Columb Kill, desiring them to lay aside the fatted calf and to bring forth the black sheep. On this night the peasants in Ireland assemble with sticks and clubs, going from house to house, collecting money, bread-cake, butter, cheese, eggs, etc., for the feast, repeating verses in honor of the solemnity, demanding preparations for the festival in the name of St. In these cases the fires were regarded as typical of immortality, and were thought to be efficacious, as an outward and visible sign at least, for lighting souls from purgatory. Fires were also used at different times and places on All Saints' Night, which is the eve of All Souls' Day, and on All Souls' Day itself, the 2d of November. Sometimes it was the custom to make large torches by binding combustible material to the tops of poles and to bear them blazing about the village, lighting new ones as often as the old were burned out. If in the morning any of these appeared to have been disturbed, it betokened death. There were fires also in Scotland, and there, in some parts of the country at least, the ashes were carefully raked into a circle and just within this the stones were placed, one for each person present. Sometimes nuts were thrown into the fires, in the belief that they indicated prosperity to those who threw them if they burned well, and the reverse if they simply smoldered and turned black. These fires in Wales were commonly followed by feasting on nuts, apples, and parsnips, and by games. It would take but a slight accident to cause a fright that might be actually dangerous to a superstitious person, and it would not be hard for an enemy of such a person to cause that fright by stealing his stone from the fire. Some superstitions are pretty and picturesque and attractive this was one of the many that were cruel as well as picturesque. If any stone was missing, it betokened that the owner of it would die within a year. Then all said their prayers and went to bed, and in the morning they tried to find all the stones again. Each family used to make its own fire and, as it was dying out, each member would throw a white stone into it, the stones being marked for future identification.
Wales was especially tenacious of it, and the observances which marked the November fire may be held to have descended directly from the Druids. The custom was kept up in many portions of Great Britain until a comparatively recent period. November was also one of the quaternary periods when the Druids lighted their bonfires in honor of Baal. November 1 or thereabouts was also the great autumn festival to the sun which the Druids celebrated in thanksgiving for their harvest. Hence the appropriateness of the use of nuts and apples at this time.
On November 1 the Romans had a feast to Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, and it was then that the stores laid up in the summer for use in the winter were opened. Hallowe'en is a curious recrudescence of classic mythology, Druidic beliefs, and Christian superstitions. Impartially weighed against the others, it is the very best time of the whole year for discovering just what sort of a husband or wife one is to be blessed withal. Hence it is the night of all nights for divination. But often the latter reveal themselves to ordinary folk, to advise or warn them. The spirits of the dead wander abroad, together with witches, devils, and mischief-making elves, and in some cases the spirits of living persons have the temporary power to leave their bodies and join the ghostly crew.Ĭhildren born on this day preserve through their youth the power to converse with these airy visitants. Of all nights in the year this is the one upon which super-natural influences most prevail. It is the night best loved by sprightly little fairies, gnomes, elves, and witches, and is the night of their great anniversary. On such a night there should be nothing but laughter, jollity, and mystery. Hallowe'en or All Hallow Even, the name given to the night of October 31, and the eve of All Saints' Day (November 1), is one of the most delightful opportunities for entertaining.
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