ALL ABOUT HALLOWEEN

Samhain’ is the old Irish word which means the end of summer. It marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of the cold, dark, winter season.Samhain  was seen as a time when the ‘door’ to the  otherworld opened enough for the souls of the dead and other beings to come into our world. The souls of the dead were said to revisit their homes on Samhain.’Hallow’ is an old English word for holy. ’Eve’ is short for evening. ‘All Hallow’s Eve gives us ‘Hallowe’en’ – A time for praying for all the dead.Because it was believed that ghosts etc could come back to visit the earth on Hallowe’en, people started to disguise themselves so that they wouldn’t be recognised. This led to one of the customs of the season, dressing up and disguising oneself. Nowadays people buy costumes and wear masks. When children dress up they go around from house to house. This is called ‘Trick or Treating’. They ask for a small treat and if they don’t get it they will play a trick on the people at the door. Treats used to be fruit, nuts and apples. Now they are sweets and crisps.

HALLOWEEN POEM

The Harvest moon fills the sky
A wicked witch goes flying by

Ghosts and goblins..skeleton’s too.
Moaning and groaning, waiting for you 

Black cats prowl the graveyard plots
Witches cook in cauldron pots                                                      

Cemetery ghouls roam the ground
Not one unopened grave is found                                               

Tombstones are an eerie sight
Shadows dance in full moon light                                                            

The haunted house on the hill
Walk in there and you get a chill                                                             

Jack-o-lanterns eyes so bright
Trick or Treaters scream in fright                                                              

It’s a time like you’ve never seen
And very soon it will be Halloween.

It’s looking pretty spooktacular in St. Declann’s NS. BOO !!!