Halloween - Friendly Sons of the Shillelagh
Halloween
On Oct. 31st , we celebrate Halloween, or as the early church called it, All Hallow’s Eve. Our children go from house to house dressed in costumes asking for a trick or treat.
Before the church outlawed this “Holiday”, it was a Pagan festival very much different than what it is today. Night time had a special meaning to the ancient Celts because that is when the veil between our world and the spirit world is thinnest and most easily crossed.
On Sanchain Eve spirits from the other side could easily travel back and forth and if these spirits did not look upon you favorably, they could steal you away from this world. This is where the custom of wearing costumes came from. If the spirits couldn’t recognize you, they couldn’t take you away. Also on this night, you could easily re-connect with ancestors or loved ones.
The Druids would gather in the sacred oak groves to invoke the spirits in the hope that all would go well. They were nature worshippers and believed everything had an eternal and indestructible soul and could come back into this world, or be re-incarnated.
The church did not approve of this practice and called it witchcraft. They may have cast spells, used potions and amulets, but were they really witches? One way to find out is to try not wearing a mask this Halloween.
An Irish Superstition: Farmsteads with a grand entrance gate between two massive pillars had one pillar conical and the other flat on top. Reasoning for this was that fairies needed a place to dance and it was also a useful platform to placate them on Halloween with butter and oatcakes.
This article was compiled by Steve Dougherty and presented by Larry McGrath
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