HALLOWE’EN

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3822, 16 October 1936, Page 9

HALLOWE’EN

Hallowe’en, or All Hallows Eve, falls on the evening- of 31st October, the name being given to that date as the vigil of Hallowmas or All Saints’ Day. This ancient festival has been celebrated since time immemorial; indeed Hallowe’en and its attendant ceremonies long antedate Christianity. The two chief characteristics of ancient Hallowe’en were the lighting of bonfires and the belief that of all nighs in the year this is the one during which ghosts and witches are most likely to wander abroad. It seems clear that the main celebrations of Hallowe’en were purely Druidical, proof of which lies in the fact that in parts of Ireland the 31st October is still known as Oidhche Shamhna, “Vigil of Saman,” the lord of wealth. The custom of lighting Hallowe’en fires survived until quite recent years in the highlands of Scotland and Wales. In the dying embers it was usual to place as many small stones as there were persons around, and next morning a search was made. If any of the pebbles were displaced it was regarded as certain that the person represented would die within the twelve months. Scottish people in particular have always zealously recognised Hallowe’en, and St Andrew’s Societies in various centres always make a point of holding the annual festival. Of late years there has been a tendency to revive some of the old traditions associated with such festivals and Hallowe’en celebrations are now more popular than for many years past. Liberties are, naturally, taken in the form these gatherings take, but the association of ghosts and witches is almost invariably prominently featured in all such festivities. In many instances at these merry-making gatherings playful ceremonies are indulged in> including the use of charms to discover future husbands or wives.