Things That Go Bump In The Night

Today is the ancient festival of Samhain which marks the last day of the Celtic year and the beginning of winter. The Celts and Druids believed that in the night before the New Year, the wall between the living and the dead was open, allowing spirits of the dead, both good and bad, to mingle among the living. Some of these spirits were thought to possess living people, cause trouble, ruin crops, or to search for passage to the afterlife and many of the rituals performed in order to placate these evil spirits are best left shrouded in the mists of time. Halloween, as it´s now called, is a sanitized child-friendly version of that pagan festival, now mostly practised in the USA. We would certainly rest uneasily in our beds if we knew exactly what the Celts regarded as suitable tricks and treats. I know I wouldn´t like to spend this evening, or any evening, in THIS room! (although it was fun putting it together.)

To quote an an ancient Scottish prayer,

From ghoulies and ghosties

And long-legged beasties

And things that go bump in the night

Good Lord, deliver us.

Amen to that.