The New Year for the Druids was November First. It was a time that marked the end of harvest, the end of nice weather, and the beginning of a time when harsh conditions would force them into survival mode.

Because of the mortality rate Winter became synonymous with death. They believed the night before the New Year the boundaries between the living world and the dead world became passable. The spirits of the dead would come into the world of the living. They believed malicious spirits and good spirits would help the Druids predict the future. These tidings of the spirits with sight into the future provided key indicators on how the Winter was going to go for the Druid people. They counted on knowing what the future would hold and any dangers they were meant to avoid.

In order to give to the spirits of the dead world and offering, and to appease the Immortals of their religion, they would build large bonfires, dress in animal skins, and throw animal sacrifices and parts of their crops into the bonfires.

By the AD 50 the Roman Empire had taken over Druid territory. They incorporated some of the Druid traditions into the new regime, and the Romans brought their own traditions of October to the Druid festival of Samhain. The Romans celebrated Feralia, which was the day of commemorating the dead, and the festival of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest & fruitfulness.

Henceforth, Halloween celebrated not only the appeasing of spirits of the dead, but also the coming of the fall harvest and appealing to the Immortals for bounty during the Winter. A common offering to the goddess Pomona was an apple. From that point forward apples from their place in Halloween traditions.

As different peoples conquered, and different religions took hold, in present-day United Kingdom the celebrations and traditions of Halloween evolved.

In America, the Halloween celebrations are a melting pot of various European traditions from the United Kingdom, France, Span, Germany, Italty, etc. Immigrants brought the traditions of their homelands with regard to celebrating the end of summer, the bounty of the Fall season, honoring the dead, and preserving the power of superstition for all of us.

EXCELLENT PRESENTATION ! BRAVO MAGS! IT IS SO IMPORTANT!

it would be interesting , if any witches would want to do this - and that is talking about their "Own Witchcraft Tribe" and "The Witchcraft Solitary"

I am a part of a wyche family that knowingly goes back to 600 AD Isle of Wight, and as far as I know (and the current others agree) that most likely, whether we are all together or partially together, we celebrate our version of "All Hallows" this includes ritual magick which has nature, planetary, talismanic, rituals, earht, and food rituals. Also, If someone in the Clan which thru time has included thru marriage etc, Clans newer than the original clan Witgar, then added Meriden (Order of the Dragon), Sinclair (Yes Dan Brown is largely correct about this clan of ours), Gunn, & McAllen, and food rituals and dancing naked in the forest.

I encourage all other witches to "come out" and talk about their activities and ways of being....We can take this "football and field" created for us by Mags, and start to come forward into the "invisible light" and plant power and powers, wherever believed to be or wanted to be - Needed.

The concept of All Hallows includes ALL - from druids...onwards...in many, many ways.
What our group gives to all here as a smal gift is, as follows:

We offer the power of GIFSTOL which is that the Earth is more than a planet......it is a gifstol, where those who want to, can place their spirit (through use of imagination (yup...imagination can be used as a direct power) on the Throne of Power, that was first used by WItgar and later by Meriden (Merlin) for the night of All Hallows, and thus create......well who knows.....I for myself don't know yet but will....all you have to do is say the word on that night, whenever you want to do so. We have the energies to make good, protective, and amazing living powers.

Blessed Be, SO Mote it Be:

Ibow to our heard wyche Laurie an bow to the deceased spirit and teacher Mary Manners.
Caiyros Arlen Strang

After I wrote my post here...Something amazing happened, my familiar Pyewacket who hasn't shown up here for years (he first showed up in 2008....but its been a while. Pye is a poet-cat and talks in his own very odd way...but whever he does, I post him on CH....

He just dictated this to me......
Pye
Sez
“Hi!”
The fall of Fall
Shall never happen
As Old Words Be,
And Be again
Beyond the twist
Of twisted times,
And times creating
Sudden rhymes,
So Now! So Now! So Now!
It is – the flavor of Our Moon
So ready waiting with no anger comes
As love and laughter – all to have
The oldest game to play and
Enter into your own true wonder
Likewise at the toes and head.

Our voice comes to us as we come
To our eyes and sky clad now, we can be
Beautiful and funny with them then
without then within without we say,
and leave, our footed leaves,
while we stand unusing normal times
and spaces.

If the Universe is a Wall, the chink is there
And through ‘t we see All.

Pye
Sez
“Bye”

After I wrote my post here...Something amazing happened, my familiar Pyewacket who hasn't shown up here for years (he first showed up in 2008....but its been a while. Pye is a poet-cat and talks in his own very odd way...but whever he does, I post him on CH....

He just dictated this to me......

Pye
Sez
“Hi!”
The fall of Fall
Shall never happen
As Old Words Be,
And Be again
Beyond the twist
Of twisted times,
And times creating
Sudden rhymes,
So Now! So Now! So Now!
It is – the flavor of Our Moon
So ready waiting with no anger comes
As love and laughter – all to have
The oldest game to play and
Enter into your own true wonder
Likewise at the toes and head.

Our voice comes to us as we come
To our eyes and sky clad now, we can be
Beautiful and funny with them then
without then within without we say,
and leave, our footed leaves,
while we stand unusing normal times
and spaces.

If the Universe is a Wall, the chink is there
And through ‘t we see All.

Pye
Sez
“Bye”

A good lesson on a holiday that some people take as an excuse to go begging from door to door. I have always wondered where that came from as well as the other things you mentioned.

It wasn't begging originally, it was taking homemande food (usually little cakes) infused with positive power - to others, local animals, people, and the earth and bodies of water themselves... That is the anglo-saxon warlog (magical people) gift of giving. Our wyche clan has been doing that since at least our earliest person and that is 599 AD.

Later when their were plagues "Wild WOmen", acted as healers and nurses, and midwifes. In many areas they were burned alive for doing this circa 1480s - late 1600s.

What is no longer publicly given is spelled water and wine.
Following the giving of food, there was , and still is, dancing naked in the woods (generally we, at least, wear thick wool socks,,,,LOL but true.

Caiyros

All traditions have a direct purpose.

Bumping this

I wanted to add that pumpkins are an American crop, and it was the Scottish and Irish immigrants primarily that brought the tradition of carving lanterns out of vegetables here. They would use turnips, but found the pumpkin much more suitable.