Advertisement
Published: November 5th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Way behind on these blogs.
This week saw in Halloween and also Bonfire night. Let me tell you that shops in Australia have nothing on the English version of Halloween decorations. (for want of a better word) Body parts that look extremely realistic, masks done so well they are scarey even hanging up slack on a rack and all sorts of fantastic animals, spiders and makeup. (scars etc) Both events are kind of sinister for different reasons. We have never even acknowledged Halloween before so it was kind of exciting to see it here. To be honest, I thought Halloween was an American tradition so it was a surprise to learn it is actually a Celtic (Ireland) pagan tradition. The Celts of Ireland were very conscious of the spiritual world. They believed that on Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween) at the end of summer (Nov. 1)was a time when the division between the two worlds became very thin and so spirits (good and bad) could travel easily between the two worlds.
It is the most magical night of the year. It is the Witches' New Year, the end of the Celtic year and the Last Harvest. It was a night to honor
loved ones that had passed on since the veil between their realm and ours is at it's thinnest on that night. This concept was of-course "borrowed' by the Catholics, who will recognize the Holy Day of Obligation: All Saints Day.
(there is a connection everywhere!!!)
Druids used to make offerings of crops or animals (sometimes human sacrifices) to placate the Gods who would in turn ensure the Sun shone each day which would scare off the evil spirits that also came visiting. (Connecting this to Bonfire night which actually means"Bone Fire" in the old Celtic tongue because the bones were piled on the bonfire and the fire represented the sun. During the Festival of Samhain, fires would be lit which would burn all through the winter and sacrifices would be offered to the gods on the fires. This practice of burning humans was stopped around 1600, and an effigy was sometimes burned instead. (see Guy Fawkes below for another connection). The people stared lighting candles in little vegetables to ward off the spirits and in America,(where the Halloween tradition had spread) the pumpkins were easy to carve and a great size so that tradition survives.
We 'dressed up
Fran the gloomy witch
I wasn't trying to look gloomy..it was meant to be an evil face. in our costumes, carved out a pumpkin (totally dfferent pumpkins than the ones you buy in Australia) and played games like pin the wart on the witch and my all time favourite: Murder in the dark. This game is just as scarey now as it ever was in my youth ( I can trace my fear of hands around my throat directly to this game...thanks for that Skin) and we all had a great time.
Bonfire night. 5th November
I'm sitting here and the sound of firecrackers is piercing the city. It's bonfire night.
I remember Bonfire night in Australia. My early memories are of me squashing my face up against the glass of the window overlooking our garden as my father lit the fireworks in the bucket of sand. I remember the anticipation more than any firework displays. When we were older all the kids in the street would gather wood throughout the day, pile it up and the parents would light it in the evening. The adults would sit around on their fold up chairs and chat and the kids would run around all excited. There were firecrackers for really cheap including the throwdowns for
Herve of the Coven
Anybody else think he looks more like an aging heavy metal rockstar? I think about 20 cents! (I remember some boys throwing them on a dog once) There was a pack we used to get that had Roman Candles, spinning wheels, shooters and whistle fountains. I don't remember ever lighting them myself but I did love the bonfire.
In Australia bonfire was a celebration of the Queens birthday in the June long weekend. Here it was quite a surprise to find out that Bonfire night is a celebration of a failed plot to blow up Westminster in 1605. A Catholic named Guy Fawkes wanted to protest the lack of civic rights for Catholics so tried to blow up Parliament (this is why it is referred to as the 'foiled gunpowder plot'. The chosen day was November 5th, first day of parliament when the King and all houses of parliament and Commons would be present. He made the mistake of warning a catholic politician who warned others. A search found the gunpowder and Fawkes was arrested and tortured until he confessed his accomplices. People in the streets celebrated that the King was not dead with a big fire. Soon, over the years, people began placing effigies onto bonfires, and fireworks were added
to the celebrations. Effigies of Guy Fawkes, and sometimes those of the Pope, graced the pyres. Still today, some communities throw dummies of both Guy Fawkes and the Pope on the bonfire!!You can't live in this city and not realise how much the English dislike the Irish but this is taking it quite far. I get the fact that it's a celebration that the houses of parliament didn't get blown up but the effigy/bonfire thing is pretty weird. Lauren tells me that some of the kids in her class are celebrating so I don't get it. They are catholic after all so maybe the message has been diffused over the years just like most people in Australia didn't know or care that it was the Queen's birthday.
We boycotted the organized bonfires and fireworks on the weekend but did walk down to check out a local bonfire at the protestant church three houses down the street (it was huge).
So..hope our photos don't scare you too much ...I know the ones of Herve and I scare even me...but for all the wrong reasons.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.039s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0203s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
grandma
non-member comment
Haloween
The pumpkins,candles and masks were very prominant in Boston,Ireland, and San Fran.but we were a bit early for the main celebrations. I can see you all really enjoyed the experience. How many past lives have you people had????? Love Mum