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The Origins of Samhain & Halloween Celebrations
35 Plays1 year ago
It’s the Most wonderful tiiiiiiiiiiime of the year!
Nym takes us through the origins of samhain and its journey to becoming halloween. Nylene then takes us on a journey across the globe to various halloween adjacent celebrations.
Enter the Nightmare for show notes, transcripts, sources, and more!
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Transcript
Introduction to Nightmare Cottage
00:00:25
Speaker
Welcome to Nim and Nyleen's Nightmare Cottage, where we explore history, mysteries, and other tales of the macabre. I'm Nim. And I'm Nyleen. Let the nightmare begin.
00:00:41
Speaker
Disturbing and mature content to follow. Into the nightmare, if you dare.
00:00:54
Speaker
I really don't like your f***ing tone. It's recording now, isn't it?
00:01:01
Speaker
In case you were curious. um Welcome to Nightmare Cottage.
Unpacking and New 'Nightmare Puppy'
00:01:07
Speaker
We've unpacked quite a lot of s*** recently. We continue to unpack. We continue.
00:01:13
Speaker
be yeah The nightmare doesn't end. The nightmare puppy has joined us. He's... Yes. Curled up on the nightmare couch. I did take his collar off because I wasn't sure about the jingles. It just like, you know, and the last one, if you heard this, that's a, that was a, my little jingle pup.
00:01:32
Speaker
You can email nightmare cottage at gmail.com. If you want to assure Nyleen that it's okay to hear pet noises in the background, or you can tell them that she's super dumb and Nyleen is correct. And that nobody should hear a puppy sounds frolicking in the background. Okay. Okay.
00:01:50
Speaker
The occasional puppy sounds, all right. But if he gets grumpy and says start digging and jingle, jingle, jingle, jingle. it's just too much. I mean, sure, but he's just chilling. No, now he's just staring at you. Anyways, so before we get too into this, I need you to see this picture real quick.
00:02:10
Speaker
And he's super cute. And he is a he. And I love him. I haven't named him, though.
Spider Encounters and Infestation
00:02:16
Speaker
So this little guy, I was working on putting all my notes together, sitting on my back porch, enjoying the cool breeze. It's finally falling in Get it?
00:02:25
Speaker
Fall? Falling in? Yes. So anyways, this little guy, he kept crawling all over me and my laptop, and I kept moving him somewhere else because, like, I'm trying to And he would just hop right back onto my laptop, on the screen, on the keys. he kept hopping on my leg. And then I'd be like, push him off. And he would just like make little web. It was the cutest thing ever.
00:02:45
Speaker
Yeah, so he's a little yellow guy. I'll put him in the in the notes or in the on the on the website, whatever. Yeah, I love him. um I'm convinced he followed me inside. Because yesterday he was, I swear it's the same one, was on my side mirror in my car.
00:03:00
Speaker
But he's not there anymore. There's also this little black fuzzy one. Like he lives on my sunshade that you see outside. Like every time I roll it down, he just comes out a little bit and then he goes back up and I roll it down more and then he goes back up and I roll it down more and he goes back up. He got really mad at me the other day because it was really, really, like really windy.
00:03:17
Speaker
And so it was like blowing and he just came all the way down and just stood there. And I was like, I'm so sorry. Just rolled it back up, rolled it back up. But I don't know if you know this.
00:03:28
Speaker
My cottage is basically infested with spiders. We like, kind of are okay with them because, you know, like they get rid of all the bugs and stuff. don't know. I feel kind of bad. I'm pretty sure the infestation is partly our fault because like every time Bash will literally, there's every single day, he will be doing something, playing with his toys. I don't know, doing something. He goes, Spider mama!
00:03:50
Speaker
Spider! and he's not afraid of them. He just wants us to know that it's there. He's excited. Yes. And he knows not to touch them because we've told him, okay, don't touch them, but they won't hurt you if you hurt them. And he'll just point to them. And Ace, of course, has taken to putting them outside. So I think that they're just recycling. They're just coming in and out at this point. I'm pretty sure that they just live here.
00:04:12
Speaker
so I'm really sorry if that bothers you. I have kitchen spiders. Oh! I've always kind of allowed kitchen spiders over time. Both my mother and monkey have murdered some of my kitchen spiders.
00:04:28
Speaker
They just think they're cleaning and I understand, but it devastates me when it happens. Ace has only murdered a couple of them and that's because like they were being stubborn and wouldn't go up back outside. Yeah. Okay, my kid's playing here. like I can't let you stay.
00:04:43
Speaker
right in his blocks or whatever it is. Yeah. There's, I've got one that kind of lives above my kitchen sink and I always forget about it except for that's where I take my vitamins and stuff in the morning. So I'll like knock my head back to, and you just see them looking at you. And there's it's just, if they're they're not the fuzzy ones. They're real thin. They're just, they're just, Oh, like the little wolf spiders.
00:05:04
Speaker
Yeah, they're just a little skinny guys and they're not they don't bother anything. See, and the ones inside my house, the ones outside are usually like the little jumping spiders. I have those in my garden. But the ones inside my house are like the big wolf spiders where they're really thin, but they've got a big body and really long legs. I'm not getting long legs because those are fine. Right.
00:05:23
Speaker
I don't know, man. They just get so skittery that I'm just like, guys, you need a chill. You're moving too fast. It gets horror movie creepy when they move too fast. You know what i mean? So, sorry, I interrupted you. I apologize. Okay. spiders don't bother me. I know the two in the area that could f*** you up. I know what they look like, and I know that they're not them when I see the ones that are around. And there's a little cute... of there's We have jumping spiders in the garden that like to hang out, and it's... don't know. They're adorable.
Halloween Preparations and Memories
00:05:51
Speaker
Yeah, they're really sweet. They don't seem to really, like, mess with you. From what I know, they don't mess with you unless you, like, really, really, like, they feel like they're in danger. Right. Sometimes they wear drops of water as hats.
