October 30, 2003 - Halloween

Welcome to the first monthly Celtic feature sent to you from the folks at Celtic Rainbow Gifts in Bar Harbor, Maine. Yesterday, October 29th was the last day of the season (no heat) at our location along the waterfront. However, today I would like to announce that my web page is live and ready for online ordering. There will be different products featured each month, so add it to your list and keep checking back. http://www.CelticRainbowGifts.com

It's been a terrific first year and I thank you all for your business, encouragement, and the great conversions about all things Celtic. "May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door".

Slainte,
Linda Keady

Samhain- Halloween, October 31st

Samhain (pronounced sow-wen from the Gaelic, “summer’s end”), begins the dark half of the year. This holiday is celebrated today as Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve, from sunset on October 31 until November 2. It marked the end of the agricultural year and the beginning of a New Year. It was a time when the killing frosts came, animals were brought in for the winter or slaughtered, and the last of the harvesting was completed.

Samhain was a time when the veil between the worlds was thinnest – beings could cross from the world of the living to the world of the dead, and vice versa. The Celts did not fear their dead, but had feasts to honor them. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. It was a time to show respect and hospitality to the spirits of their ancestors.

But not all the beings who crossed between the worlds were dead ancestors-this was also a night when the fairy races could enter the human world, and many of them were mischief-makers. People would leave out saucers of milk and sometimes even beer or whiskey for the fairies in hopes of being left alone. As people feared certain encounters with the fairy races, they wore masks at Samhain to trick the fairies into not recognizing them. Any crops that were still unharvested at this point – the final harvest –were left in the fields for the fairies, and it was considered very bad luck to eat these leftovers.

The Pleiades, or “seven sisters” (a star cluster of seven or more stars in the constellation Taurus, 400 light years away), was very important to many ancient cultures, including the Celts. They would watch for its position in the sky and use that as a way to mark time.

The Pleiades can be seen rising in the eastern sky, one hour after sunset in late October.

The Pleiades reaches its highest point around midnight on what we call October 31st.

The key social events in the lives of tribal Celts were the festivals that took place on each holiday. The festivals had religious, as well as social and agricultural aspects. As life was a combination of all these different elements, it seems only fitting that the celebrations would include both social and spiritual activities.

Halloween Traditions from Now and Then

Trick or treat evolved from an Irish custom of groups of peasants going from house to house asking for money and food in the name of Muck Olla, an Irish god, and later in the name of Saint Columba, a sixth century priest.

The Pumpkin: Carving pumpkins dates back to a eighteenth century blacksmith named Jack who colluded with the Devil and was denied entry to Heaven. He was condemned to wander the earth but asked the Devil for some light. He was given burning coal amber, which he placed inside a turnip that he had gouged out. The tradition of the Jack O' Lantern was born - the bearer being the wandering blacksmith - a damned soul. Villagers in Ireland hoped that the lantern in their window would keep the wanderer away. When the Irish immigrated to America they found a greater supply of pumpkins instead of turnips to make their Jack O' Lanterns.

Today, Colcannon is the traditional Halloween dish that is served in Irish families. Clean coins are wrapped in foil and buried in the colcannon for the children to find.

Start this little tradition in your family! Great fun and the kids eat their supper!
This recipe is taken from the cookbook:
"The Irish Country Kitchen" by Mary Kinsella.

Colcannon

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

1 medium-size head white cabbage
2 medium-sized parsnips
3-4 medium onions
Salt and pepper
2 ½ cups water
½ cup butter

Cut cabbage into four: remove stumps and wash each leaf thoroughly in salt and water. Put four or five outer leaves aside, chop the remaining leaves finely. Wash and scrape parsnips, remove skins from onions. Cut parsnips, onions and potatoes into half-inch slices. Arrange a layer of potatoes on the bottom of a saucepan, cover with a layer of parsnips, then a layer of onions, then a layer of cabbage: season well, continue layering the vegetables, and again season well. Pour water over the vegetables and cover vegetables completely with the outer leaves. Put the lid on the saucepan, bring to a boil and cover; simmer until cooked. Strain off any excess water. Remove the outer leaves of cabbage. Mash the vegetables well, add the butter and mix well. Put into a serving dish. Serve hot with plenty of creamy butter.

Celtic Rainbow Gifts
Linda Keady-owner
PO Box 447
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
207-288-3860
linda@celticrainbowgifts.com
http://www.celticrainbowgifts.com