Halloween is fast approaching. With history tracing back to the ancient Celts, this holiday has gone through several transformations. The celebration as we know it in America begins with the publishing of Dennison's Bogie Book in 1909. Continuing through the 1930s, this book formalized what have become Halloween traditions from carving pumpkins to bobbing for apples. The golden age of American Halloween came with the post-WWII baby boom. Throughout the 50s & 60s, legions of trick-or-treaters laid siege to neighborhoods. Recently, the adult children of these same baby boomers have taken over the holiday.
October 31, the Celtic Samhain, was a time when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was thinnest. The spirits of the departed could transcend into the living world. To keep them at bay, masks and jack-o-lanterns were used to scare away these evil spirits. Now they are appeased with candy and confections. - as ever - BB
From ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night, dear Lord deliver us. - old Scottish prayer
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