00:06:02
Speaker
What? I will put that in the show notes that because everybody needs to see that. Adorable. Oh, yeah. Didn't you have, you had a few, like a whole family of lizards living there. Was his name George? George, yes. George the lizard. George and George Jr. and every single lizard. Yeah, they were chunky Georges.
00:06:21
Speaker
And henceforth, every lizard in my garden's name is George. And if it's a small lizard, it's George Jr. Yes. Nym the cottage-iest garden ever. And I love it. And it's full of all kinds of little creatures. Yeah, it's a veritable forest back there. i had my own kind of spooky moment. I had a... It it sounds darker than it is, but I depression-purchased...
00:06:45
Speaker
I know the feeling, yeah. And and it actually it actually made me so happy. I i got all this stuff for my trick-or-treat bags. Oh, for your Halloween bags that you put out. Yeah, so I'm super stoked. I spent way too much money. These kids are going to so spoiled. I'll have to bring Batch Buy. Yes. double one Y'all will probably get the candy from them because it's full-size candy bars. It's like a little package of Halloween Oreos. Oh, she loves Oreos. A Ring Pop.
00:07:12
Speaker
like stretchy skelly man's. Oh, he calls those bones. Vampire. He just says bones. Bones don't scare you. Cause he's saying don't, that they he but don't want them to scare you. But yeah.
00:07:24
Speaker
ah Yeah. Last time I came over, I had a skeleton on my shirt and he said bones. Yeah, but you're safe. You're a safe person. By the way, oh you know that last time you were here when you answered my door holding an Amazon package? And I was like, oh, it's arrived. I'm so excited. i have been waiting. It's a little $12 toy.
00:07:43
Speaker
I get it. I have been waiting to get him that toy for so freaking long. And guess who opened it? You. Yes, I know I handed it to you, but I didn't think this through. So when I handed it to you and you opened it and handed it to him, he now thinks that you gave it to him.
00:08:00
Speaker
I'm so sorry. So every time he plays with it, he goes, Auntie Nim? Auntie Nim, give it? Auntie Nim, give it? And I'm like, I mean, no, but I guess if that's what we're going to do, then eat sure. Why not? so I'm so sorry. you and Monkey, like get so much credit for so many things.
00:08:23
Speaker
We were destined to be the cool aunt and uncle. That's true. That's what we do. That's true. So sorry, I got us off topic. You were talking about, oh yeah, the the treat bags. yeah Vampire teeth and stickers and stuff. And I got these cute little drawstring jack-o'-lantern bags. But yeah, like how many kids did you end up having last year? Because i know that you were saying like, apparently some of the kids were saying like your house is their favorite on the street every year. They look forward to it. Okay, so before I give the number, I just want to start with the fact that when I first moved into this house, we had maybe two trick-or-treaters.
00:08:55
Speaker
maybe two groups of trick-or-treaters. And then slowly they started to increase. And I i live in ah and an older neighborhood, so it's kind of, don't want to be morbid about it, but the older people are switching into becoming younger families.
00:09:09
Speaker
And Mim's Cottage is year-round Halloween. Yes. I keep it, so I live on a street of white and beige houses, and there's nothing wrong with white and beige houses, but my house is like a dark, like it's like black and gray. And i have Two skeletons that sit in my front garden that ah say hello to everybody who approaches. and One of them always looks like it's like pointing and laughing at you, which I find absolutely hilarious. The one that sits behind the all the plants. Yes. Yes. Yes. We have a spotlight on that one. So you can even see that one in the dark. Yeah. He's my favorite.
00:09:46
Speaker
And then there's Bob. Bob. Yeah. That's actually in the backyard. He's my, he's my 12th at skeleton. I'm in the 12th at skeleton club. Yes. Her cottage is so spooky. That when the neighbors moved in next door, they decided to build an actual fence.
00:10:00
Speaker
And the other neighbors next door on the other side have let their invasive plants overgrow so much that they can't see my yard either. Yeah. so But it's okay. It's okay. They're having some more cottagey. Yeah.
00:10:15
Speaker
More privacy, more squirrely, birdy vibes. I don't know what I was going for there. I don't know, but i'm it's clear we're the Addams Family of the street. I'm the neighborhood witch, I guess. But the kids like it. I think so. I will say, though, that we we ended up, when we finally got a camera, a doorbell camera, we got it because some neighborhood kids were banging on the door and running away.
00:10:37
Speaker
Oh, You guys were the creepy house. The haunted one. I love that. I love that so much. That's fantastic.
00:10:49
Speaker
Oh my gosh.
00:10:57
Speaker
we get into
History of Halloween
00:10:58
Speaker
Halloween? Absolutely. Something that's incredibly obvious to anybody that has known me for two seconds is that I'm obsessed with Halloween. sex It's year-round, as we were talking about. But yeah, I have permanent spooky decor in in every room. The kitchen is specifically Halloween themed. I plan for Halloween stuff.
00:11:16
Speaker
I mean, allll you so as soon as I'm done with Halloween, i start thinking about what i'm going to do next Halloween. Oh, even your Christmas tree is Halloween, isn't it? Well, it's spooky. Okay. I do spooky Christmas. has skulls on it.
00:11:27
Speaker
Yes. But we'll talk about that when we get closer to that time of year. You're right. How dare I skip over? This is the nightmare before Christmas. You're right. Oh, I like that.
00:11:41
Speaker
So tell me all about Halloween. tell me Tell me what I need to know about. Actually, I honestly don't think I really, like, I know very little, like, very basic stuff about the origins of Halloween, but not much.
