I’ve never been a Halloween person even dressing up. I find the whole holiday unsettling. Maybe it’s the way I was brought up. In Ireland for Halloween the Celts celebrated ” All hallow tide – the feast of the dead, when the dead visited the mortal world.” The celebration marked the end of the summer now into the winter. We celebrated some of the Irish traditions. One of my favorites was called Barnbrack Cake. It’s called fruit bread and each family member is given a slice. Inside the bread are items a rag, a coin and a ring. If you got the rag it meant that your financial future was doubtful. The coin meant you looked forward to a prosperous year and the ring was a sure sign of romance and happiness. For dinner the night of Halloween we ate a traditional dinner of boiled potatoes, curly kale and raw onions. Clean coins were wrapped in paper and placed in the potato for kids to find.
We had pumpkins like we do here but we would put them in our windows to keep our out the wandering black smith. It was a symbol of protection. We also dressed up in costumes but for me it was always a holiday hung over my head. My family used it as a punishment for me even if I had not done anything wrong. I would often dress up with my siblings and at the last minute I was not allowed to go. I still remember that feeling today in my heart. After trick a treating we would go to a friend’s home or we would do a big bon-fire at our home. It was always huge. The bigger the better with the fire.
Even though I’ve been in Canada for 31 yrs I still have a hard time with Halloween. We celebrated at school yesterday and the children love it lots of cute costumes and the teachers dressed up. It was fun to see them but Halloween often seems like a blur to me. So tonight I will enjoy the children dressed up and make the most of it. What kid doesn’t like candy and fun. HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE 🍬🦇🎃👻🍭
Beauty from Ashes. 