31/10/2026
A little bit of research into Halloween. From what we can gather (and most of it is probably wrong!), there are a few theories about where it all began, we are being polite, it seems more like a lot of arguments!
One goes back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, basically a and it marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter, when people believed the boundary between the living and the dead became rather thin. Others argue Halloween developed from the Christian celebration of All Hallows’ Eve, the night before All Saints’ Day.
So, was it pagan Celtic tradition or Christian beginnings? History can’t quite make its mind up, seems that argument is still raging and who really cares?
The costumes supposedly began as disguises to confuse wandering spirits, while the original lanterns were carved from turnips and swedes. Irish immigrants took the tradition to America, discovered pumpkins were much easier to hollow out, and the rest is history. Add a generous helping of American commercialism, mountains of sweets, fancy dress and a marketing department that would make Father Christmas proud, and we have the Halloween we recognise today!
Over the years, we’ve welcomed wonderful people of all faiths and backgrounds, including an interesting group of Pagans who had converted from Roman Catholicism. Regardless of your beliefs or persuasion, everyone is welcome here, we even had a Jedi staying 2 weekends ago!
With the world feeling like it has never been so divided perhaps its time to listen to John and Yoko and remember their ‘Bed-ins for Peace’ and quote “All we are saying is give peace a chance.” After all we are not here for that long!
That said, we could do with a bit of peace from the spiders from Mars currently inhabiting Skirpenbeck. They’re constructing cobwebs quicker than we can get rid of them. We’re beginning to suspect they’re decorating for the festival!
Happy Halloween from all of us at This Is Not Here!