00:11:53
Speaker
You know when you're really into a thing? and you look up everything in the world about that thing, and then you just start thinking, well, everything's the same, but it's just because you happen to know everything about that thing. yes it's It's not fair to the articles and things. I feel like a lot of the history of Halloween, im like I'm afraid I'm going to be super repeating stuff that everybody knows, but I'm doing it anyways, because even if that is the case, when I look into the ancient origins of of Halloween and Samhain, even if I know the story, I still like it. I still like to hear a different take on it or whatever. So so i didn't realize i was pronounced like that.
00:12:32
Speaker
i Yeah, so that's that's a pet peeve of mine when I hear it. Sorry. No, no, Well, i'm glad I know before I get into mine. No, the pet peeve of mine is when I see it in media. My very specific example I have in my head was from The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Yeah.
00:12:52
Speaker
Yes. And the, it's been a while. And it was, I think the first season and it was like the, the black priest guy. Yeah. yeah The big guy. He said, Sam Hain, which is how it's spelled. S A M H. But I remember they ended up, someone ended up correcting him.
00:13:06
Speaker
Oh, well, not on that episode. They didn't. Oh. It's understandable. why it's gaelic Gaelic is complex language and very interesting and very neat. And I don't personally know how to pronounce most of the things in it. I do know a small handful of words based on things I have looked up in the past. It's forgivable to mispronounce it unless you're on a paid production.
00:13:33
Speaker
where research should have been done. That's fair. And it seems like one person on that set wouldn't have known. i swear that someone corrects them later. Well, now I have to rewatch it and find out. It was pretty, honestly, it ended really stupidly, but I didn't end up finishing it. Yeah. That show is actually one of them. When you hit this end of this season, a particular season, just stop. Got it. It doesn't, the ending doesn't make sense. to Nothing after this point matters. Exactly. Yeah.
00:14:02
Speaker
But yeah, pronounce it all. But yeah, so I mean, even if you know the stories, it's it's kind of fun stories to tell. and And there's kind of different angles of it. So ready or not, here I come.
00:14:13
Speaker
Trick or treat. Smell my feet. Don't smell my feet. Don't do that. That's disgusting. I'm so sorry. I don't know why I'm talking anymore. I'll share. Okay. Cool.
00:14:25
Speaker
but Most of what we know about the ancient Celtic people, which the Samhain seems to have originated with the Celtic people, but most of what we know came from like ancient roman Roman scholars that had interactions with them on their borders. Most of what we know about the ancient Celts is observations made by outsiders. So it wasn't like self-written historical stuff. It's what people noticed or even might have perceived that wasn't real. Or you think most of it's pretty well documented? I think there's some opinions and there's some colored, these savages did blah, blah, blah. Oh, fair. Yeah. Like they prejudice kind of views of it. But we do also have Fenian cycle, which is a very, very early Irish piece of literature that explores the the Irish mythologies. So there's there's some specifically from a story in the cycle called The Boyhood Deeds of Finn, in which the hero Finn encounters a monster that I didn't write this part down. But but but but it but it's a story that takes its place during Salon and includes a lot of the traditional things that have survived to what we know of Salon to this day.
00:15:36
Speaker
Okay. So generally, the ancient Celts were considered to be the combination of the many different European tribes in the Iron Age. There's whole bunch of these different tribes. They were separate from each other, but they shared a lot of the same religious and cultural traditions and practices.
00:15:50
Speaker
I mean, I fell into so many fascinating rabbit holes. What region was this? Ireland, England, Wales, and beyond, but primarily that. Primarily what you would think of as Celtic as far as the United Kingdom area before there was ever a United Kingdom.
00:16:08
Speaker
Salon was one of the most important festivals to the Pelts. It's the halfway point between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. It's the end of the harvest, the end of the light season, and the beginning of the dark months. In this tradition, it was believed that the barrier between worlds was at its thinnest, and this notion is shared with many different cultures all over the world, though I haven't dug into it a ton yet. I'd love to see which of these shared beliefs tied to migration versus what were independently derived.
00:16:31
Speaker
Anyways, so Salon was a huge celebration. Reports mentioned bonfires started by friction from a massive wheel meant to symbolize the sun in ceremonies led by druidic priests after the end of the harvest.
00:16:42
Speaker
Families would let their hearth fires burn out and relight them with torches taken from the bonfire. It's thought that this was a ritual to increase the bond of community. i absolutely love this notion, mostly because as you know, every year at my Halloween party, we gather around a fire in my
Samhain and Celtic Mythology
00:16:55
Speaker
backyard. And these are with a lot of our friends that we only see that one time of the year, every year. And it's definitely a sense of community. Usually around midnight after I've had all of my drinks, I like to remind everybody how much I love them and how much they mean to me and how this is my family reunion every year. That's true. You do get very loving them. Yeah, right around that time.
00:17:17
Speaker
There's also tales of gluttony and debauchery. Like it's a big, huge, massive party. Which we do that as well. We do that as well. I was going to that could be said, especially in some of the earlier years of my friend. Oops.
00:17:28
Speaker
there's There's a lot more to cover here. I'm going to kind of move on to the more spiritual take and notion of the veil is thinnest. Not really just between worlds, but between the human world and like the fairy world or the world. And I was seeing a lot of that in a lot of the stuff that I'm going to cover later. i was seeing a lot of mention of the veil being thin and and in some areas, like you said, of more, not just the spiritual between like life and death, but also like you said, other realms, if you will. Right. Gaelic mythology, Welsh mythology. There's a lot of, the fae is a big thing and it's not necessarily what you think about like as a pretty fairy. Oh yeah. They're like tricky.
00:18:08
Speaker
Tricksters. Yes. Specifically they're, they're tricky little jerks. They're mischievous and generally seen as. They're not the hot romance novel. No, they are not the hot. Well, you know, though, there are some, anyways, that's another story. Oh gosh.
