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Awens to All:
I have heard that Halloween Trick & Treating & Halloween Partying is not something that is Celebrated much in the UK.
They do have Halloween on the Isle of Man which they call ‘Hop Tu Naa’. But what about the rest of the UK?
Halloween Partying caught on in North America just after WW2 and became a Big Dress Up Party for the Children and also something giving Adults an excuse to also Dress Up and Reinact their Childhoods.
Why has such Partying not caught on in the UK?
3X3
Well, I think there could be a number of factors involved. Hallowe’en was never such a big deal in many parts of Britain anyway, and in other parts of Britain we already had our own traditions and customs associated with the time of year, for example the traditions with apples and lanterns (usually made of turnips). Historically, the Protestant Reformation saw a lot of the Medieval Catholic festivities completely eradicated too. In the places in Britain where folklore customs survived, a lot of traditions persisted up until the modern era, but with modernity and greater mobility, many of these traditions have withered on the vine so to speak. In addition to those factors, the weather in Britain in late October isn’t that great and on November the 5th there’s Bonfire Night, which is much more of a communal festivity. The modern, commercialised Hallowe’en can also be a bit grotesque at times too, it might not be something that a lot of people want to be involved with.
Just for the record, we always celebrated Hallowe’en with apples, apple bobbing, a turnip lantern on the windowsill and a few old family ghost stories, but we didn’t go trick-or-treating. However, I was allowed to “trick-or-treat” my grandparents, but that was it! 😀
Bennathow
/|\it has to do with the American corporations seeking the ween as a way to market candy, at first, and now costumes and beer. druidry is about taking a step back and not letting economics to control your life, the ego can have a dark negative side, and following the evil hate the ego can create just brings more evil hate. let the hate go, and give apples and not candy at the ween. hate rots your teeth and your soul like caramel.
I don’t think we will taking up much of the old traditions this year. I read somewhere that trick and treating might be banned under social distancing rules, which seems extreme but credible. It certainly breaks all of the rules regarding social bubbles.
Awens to All:
Celebrating Halloween also gives one a Great Excuse for having Fun throwing Costume Parties.
Tomorrow, they are throwing a Halloween Costume Day at Work.
I am looking forward to that. I am going as ‘The Great Pumpkin’.
3X3
Awens to All:
In the Isle of Man, they call Samhain ‘Hop Tu Naa’.
Does anyone know of that Manx Tradition?
3X3
I recognise The Great Pumpkin from Charlie Brown. Linus would always go out into the field at Halloween and call upon the Great Pumpkin to appear. I guess that was my earliest introduction to paganism.
all plants and animals have a king and a queen archetype or godhead. the great pumpkin is the king deva for all pumpkins and the king of the pumpkins is real, so yes pagan pumpkins have helped to introduce many people to paganism. However Santa Clause is not a deva, he is a faery and that is why he can get large or very small with his tiny reindeer and get down the chimney, note don’t leave whisky for Santa, drunk Santas are not pleasant, NOR ARE DRUNK RELATIVES. as above so below, and the otherworld seems to be organized in a very bureaucratic way, much like this world, that mirrors and interacts with ours. There are two sorts of people, people who know that that the Celtic Otherworld is real, and people who do not. I am one of the people who know that the otherworld is real and affects the daily lives of druids and non druids. Plus, Angels and demons are all around and the demons can be quite nasty.
PEACE TO ALL PUMPKINS and people, STHowever Santa Clause is not a deva, he is a faery and that is why he can get large or very small with his tiny reindeer and get down the chimney, note don’t leave whisky for Santa, drunk Santas are not pleasant
Santa Claus, aka Saint Nicholas, is a Christian saint, the former bishop of Myra. His festival is the the 6th December when children in some European countries still receive their gifts.
Father Christmas, on the other hand – especially in the light of the pre-19th century depictions of him, bears an uncanny resemblance to Odin/Woden – the Jólfaðr or Yule Father, whose ravens inform him about who is good and who is bad, who rides through the night on an eight-legged horse and dispenses gifts at the winter feast of Yule, the feast of “He of Jule” or Odin.
There may be a connection between Gwydion and Woden too; their names may be connected linguistically and many of the characterisations and traditions surrounding them bear some similarity.
Bennathow
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