Whatever the name, the day's the same

October 31st is one of the celebrated days of the pagan year. It's a liminal time - a time between times and a period of change. Summer has changed to autumn and winter is looming large. For pagans it's an important festival as it marks the end of their year. They call it Samhain which means 'summer's end'. 

When Christianity arrived on British shores it found that it was impossible to stamp out the old beliefs because they were too deeply embedded in folk culture and the turning of the seasons. So the church absorbed them and re-labelled Samhain as Hallowe'en - the Eve of All Hallows Day (more on Hallowe'en on my blog here). 

But Samhain and Hallowe'en are not the only old festivals celebrated today. 

In my native Cornwall, Hallowe'en is called Allantide or Nos Kalan Gwav (eve of the first day of winter).

When I was a child, some towns held Allan Markets just before Allantide. These markets sold big red apples, known as Allan apples. The apples were then given as good luck gifts to members of the family. Some people would eat them on the night of Allantide, and some would save them for the day after. 

Many young girls placed them under their pillows instead, believing that they would make them dream about their future husband. Another Allantide tradition involves melting metal until it is a liquid and throwing it into cold water. When cooled, the metal makes a shape that is different almost every time. It was thought that the shape could predict the future, once again showing an unmarried girl who her husband might be. The shape of the metal was said to show the future husband’s job, so if the metal was shaped like a fish he would be a fisherman, if it was a brush he would be a road sweeper, and so on. And the game of 'bobbing for apples' has its roots in a form of divination. Even today, some people prefer Allantide to Hallowe'en, giving each other red Allan apples to celebrate and many Cornish shops will feature apples in their window displays. 

My own personal memory is of slicing an apple horizontally to reveal the structure at the centre and eating around the star shape. We all did it as kids. I doubt it occurred to any of us that we were creating a pentagram - an ancient symbol of protection. The pentagram was originally a symbol of the goddess, Kore, who was worshipped in many countries as widespread as England and Egypt thousands of years ago, but under many different names (i.e. Cara, Ceres, Carnak, Core, Car, Karnak, etc). Kore's sacred fruit was the apple. When cut through its equator, the apple has a near perfect pentagram shape inside, with each point containing a seed. Many Wiccans, Pagans and Roma still cut apples in this way and the Roma refer to apple cores as 'Stars of Knowledge.'

The apple has always been special and Apple Day is celebrated in October (see an earlier blog post here). Winter was a tough time for the poor and apples, if stored properly, will last for months. They were, quite literally, life savers. 

Meanwhile, in the Celtic sister lands of Wales and the Isle of Man they have their own celebrations today. 

In Wales it's Nos Galan Gaeaf. In south Wales, parties of young people maraud from door to door like modern trick or treaters. In Glamorgan, boys wear women’s clothing. Much more sinister are the gwrachod (meaning “witches” or “hags”) of Powys though. These were men who would go about in pairs, dressed as an old man and old woman, or in gangs dressed in sheep skins and masks, drinking heavily and demanding gifts. The lighting of a bonfire, or coelcerth, was a notable feature too. Close to the fires, people would be safe from wandering spirits, but the return home could be a fraught business. In the darkness lurked the Hwch Ddu Gwta (tail-less black sow) accompanied by the Ladi Wen heb ddim pen (the white lady without a head).

And over the sea on the Isle of Man they'll be celbrating Hop-Tu-Naa, believed to be the oldest unbroken tradition on the island. 

Many people continue the tradition of singing Hop-tu-Naa songs "around the houses" (which traditionally referred to waits going around visiting houses, especially those of the wealthy, and soliciting gifts) with turnip lanterns. In addition to this, many public Hop-tu-Naa events take place across the Isle of Man each year, most of which today include competitions for artistically carving turnips and the singing of traditional songs. As well as the many events run within local communities, the National Folk Museum at Cregneash hosts an event to teach the traditional Hop-tu-Naa song and to help people to carve turnips.

     

It's all to easy for us in the 21st century to forget that people didn't alays have high tog-rated duvets, central heating and shopping home deliveries. In past times winter was a killer. If the harvest failed or if you hadn't stocked up sufficiently with food and fuel, you were a goner. It's no wonder this festival was so important and why people fervently hoped that their pleas for protection were heard by their gods.