00:18:26
Speaker
The word is she. It's it's spelled S-I-D-H-E, but it's pronounced she. S-I-D-H-E. S-I-D-H-E. looks like Sid Hay. Oh. That's what looks like, but it's pronounced she. Interesting. Okay. You'll also hear it called the is she, which is A-O-S space S-I. Oh, goodness. Is she. This is a Gaelic word for my page scroll down too fast. Is that what I mean? Is that like a word for word translation or...? It's the Gaelic word for the supernatural creatures in the Celtic mythologies. Okay. And I could do a whole episode about those guys too. I'll scratch the surface in here just in a sec. The Celts leave out offerings to the she and the spirits while the barrier was then to appease them during their visit. This eventually evolved into children and beggars dressed as ghosts and monsters going door to door, singing and mumming for soul cakes, pennies, and other small offerings. What are soul cakes?
00:19:19
Speaker
Soul cakes are really basic. It's somewhere between cookie. It's a little bit lighter than a cookie, but denser than a bread. Somewhere between that. It's like a dough cake baked. They're very minimally sweet. A lot of times they'll have a cross cut into them and they'll have raisins in them. or And sometimes those raisins are soaked in rum. There's a lot going on.
00:19:41
Speaker
i lost I lost that entire plot. i've I'm imagining everything deserved under the sun at this point. ok well look at a picture of them i'm trying to be a jerk trying to understand sorry no no i understand we're gonna just like a s scone they're not unlike a scone um i'm going to share a picture with you real quick yes please that's a soul cake it's just a basic little flour cake looks a bit like a cookie but it's not just a cookie it's fruited cake those are cool looking um I have made these before. Really?
00:20:14
Speaker
The recipe that I used was not great. Well, the thing is, is that my American palate is used to sweeter things than yeah because I made a traditional recipe, which is probably my mistake. Yeah. But i was glad that I tried it the correct way first. And then I may recreate them sometime with a more modern recipe. Those are pretty cool looking. Yeah.
00:20:38
Speaker
They went door to door and if they didn't get a treat or some kind of an offering, there was a perhaps threat of mischief from the spirits if they went away empty handed. So that's kind of some ideas of where trick-or-treating kind of came from. But people would also dress up as ghosts and monsters to confuse the she so they wouldn't get taken or harassed. oh Veil's then the Fae, the ancestors can and will appear. It's accepted that it's real and not just can happen, but will happen. yeah Also, with all the debauchery, everybody's drunk and
Transformation to All Saints Day
00:21:10
Speaker
being silly. And so it it was just part of this big celebration of the harvest and everything. There are some...
00:21:18
Speaker
ah She that are very specific to Salwin tales. One of them is called Lady Gwen. She's a headless woman wearing all white, traveling with a large black pig with no tail. I thought she sounded so fascinating, but the more and more I dug, the more I kept found finding basically the same sentence over and over again and very little else to go with it. That almost makes it kind of cooler. It's like more mysterious that way. Right, but where I do want to dig more into that. So if you know a good source for information on Lady Gwen, you can send it to... How is it spelled, you know? Lady... Spelled like lady and then Gwen, G-W-Y-N. Nightmarecottage at gmail.com if you have a good source. Aside from Lady Gwen, one I found the most information on was the Puka.
00:22:02
Speaker
So the Puka were shape-shifting mischief makers. Oh, I think they had some of those in True Blood. Probably. Sorry. I watch a lot of weird smut, I guess. ah No shame. No shame.
00:22:14
Speaker
ah I am also a purveyor of... Not purveyor. Wait. Yeah, don't. Let's not. Don't be. That's not the word I want to use. No. No, not for smut.
00:22:26
Speaker
yeah I am also a fan of the smut. Oh, good. Okay. So... But yeah, so they would shift into black-furred animals, most typically a horse with fiery eyes. And they would trick unsuspecting people to usually be intoxicated and take them on an unpleasant night of some sort. It's not super...
00:22:42
Speaker
clear on the details, but they would take them on a ride and they would wake up all through the hungover. and Yeah, and that's kind of what they did in True Blood. It was actually really cool. Maybe I'll send you that just that episode so you can see it. It's actually really, really, really cool.
00:22:53
Speaker
But yeah, it would like force them to like just do all kinds of really like have orgies and get really drunk and eat a lot and just... But no real harm is done. Yeah. Right. So that's, that's... Well, I mean, like they would like destroy buildings and stuff like that. Oh. Not... Okay. Well, that's not what... murder each other. these These weren't, these weren't murderous pukas. These were just mischievous pukas is what you're saying. That's what I'm saying. Okay. Yeah. My bad. No, no, no. They were just being obnoxious. But also a cell and farmers will li leave behind scraps of unusable crops. Yeah. It was said that these were puka-touched, and therefore they belong to the puka. That's cool.
00:23:32
Speaker
It's also thought that the crops were left behind for them to keep them from messing with future harvests. That's really cool. So it's kind of like leaving, what is it, like leaving a cup ah little cap of milk for the fae.
00:23:45
Speaker
This is all from that same mythology stuff. So there's also tales of helpful puka, but it's mostly overshadowed by the mischief. They feel similar in some stories, in my opinion, to like the English brownies. Yeah.
00:23:57
Speaker
Another episode for them one day, maybe. The puka are some of the most widely known of the she and can be found stories all over the world. And a famous puka that people may know is Puck from Shakespeare's Summer Night's Dream. Oh. Yeah.
00:24:12
Speaker
Moving to a later legend, this one started hopping up in the eighteen thirty s and there's several versions of this but this is the most common or a very common telling of Stingy Jack.
00:24:28
Speaker
Stingy Jack was an alcoholic wanker and nobody liked him. One day the devil came for him but Jack was clever. He asked the devil for one last drink, and the devil obliged.
00:24:40
Speaker
Neither of them had any money, so Jack convinced the devil to turn into a coin so he could pay, and then turn back when no one was looking. This version of the devil is not super cunning, so he agreed. Jack then put the coin in his pocket with a crucifix, which kept the devil from being able to change back.
