpose of decorating the graves degenerates into a pleasure party. Metal garlands are chiefly used for the purpose; and, though they are more durable, they hardly possess the charm of real leaves and flowers. They may, however, be regarded as symbolic of the behavior, if not always of the feelings, of those who offer them. On the way to the cemetery a decent sobriety is observed, and the various families usually remain separate; but on the return general sociability and mirth are the rule. The roadside is lined with inns, which are better filled on this than any other day in the year; and from all of them the sound of singing and dancing may be heard. Indeed, it is by no means uncommon for a young Neapolitan to say to a friend, ' We are going to visit our mother's grave tomorrow and on our way back we shall stop at such or such an inn;' which means, If you like to come there, you can dance with my sister. To an Englishman no celebration of the day seems a better thing. If we forget our dead, we do not make their memory the excuse for a jollification.

"It is not, however, in this point alone that a difference of sentiment exists. The whole way in which the Neapolitans treat the bodies of the dead fills us with disgust. To exhume a corpse a year or two after it has been buried, to have the skeleton taken to pieces and the bones carefully cleaned, would seem to us a wanton outrage; the wealthy Neapolitan who neglects to have this done for his kindred is regarded as heartless. To carry about the prepared bones of a pet child, and to place them in a sealed casket on the drawing room mantel piece, seems to us simply shocking; in Southern Italy it has been regarded as a most pathetic expression of sorrow. But the height of what appears to us grotesque horror has been reached by a widower, who has the embalmed corpse of his wife dressed anew once a year in fresh and gorgeous apparel, and seizes the opportunity to present it with a new ring or bracelet.

"In the villages, too, where the day is observed with a certain seriousness, grotesque incidents are apt to mar, for the stranger at least, the sense of mournful calm which the religious services excite. In one of the churches of Ravello, for example, a disgusting effigy is placed before the high altar, instead of the shrouded structure in which, during the funeral service, the coffin is placed. The very skill with which it is made renders it the more repulsive. The fallen cheeks and livid hue are rendered with what seems, in the half light, a frightful realism; and it is clad in the court dress of some former century, in a suit embroidered with gold, red stockings, and pointed shoes. Or is it perhaps a real mummy? The writer did not pause to inquire. In fact, the South Italian seems to be utterly destitute of the feeling which prompts us to conceal as far as possible, even from our imaginations, all that is revolting in death."

In France the Jour des Morts is kept utterly distinct from La Toussaint, or all Saints' Day, which occurs on November 1. This is also true of Italy. But in many other European Catholic countries the decorating of graves begins on All Saints' Day, either because it is looked upon as the Eve of All Souls' or from the pious and complimentary hope that the dead in whom the celebrant is interested may have already passed out of the penitential flames of purgatory into the company of the blessed. In a Catholic Alpine village, as soon as the mass has been heard on All Saints', the women of the family busy themselves with weaving wreaths of evergreens, into which any flowers that are still hardy enough to blossom are eagerly worked. In the afternoon these are carried to the churchyard and laid upon the graves with almost silent reverence; and in the evening a lamp is placed at the foot of the last resting place of every departed friend. At such a time the cemetery is a strange sight, with the garlands, the lights, and the groups of mourners kneeling, often in the snow.

All Saints' Day

2011-01-06T11:01:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from pages 27 to 28 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925). It describes the customs and origin of All Saints' Day:

All Saints' Day. November 1, the eve of All Souls' Day. The Greek Church so early as the 4th century kept a feast of all martyrs and saints on the first Sunday of Pentecost. The object of this day was in its inception probably to do honor in bulk to all the lesser saints who could not have a feast specially set apart for them, as well as to all holy men and martyrs whose record had not survived. A sermon of St. Chrysostom's delivered on this feast is still extant. In the West, All Saints' Day was introduced by Pope Boniface IV in the 7th century on the occasion of the conversion of the Roman Pantheon into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin and all the martyrs. The anniversary of this event was kept on May 13. But when Gregory III, about November 1, 731, consecrated a chapel in St. Peter's Church in honor of all the saints, the date of the feast of All Saints was shifted, and it has ever since been November 1. From about the middle of the ninth century its observance became general throughout the West. The festival has been retained by the Anglican Church. A correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine (1788, vol. lviii. p. 602) alludes to a custom prevailing among English Roman Catholics of illuminating some of their grounds on All Saints' Night, the eve of All Souls', by bearing around them bundles of straw or other fit material kindled into a blaze. This ceremony is called a Tinley, and is an emblematical lighting of souls out of purgatory.

In Austria it is the faith of the peasantry (and even some of higher position) that on All Souls' Eve, at midnight, any one visiting the cemetery will see a procession of the dead drawing after them those who are to die during the coming year. There is a gloomy drama founded on it, which is still acted on every All Souls' Eve in the people's theatre at Vienna. It is called "The Miller and his Child." The miller has a lovely daughter, the daughter a lover: the miller obstinately opposes the marriage. After some years of despair the youth goes to the churchyard at midnight and sees the spectral train, and following it the cruel miller. The miller, then, will die during the year. The drama might have passed at this point from the graveyard to the marriage bells; but it would never be allowed in Austria that young people should be so encouraged to look forward cheerfully to the demise of parents, however cruel; and therefore the youth sees following close to the miller - himself. In the course of the year the poor girl loses both father and lover. During the performance of this drama the audience is generally bathed in tears, some persons sobbing painfully. It is evidently no fiction to them; and it is impossible not to believe that the heaping of their friends' graves with wreaths next day is in part due to the surviving belief that the dead have some awful power over the living, which is generally exerted for evil.

Allan Day

2011-01-05T10:52:00.000-08:00

This passage comes from page 27 of Curiosities of Popular Customs and of Rites, Ceremonies, Observances, and Miscellaneous Antiquities by William S. Walsh (1925). It describes Allan Day, a children's festival:

Allan Day. A great children's festival celebrated on the nearest Saturday to Halloween in Penzance and St. Ives, both in Cornwall County, England. The fruiterers then display in their windows very large apples, known locally as "Allan" apples. The eating of them is supposed to bring good luck. The girls and boys put them under their pillows at night, expecting to dream of their future husband or wife. The fulfillment of the dream depends upon the silence observed before eating the apple next morning. The full ritual involves rising before dawn and sitting under a tree clad in the night dress only and then partaking of the apple. The future consort ought then to make his or her appearance. Moreover, if the sitter experiences no cold, the same immunity from cold will continue throughout the winter.

Halloween Water Tower Decoration

2011-01-04T04:58:00.000-08:00

Years ago I bought a Halloween train set with ghosts and witches to decorate a table. Since then, I've continued to add pieces to my collection. I usually set them on a table, on my bookcases, and just about any place my cats won't knock them down. When it comes to decorating for Halloween, the more little decorations throughout the house, the better. That's why I love my latest addition, Department 56 Halloween Water Tower. It's taller than my other pieces, but it looks perfect when set behind the mini train set.