WISHING YOU A BLESSED SAMHAIN AKA YOU SPENT HOW MUCH ON COSTUMES FOR PUSS & POOCH?

May the ancestors deliver blessings on you and yours 

May the new year bear great fruits for you 

May your granted wishes be as many as the seeds in a pomegranate

May the slide into darkness bring you light 

May the memories of what has been keep you strong for what is to be 

May this Samhain cleanse your heart, your soul, your mind 

Blessed Samhain to all, and a magical night.

- A Samhain poem.

Shared on FaceBook by a friend, the author is unknown.

After Christmas the second most commercially successful in America. Yes, you, my friends across the pond, are to blame for Halloween ..... or are you?

I suppose the clue is in the words commercially successful. According to one site it is expected that some $7.4 billion will be spent this year, $350 million alone on Halloween costumes for pets. With those of us in The UK (where incidentally Halloween is now the 3rd highest spending festival after Christmas and Easter) spending what is estimated to be a measly £315 million.

Not always this way though. According to several sites, this one included, there is little history of masks or indeed costumes before 1900 (no, not even Spiderman or indeed Frozen's Elsa which are proving amongst this years favourite costumes). The earliest known reference of 'begging' on Halloween in English speaking North America seemingly not being until 1915 though it wasn't until 1934 that it became common practice, the earliest known use of the term 'trick or treat' not appearing in print in a national publication until 1939. 

Trick or Treat of course having its origins with the Celts who, believing the souls of the dead (not all of them friendly spirits) roamed the streets at night, left out gifts both to pacify the evil as well as ensuring plentiful crops the next year.

It was the ninth century that saw the custom of Souling (a practice encouraged by the church as a way of replacing the ancient pagan tradition) in which Christians walked from village to village begging for 'Soul Cakes'. The idea being the more cakes you received, the more prayers you would say on behalf of the dead relatives of the people you received the cakes from.

QUICK SHORTBREAD SOUL CAKES.

1 stick softened butter

4 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

Cream together the butter and sugar. Using a sieve add the flour and mix until smooth.

Dividing the dough into two parts, shape each half into a flat circle approximately half an inch thick, place them on an ungreased baking tray. 

Poking lines with the tines of a folk, mark eight separate wedges in each cake.

Bake for 25 minutes or until light brown at 350 degrees. 

So, not entirely to blame for Halloween, I think it fair to say Samhain - depending on your tradition starting at sunset tonight (strictly speaking Samhain's Eve) and continuing on until sunset tomorrow (November 1st) or, if you should wish to celebrate the ancient Celtic way, for three consecutive days - is safe with today's pagans for whom it is an opportunity to honour the God & Goddess, the harvest and those who came before, both human and animal. 

OR .....
To those in the southern hemisphere, a blessed Beltaine. 

Sources: The Atlantic,  Wales OnLine,  The Daily Mail

- Starring Mr T as the mad scientist and yours truly as the bride.
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