00:24:55
Speaker
Jack made it parking. Ten more years to keep his soul and he would free the devil. The devil had no choice but to agree. At the end of this ten years, the devil came back for Jack.
00:25:07
Speaker
On the way to the other side, Jack asked the devil for an apple as he was extremely hungry and this would be his last meal. Again, this devil is not the brightest fire in the tool shed. So he agreed.
00:25:18
Speaker
As the Devil climbed the apple tree, Jack surrounded the tree with crucifixes, trapping the Devil once again. This time, Jack asked the Devil to never take his soul in exchange for his freedom. Again, the Devil agreed.
00:25:31
Speaker
Eventually, Jack drank himself to death. He was denied entry from heaven since he's a piece of shit. So he went to be admitted into hell and the devil proclaimed, I'm not allowed to take your soul.
00:25:43
Speaker
The devil turned Jack away to wander for eternity, but gave him an ember tucked into a turnip to light his way.
00:25:59
Speaker
So here's where I'm going to tell you how jack-o'-lanterns were first made from turnips. Pumpkins were a North American crop and plant, and so they weren't present for salmon. So I'm going to send you a picture. That's why this sounded familiar, because I did read something about pieces of this.
00:26:19
Speaker
Oh, there it is. I'll just say, oh god, have too many links open. And so that is a turnip jack-o'-lantern. Cool. That is horrifying. Yeah, and they would put a burning coal into it to light it up.
00:26:31
Speaker
And it's actually, it's honestly, it's ah it's more of a rutabaga, which is really similar to a turnip, but much bigger. And so once the Irish started migrating to America, and they found these glorious larger things that make way better lanterns than a turnip, the modern day jack-o'-lantern was born.
00:26:48
Speaker
It's pretty neat. I will say that that looks way more like a skull. Yeah. Which is really cool. Yeah. I do love my my classic pumpkin jack-o'-lantern, but that, I'm not mad at it. I mean, it's terrifying, but I love the scary stuff, obviously. Could you imagine making a few of those and putting them in like the flower beds that are hanging over your... I have thought about it.
00:27:09
Speaker
it was actually today that I learned that they were using rutabagas instead of turnips. Because turnips would be like a lot harder because they're smaller. Yeah. But a rutabaga... That's got some potential.
00:27:21
Speaker
So if I do that, pictures will be posted. Nice. So moving on back into the history a little bit, and actually we're going get towards the end here, which is great because it's been a while.
00:27:32
Speaker
To very quickly transition into how we went from Samhain to what we see today as Halloween. Eventually, as it was wont to do, the church decided it wanted to reframe Samhain as a Christian holiday. and As they do. As they do. They tried to move it to May.
00:27:49
Speaker
which was all fine and good, but the people didn't stop doing their fire celebrations when they're used to doing their fire celebrations in the fall. They moved it back and renamed it All Saints Day, which falls on November 1st. And then that was immediately followed by All Souls Day, which is on November 2nd.
00:28:04
Speaker
But Pagan's going to pay, and so the old tradition stayed October 31st, became known as All Hallows' Eve, and eventually Halloween. When Irish began immigrating to America, they ah brought a lot of the traditions with them, very much including Salon and Halloween. We talked about how pumpkins are North American crop. So that's, they were plentiful here. And if Americans do nothing, they definitely go overboard with things. So, uh, it's true. Very true. Yeah.
00:28:34
Speaker
So we definitely overdid the the pumpkins and I'm all about it. In the early days of Halloween in the United States, the mischief part of the how the holiday really started to take over with destruction of property and stuff. So communities would start to organize activities to keep the youth too busy to play. print So that's where you get things like the bobbing for apples, divination games, costume parties were everywhere. what you kind of know of and see is the kind of quaint family side of Halloween with kids and trick-or-treating. To keep people out of trouble. Absolutely.
Global Halloween Traditions
00:29:03
Speaker
They were even like in the 40s and stuff. It was very, very popular. There were these magazines that were basically your Martha Stewart magazines at the time. They're your Better Homes and Gardens. Mm-hmm. that were just focused on celebrating Halloween, setting up your house for a party, for decorating, for food. So even back then... was about just making it more of a party and less of a... A night of mischief. Yes. Yes. And then eventually candy companies in Hollywood realized that people really loved mischief, fun, and magic of Halloween, and the holiday expanded
00:29:33
Speaker
today and is my favorite thing and
00:29:44
Speaker
so I basically like i knew that you were gonna go over the Halloween stuff and the true traditions and origins of Halloween so I started looking into like how different cultures celebrate Halloween or Halloween type traditions and you know how it's evolved over the years and it's very interesting because I found quite a few celebrations that may or may not necessarily take place on the same day but they have like this similar sentiment of being remembered for like A remembrance of the dead or a way to ward off evil from the living world, that kind of thing. I also found a lot of pictures that represent each area, which I thought was really, really cool. And it's really hard to choose just one because they're all really cool.
00:30:22
Speaker
I will show you the pictures and we'll also post them on the site as well. And I will say after researching these, I almost wish I could do an entire session on each one because it's just like you said, like there's just so much. This is just such a light coverage of all of them. But yeah, I feel like we've been missing out on Halloween celebrations here and that's saying something. yeah Because, you know, your literal festivals that you put in your cottage. So, to start... Little festivals. Little festivals. I love that. They are They're little festivals. Like, every year, there's just something little...
00:30:55
Speaker
Different and festival-y about it. So I will go ahead and just throw a disclaimer on this because I'm doing my best. This is like, I literally went over, I think maybe eight or nine different countries. And so I don't know how to pronounce some of this stuff. I'm going to my best. I'm going to have Google help me. If I mispronounce it, I'm really sorry. I'm not trying to offend anybody, but here we go. All right. So the closest I found to the origins of like the original festivals of Samson.
