Many Traditional Irish Halloween Games Have Their Origins in Trials by Water
Extracted from: Irish Halloween Games, Crafts and Activities for Kids
The Celtic year begins, as life begins, in darkness. According to ancient Roman authors, the druids believed that "souls do not die but after death pass into other bodies". Their belief in reincarnation was so strong that it was said that an unsettled debt at the time of a person's death could be carried over to their next life!
Samhain is also known as Halloween, Snap Apple Night and Night of the Tricks.
Samhain in Ireland is a three-day festival that encompasses Hallowe'en, All Saints' and All Souls' Days.
It is a time when families gather together to discuss the year which is gone, and to predict the year which is to come; a time when hearty traditional food becomes the main attraction; a time when children dress up and play. It is a time when young men and women ask questions about their futures. It is a time of deep tradition, superstition, myth and mystery.
The Fairies, or the Little People, can be seen riding in procession from one fairy fort to another across the land. It is traditional to put out a bowl of milk or porridge or a piece of cake for the fairies as they pass by your house.
All crops had to be gathered in before Samhain on 31 October, and no berries could be picked after this time, as the Pooka would spit on them. The last sheaf of the harvest left standing in the field was named the Cailleach or Hag. This 'old woman', who was formerly revered as the crone aspect of the Celtic triple goddess, the maiden, Brigit; the mother, Macha; and the crone, Morrigan, who has since dwindled into the figure of the witch, dressed in black with cauldron and riding her broomstick.
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