Halloween - 31 October

History.Com

Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).

The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
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Information on Halloween including how it is celebrated around the world, superstitions associated with it, how to carve a pumpkin (!) and much more can be found here



Jack-o-lantern smiling bright
Witches flying in the night
Ghosts and goblins, cats and bats
Witches with their funny hats
A full moon can't be beat
As we go out to Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween!!

30 October - Devil's Night

LiveScience.com

We all know what happens on Halloween, the night that little boys and girls dress up and (unwittingly) celebrate the ancient Celtic tradition of Samhain and All Hallows Eve.

Anyone who has woken up on Halloween morning to find their house egged, their pumpkin smashed or yard toilet-papered, however, is lucky enough to live where a sister tradition that is not quite as old (but a yearly custom all the same) is also practiced with fervor.

The night of Oct. 30, which goes by a variety of names including Devil's Night in Detroit and Miggy Night in parts of England, sees neighborhood youngsters pull pranks just as diverse as the custom's monikers, ranging from the innocent to the downright dangerous.

So where did this license to cause mayhem come from?

Mischief Night, as it is most commonly known in the United States, has been around in its present form for at least 50 years, when it became a day for playing "tricks" while Halloween itself was reserved for the little one to gather "treats." The practice goes back hundreds of years before that, though, to a time when Halloween and misbehavior were inextricably linked.
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York plays host to ghost vigil

The Press

A CITY-WIDE experiment into the paranormal will take place on Hallowe’en this month as ghost hunters stage the world’s biggest ghost vigil.

In an attempt to boost York’s reputation as the most haunted city in the world, astrologer Jonathan Cainer wants residents to listen out for things going bump in the night on October 31.

He said: “Several cities claim the title of the world’s most haunted and obviously there’s no official designation, but he who shouts longest and loudest gets it.

“York must be up there, so I say let somebody say we aren’t and, while they prove that, we will prove that we are the most haunted.

“Guy Fawkes Night ought to belong to York, but we can make Hallowe’en ours, with that in mind we want to do the world’s biggest ghost vigil.

“This is an open invitation to everyone in York but particularly to spiritualists or those living and working in haunted properties.”
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Spooked businessman flees 'haunted' mansion

Mail Online

When businessman Anwar Rashid bought the 52-room Clifton Hall, he thought it complemented his millionaire lifestyle perfectly.

But within hours of moving in to the imposing £3.6million mansion, the Rashids realised they were not the only ones in residence.

Today Mr Rashid told how the family were left so terrorised by a series of ghostly sightings they handed the property back to their bank, just eight months after being handed the keys.

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This paranormal experience is also reported in The Daily Telegraph