00:31:24
Speaker
Samhain. Samhain. Okay. It's spelled Samhain. So, okay. Samhain. Did I say that right? Mm-hmm. All right. so the original festivals of Samhain is the festival in Ireland and Scotland on October 31st. So those are obviously the most traditional. As you've explained already, it's the origin of our modern-day Halloween.
00:31:42
Speaker
So Ireland has a few different festivals, but the two most common are the Puka Festival and the Derry Halloween Celebration in Northern Ireland. So you can open the picture of the Puka Festival I got this description from Ireland.com about the Puka Festival.
00:31:59
Speaker
I love that. Yes. And like I said, I'm going to put all these online if you want to follow along. They're just, I wanted to make sure that you had good visuals. This is the description I got from Ireland.com.
00:32:10
Speaker
The Puka Festival is set to celebrate the traditions of Samhain and welcomes the strange and mischievous creatures that come forth from the chasm of space and time and some of Ireland's most historic places. The Hill of Ward,
00:32:23
Speaker
where those ancient fires were first lit, and the heritage town of Trim, dominated by towering Norman fortress. I didn't think it could just I could describe it any better than that, so that's why i wanted to take that ex exact quote. What's really cool about these celebrations is that each area has its own theme. So for one area, they do a foraging walk to discover edible and medicinal plants. Yes, I know know i knew you would. And another area called the Gathering of the Spirits procession, So along with four nights of music, comedy, fire, feasting. So that that's that's a whole other area, which is great. And then you can open the Derry Festival one. So that's the second one in Ireland that is the most common. And so this festival is described as a party at a scary, joyous, fantastically fun carnival with folkloric feasting and festivities scary carnivals are my favorite thing it's just a really big pretty parade party type of thing with just it's just it all looks like such a great time and I did not know I knew I needed to visit Ireland one day but I didn't know I needed to go during Halloween so just just something else for your better list yeah so moving on to Scotland which I also mentioned was very you know similar to the original Origins It has a specific festival on the state. It's celebrated as the... Now, this one was spelled differently. I see that. And that's how it's pronounced or spelled in the Scottish, but it seems to be pronounced the same according to Google pronunciation. So it's Samhain as well? or Yeah, it looks like it's still pronounced as Samhain, but it's spelled like S-A-M-H-U-I-N-N. So it's the Samhain Fire Festival with costumes, parades, fire dancing. You can open that one if you'd like. I did. I was going to say that this... Oh, I actually did have pictures I was going to show of the the fire wheel. Yes. And this is a very, very small version of it, but it's very reminiscent of that. Nice. See? And yeah, that's what i was saying. Like, it's very, very in touch with the originals, which that's what i really loved about the the Ireland and Scottish ones. It felt very organic, fantastic.
00:34:30
Speaker
An organic movement from the original traditions, right? The Fyre Festival has costumes, parade, fire dancing, as you just mentioned, while drumming, acrobatics. It sounds way cooler than any of our celebrations in the U.S. And I would love to witness that one there.
00:34:44
Speaker
So moving to Japan. So Japan's festival. It's interesting. It's basically our U.S. Macy's Day parade for Thanksgiving, but for Halloween. It's called the Kawasaki Halloween Parade. You're more than welcome to open that one. It is massive. I'm talking like 140,000 people coming to see it massive.
00:35:04
Speaker
It's held in Tokyo every October 28th. It has parade floats, musical performances, over-the-top costumes, theater, face paint, prosthetics. Anyone can come watch and a lot of people around the world do. Like,
00:35:17
Speaker
actually visit specifically for this. And if you actually want to like participate and not actually just watch it, you have to have a costume ready. You have to fill out an application, but oddly enough, it's only 10 US dollars to apply to be in the parade. So I thought that was pretty cool.
00:35:35
Speaker
Next one is Denmark. Okay. Denmark. I love Nordic countries. They take the darkest And they make it seem so light and funny and silly. Yes, it's my favorite. But when you look at the root of it, you're like, what the f*** is happening here?
00:35:53
Speaker
Well, you know, so much delightful stuff comes from trauma. It's just the best. Okay, so Denmark Celebration is called, okay, hold on. I'm going to butcher this. So real quick, let me let me Google this. And I wanted to do this earlier, but, you know, I wouldn't have remembered.
00:36:10
Speaker
It says it's pronounced festelon. Oh, God. Hold on. I found it. Okay. Festalan. Festalan? Yes. So Denmark's celebration is called Festalan. It's spelled like feistlavin.
00:36:27
Speaker
It's typically celebrated in February. This one, like the U.S., children typically wear costumes. They go door to door asking for candy. But they also get cream-filled buns.
00:36:39
Speaker
And these are called... This is why I was asking you earlier. I was like, what what are those? Because... I thought it was really interesting. They're called Feslavensboeller.
00:36:50
Speaker
Let's see. Sorry. Feslavensboeller. Feslavensboeller is what they're saying it's called. So they get these cream-filled buns called Feslavensboeller.
00:37:02
Speaker
Doing my best. Which I'm all about. Sounds great. I love, I love. i love a cream-filled Danish. love a cream-filled Danish. So at their parties, they have something similar to it to a pinata, except it's a barrel decorated with black cats and filled with candy.
00:37:18
Speaker
You can go ahead and open that one if you haven't already. The game is called Slapaten af Tonden, which translated, it's whacking the cat out of the barrel.
00:37:31
Speaker
So fun fact, the origin of this was the Danish people putting a live cat And a barrel. No! And then beating the barrel and the cat to ward off evil spirits. So they've basically taken this origin and they're just like, it's fine. We'll just turn it into a pinata. It's not real anymore.
00:37:51
Speaker
But that's what they used to do to ward off spirits. And I, it's really sad. I know. It it was always a black cat. But yeah, now it's a fun little pinata game. So, Danish.
