I nearly forgot. The local priests wife used to run a youth club & she was a big paranormal fan & Halloween was a big night for the youth club. Dipping for apples, ghost stories, trips around the churchyard. She loved it.
2 Likes
It’s definitely catching on in SA 
Yep, now I do recall celebrating that! We’d walk around the neighbourhood with a made up Guy Fawkes and chant this song whilst drumming on a tin with wooden sticks!
Guy Fawkes Day!
Shoot him in the eye!
Let the bugger die!
Come to think of it, a rather macabre chant for little kids to be singing!
The fun part was the bonfire where we ‘burned’ the poor Guy 
How horrid is that as kids!
2 Likes
It is rather interesting! I must say, I’ve enjoyed this research 
1 Like
That’s really insightful- thanks for sharing 
1 Like
Wow Gee, a bit of a contradiction there! Christianity and Halloween don’t usually go together unlike salt and pepper 
When I was a ‘bad chap’ back in the day this was one of my favourite tunes…as the school punk (assistant punk)
Years before I had been to a proper American 
Halloween party in Abadan dressed as a ‘corpse’ although I didn’t know what a corpse was and I didn’t know how to say the word. Anyway - sheet & talcum powder if anybody wants to try the outfit today.
‘Robin Hood’ outfit in the Netherlands was worse, everybody insisting I was William Tell
1 Like
She had a big interest in anything paranormal & it was her & her husband, the priest, who have left me with a long interest in the paranormal. As he used to say, there are generally 3 different truths. The trick is finding the correct truth, not a truth.
And priests & the paranormal have a long association together. For example the English occult group the Golden Dawn had a lodge just for Priests & one of Dion Fortunes close friends within the Inner Light was also a priest.
1 Like
I thought the Lanterns derived from the glowing lights, that appear above Marsh/Bog land called Willo O Wisp
With curiosity at night some would follow these glowing lights, ending up in the Bog never to be seen again……bringing about yarns of Ghosts and evil spirits
The first lanterns were human Skulls, then Vegetables with Ghoulish faces cut out with candles lit to ward off evil spirits….These Lanterns were called Jack o lantern and originate from Ireland
Mind I don’t really know if this is correct, as I also thought Halloween originated in Ireland not Scotland
1 Like
Perhaps someone has a better idea of it’s origins. I’m definitely not the expert
1 Like
I’m sure todays Halloween originates from a number of Pagan festivities if truth is known, and does it really matter when todays Halloween is about having Fun
1 Like