Halloween and Celtic New Year's: a Rascafria a recoger setas!

At school this week, I engaged my students in presentations about the Celtic origins of Halloween, Saimhain. I educated myself, probably more than anyone else, in the act of preparing for this, not just about the ancient meaning of Saimhain, but also about the origins of many modernly practiced Halloween traditions (ie Trick or Treating, dressing in costumes, carving jack-o-lanterns, bobbing for apples). The Celts celebrated the end of Summer harvest on October 31st, making November 1st New Year's Day on their calendars. They believed that on October 31st the veil between the living and the dead became so thin that the spirits of the dead returned to Earth. They lit candles to honor the spirits, so that they would not feel offended as they visited Earth.  People dressed up as ghosts (origin of costumes) and animals in order to disguise and protect themselves from ghosts that might harm them. Villagers gathered wearing such costumes and lit great bonfires, making a sacrifice of food to their gods in exchange for protection through the cold, dark winter months. Each family lit a torch from the bonfire and carried it home to light their hearths, blessing their homes and families.  I'm not going to detail the origins of each Halloween tradition, but I will say that each modern custom that I reasearched connects back to ancient traditions, some more than 2,000 years old.

I will mention Jack-o-Lanterns, because I focused on this tradtion with the boys I tutor: There's an Irish myth about an evil man named Stingy Jack. His heinous acts prevented him from ascending to heaven, and because he played so many tricks on the devil, he wasn't allowed to descend to hell. Instead, he received a curse to walk on Earth for eternity carrying a Jack-o-Lantern. Originally, the Irish carved faces into turnips and burned a lump of coal inside..when the Irish immigrated to America they began carving pumpkins, which being hollow inside are much easier to work with.

Anyway, I celebrated Halloween with the brothers Pablo and Guillermo. I brought them a pumpkin and we gutted it, carved a face on it and placed a candle inside. The process surprised them for they had never felt the slimy quality of pumpkin inards, nor did they understand that we use pumpkins as lanterns, making the faces glow in the dark. They thought pumpkins were meant to contain candy! I can see where this confusion comes from as many trick-or-treaters carry plastic pumpkin containers. I explained the myth of Stingy Jack to them and asked them to retell it to their mom. We also roasted the pumpkin seeds and watched the Monster Mash on youtube. Here in Madrid, it is common for kids to learn about Halloween in their English classes and more and more the traditions of wearing costumes and going trick or treating are catching on, however instead of going door to door through their neighborhoods, kids trick-or-treat at business places or attend parties at family homes..Pablo had such a party to attend that night after our lesson. Some people my age and a little older dress in costumes and party. Halloween, I've been told by folks my age, is an excuse for a party (as if the Spanish really wait around for excuses to party!).  I had very little interest in going out but when my friend, Shayna, invited me to go with her and her Columbian roommate and meet up with his Spanish friends, I couldn't resist. I jumped at this opportunity to socialize with Spanish speaking people, even though I had no costume! We applied make-up to look like vampires and wore regular street clothes. Ironically,  since we come from the country that most celebrates Halloween, we least represented holiday spirit.

November 1st, thanks to the Celtics for originally making this day a holiday by celebrating  the New Year, is All Saints Day and so I didn't have to work yesterday and I don't have to work today either. I celebrated the Celtic New Year in the mountains outside of Madrid picking mushrooms with my Ukranian flatmate and his parents and girlfriend. I felt underprepared to venture into the mountains, where it is considerably colder than here in Madrid. I don't have hiking shoes or great winter clothes. The family insisted that I wear a pair of shoes about 4 sizes too lage for me, offering me pieces of newspaper to bunch up into the toes of the shoes to make them fit me better! They also gave me a huge jacket to wear. Going with them was an incredible experience, for they are life-long mushroom foragers. I know I've told Jon-Erik how I'd love to go to an eastern european country and find a person to take me mushroom hunting. Well, I found such people here in Spain! I'll attach photos for you to see. We mainly gathered Boletes emerging near the bases of pine trees. Sergio, my flatmate's father, trained me to use a stick to thump the ground...when you find a place that feels firm, chances are it's a mushroom!

Aislu and Sergio. Sergio found the majority of our msuhrooms...he would call us all to him and say,
"Mira, mira! Aqui a una seta!" He'd challenge us to find it, as it blended in so well with the needles and grass.
Then, he'd coach us not to walk in a hurry, no andar con prisa, because we'll miss all the mushrooms!