00:38:02
Speaker
That's what they do. mean, sweetheart. I'm so sorry, but we do not beat kitties. I know, I know. And we don't anymore.
00:38:14
Speaker
But, you know, we all did some things. We've all we done some things. Oh. So. I'm sorry, my heart. Okay, move on. Moving on Germany.
00:38:25
Speaker
It's another country whose origin of their celebration is dark, but it's turned into something a little more lighthearted and fun. that They celebrate, not going to try to pronounce that one,
00:38:36
Speaker
Walpurgisnot. So they celebrate Walpurgisnot or Witches Day in Thale, which is held on April 30th. You can open that one. Throughout the Hearts region 20 different festival locations.
00:38:51
Speaker
The folklore is that the witches get together as they fly atop their broomsticks to the highest peak in the Hearts Mountains. It's an all-day event. They do costumes, parades, bonfires, music, comedic performances, food, craft stations.
00:39:06
Speaker
From what I was reading, it sounded like the original wall percus is based in something darker like devil worship, witches, and pagan sacrifices. Nothing like the light celebrations that are held today.
00:39:19
Speaker
But of course, we all have roots in something a little darker. Moving on to Dia de los Muertos. Most of us, I think, know about Dia de los Muertos. It's celebrating in Mexico.
00:39:30
Speaker
It's celebrated from November 1st to November 2nd, and it's known for the decorated skulls everywhere, vibrant costumes, vibrant colors, skull makeup. Traditionally, it's celebrated by building home altars for those that have passed and for one day descended from heaven to join their families. so these altars are stocked up with fruit, meat, beverages, pan de muerto, which chant translates to ah the bread of the dead. don't know if you were able to open that one yet. Mm-hmm. If the altar is being built for a child that has passed, they'll usually leave toys as well, which I thought was really cute.
00:40:05
Speaker
In cemeteries, the graves are decorated with Aztec marigolds and sugar skulls. Those are known traditionally calaveras. um I do wonder about the aftermath of this. Is all the food collected the next day? Because...
00:40:20
Speaker
I would worry like with the sugar skulls and bread, they would have a big pest problem on their hands. Right? Like, I mean, do you want ants? That's how you get ants. Yeah. Do you want ants? That's how get ants. Yeah. and I mean, like, it's such a beautiful celebration not to minimize it at all. I can't believe, you know, you would, you would think of that. You would think of what is left over after the party. I would. i do.
00:40:43
Speaker
How many times after your own party have I just been so incredibly drunk, still trying to clean? it's It's hard. I understand. I'm always there drunk and still trying to clean. Oh my goodness. So yeah, that's Dia de los Huertos, which most of us already know. but While the Mexican tradition believes in heaven opens for their loved ones, Hong Kong China has a similar celebration, except they believe the gates of hell open.
00:41:11
Speaker
You can open that one up. Which one is it? They call it the Hungry Ghost Festival. Here it is believed that on the seventh month of the lunar calendar, I'm not sure if you know what that is specifically. I'm familiar with the lunar calendar, but I don't know which is the seventh month. So here it's believed that on the seventh month of the lunar calendar, the gates of hell open and allow spirits to roam free, haunt the living. Their belief is that the spirits become restless and ravenous, wandering around, visiting their families for two weeks.
00:41:43
Speaker
So on the 15th day of the lunar month, members of the Chi Chow community attempt to appease the spirits by offering fruit, meats, and pastries. So a lot of food offering, as you were mentioned, right? They also burn something called hell money, which is what you're seeing in that picture, or other paper items, like lanterns and candles. And they believe this helps the deceased find their way back to the spirit world.
00:42:08
Speaker
So this is seen as a time for families to reconnect with those that past and an opportunity to make amends for offenses committed against them. So to kind of help them move on from that hell. Right. So another celebration in China is known as the King Ming festival and it's celebrated in the beginning of April. It's known as tomb sweeping day. I actually didn't give you a picture of that.
00:42:29
Speaker
As the name suggests, they sweep and clean the tombs of all their loved ones. And this is seen as a way to honor the deceased, which I thought was pretty cool. You'll love this last one, Nim.
00:42:40
Speaker
Day of Dracula. You can open that one up. So Romania, of course, celebrates Day of Dracula. It seems to be more of a touristy thing than a local day to celebrate the dead. Yeah. But it sounds really cool because Transylvania opens Bran's castle this day to allow visitors to explore the hidden tunnels, go through secret staircases while getting a history lesson about the 14th century fortress and why it's revelant to the Bram Stoker novel. So I just thought that was really cool because it it is still a way that the city, the area celebrates, right? Whether or not it is rooted in tradition, it is rooted in a book and a movie, which in a way is its own tradition. A book and several movies. Yes.
00:43:21
Speaker
So that was... you know, just a little really, really, really thin history on a few different areas, which... An appetizer to make me go and want to look at more. Honestly, like, I... It was really hard to narrow it down just to these because... And I wanted to go into so much more. So, like, there is so much more to all of these festivals. So please don't think that it was just... We can't cover everything. I do want to mention, though, that some of these pictures reminded me. i last Last Halloween, for our anniversary trip, we went to New Orleans.
Personal Halloween Experiences and Tarot Reading
00:43:51
Speaker
One of the things that we did that was specifically Halloween-related is that we got to see the parade, the Halloween parade that they did. and
00:43:59
Speaker
Once I got past some annoying situations and we were actually there and able to see the parade, we had rented ah a balcony. it It was a party in a bar restaurant thing and they made their balcony available to X number of people. It was like,
00:44:15
Speaker
unlimited food and drink and whatever. That's awesome. Yeah. It was like open bar for real. And, and it was a balcony overlooking the parade as it went by. And it was just some pretty amazing energy. Just like being surrounded by everybody excited about Halloween and, and just having this just grand old time. It was super awesome. Seeing somebody costume and the amazing floats and the the entertainers and stuff. I never would have thought to go like at a time other than Mardi Gras up in New Orleans. So that's amazing. See, but for me, I will never go when everybody else goes. Oh, 100%. And it was it was even the crowds it was even a bit of a stretch to go. But, you know, it's a bit of a bucket list thing. Yeah. You know, I went to Salem, but I didn't go during Halloween. And I'm very glad that I did that because I got to see so much more.
00:44:59
Speaker
I didn't have to wait in line to get into a shop. Yeah. And, you know, I didn't have to wait three hours to eat. And anyways, that was a great, a good middle time to go. Like, cause there's still people and it's bustling and it's great. the The French Quarter was all decorated and stuff, but it wasn't like super crazy swaned people. But anyway, so that's my own experience with a Halloween type festival. That's your own experience? You're not talking about your every single year experience?
00:45:26
Speaker
The extra special? That is one. one of your entire halloween existence that that that is one of the things that did shut up asshole no i'm just saying like you literally live and breathe halloween is what i'm saying like you are the queen of halloween but as far as like a big festival that's anything comparable to any of the things that you should yeah no that sounds amazing that that is the closest to the closest to real life experience yeah after that
00:45:59
Speaker
We've hit that point of delirium from our nightmares. I think that means it's time for a little spooky Halloween divination. Ooh. So I have brought with me to the nightmare cottage my Halloween tarot deck. Okay.
00:46:16
Speaker
And my Halloween oracle deck. Ooh. So I will say that both of these were purchased for aesthetics sal alone. And I'm actually, i've I've played a lot with tarot cards. I've actually never played with oracle cards. In fact, I don't even know that I've ever all opened this box. It seems dangerous. It's only dangerous if you make it dangerous. Oh. Can i read you a card? Yes.
00:46:39
Speaker
Okay. Do you want an oracle card or a tarot card? You said you don't know what the oracle cards are. There's a book in it. It'll tell me what to do. I want those. Okay. I told you, I'm a weenie, but I like spooky things, but then I get scared. Okay, well, this is a very cute... Think of, like, Courage Cowardly Dog. I am... That's me.
00:46:56
Speaker
I want to show you... oopsie Okay. Nothing going on here. Don't look at the man behind curtain.
00:47:07
Speaker
But I'd like to show you the art, and I'll take a picture to add. It's, oh like, really cute art. They are cute. very That clown is horrifying, though. Well, don't look at the clown. Okay.
00:47:19
Speaker
Okay, so I want you to... Oopsies. And it was the fool that dropped. I just dropped a card and it was the The clown. The clown. The one that I hate. Do you see?
00:47:30
Speaker
do you see? This is why don't play with these things. I need you. Listen, I want... i just I just want everyone to understand, like, I don't believe in any of this, but I believe in all of it. So I'm a little... I'm little conflicted. Okay? It's okay to demystify something and still celebrate it.
00:47:47
Speaker
So I would say that you should either think about something that you're concerned about or excited about, or maybe we can keep it as simple as how is Halloween going to go? was about to say, because the last time we did this, I don't want to talk about that yet. Okay.
00:48:07
Speaker
Dang. Really traumatized. Talk about nightmare. Time and a place. Okay. Oh, yeah. Let's talk about let's talk about how we think Halloween is going to go this year. Halloween party, Halloween fives, Halloween in general, halleen Halloween, Halloween, Halloween, Halloween brisket.
00:48:28
Speaker
Whatever, man. I love Halloween brisket. Oh, Halloween brisket. So my husband A's. makes the most delicious brisket and he brings it to the halloween party well so far it's only been one year right oh yes but i will allow it any other years it wants to happen delicious yeah this delicious he does smell like smoked meats for like a couple days after so it's kind of weird because we always come home from your party smelling like bonfire yeah So we always have to shower, but it's funny because now like he actually, like his beard ends up smelling like smoked meats as well.
00:49:01
Speaker
So now what? I shuffled them. So. I probably should have been, well, I was talking about Halloween. That's so he Cut it and lay it down. And it's going to be however it's facing you is how I'm going to read for it. face it up?
00:49:12
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I didn't mix them. You've got the Hierophant, which is the mummy. he's right side up to you. I'll take a picture of that card. He's holding being a little Halloween scepter. He has a spooky kitty.
00:49:25
Speaker
Okay. I don't like your face you're making right now. it's because I'm ah aging and I have to stare at something while I read it. Like, like with a certain marker. I just wanted to make sure I was a little traumatized from the last time that you tried to read my whatever.
00:49:40
Speaker
so well, no, yours isn't. It was fine. It was mine. That was the one that was awful and turned out to be true. so so this one the hero fan tarot card upright general meanings are traditional institutions and Traditional values, conventional, commitment, beliefs and knowledge sharing, general interpretation, upright. It's the card of traditional values and institutions, which i love that. That's kind of the tradition. I mean, it is. Yeah, it's the tradition. And we all get together, like you said, once a year and see everyone that we don't usually see any other time of the year. And it's like no time has stopped. And it's fantastic and amazing everything.
00:50:19
Speaker
So it's just saying all shall be as it's always been. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's where we can stop. That's a good one. I like it. Yeah. Let's see how this lighting works. No, don't touch it. Oh. I was just straightening it. Sorry. little i was trying to make it look like kind of fun and jaunty. Oh. But no, no,
00:50:37
Speaker
Now it's too jaunty. Overly jaunted. Oh, maybe.
00:50:46
Speaker
overly chaunted
00:50:52
Speaker
If you have topic requests, book or movie recommendations, or just want to say hi, email us at nightmarecottage at gmail.com or visit our website at nightmarecottage.com. Sweet dreams.
00:51:14
Speaker
Bye-bye.