Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-11-14
HALLOWEEN CUSTOMS.
A Literary Essay by william
sharp i'm Harper's Magazine.

Old superstitions die hard, and it will
certainly be long before the festival OF
Halloween becomes as much thing OF the
past has as practically become the Guy
Fawkes celebration on the 5th of Novem-
ber. Long before the Christian faith
made way among the untutored peoples
of ancient Britain, the Druids had per-
formed special rites on what Is now
known as Hallowmas Eve; fires were lit
deep in remote forests upon outlying
spurs of hills, even upon the great plains
that stretched between dense forests and
partially cleared woodlands; mystic rites
were performed, the help of the true God
was iinplored, the Vaccinations OF evil
powers were protested against. The ear.
liest records bear witness to universal
belief that on this night the powers OF
darkness muster in great force, that all
supernatural beings hold revel within the
sphere of humanity, and that, therefore,
it behooved all persons to be careful ON
this night of all nights, for any sin COM
mitted rendered the perpetrator iiapie 70
be brought under the influence OF some
evil spirit throughout whole year tnere'
after. To this day, any child born In
Scotland on the eve of the 3lst OF Octo'
Der is supposed to be in possession OF GER
tain mysterious faculties, to hold-if not
consciously, at least unconsciousiy IN tne
midnight hours when the senses are op'
scured by sleep--communion with cne
supernatural world, and to be at NIL
times a person whose actions, however
eccentric, must be regarded chari.ao'y.
Those who have read Sir Waiter SCOUTS
"Monastery" will remember that ne mas
made use Of this circumstance. ohes
as fytie as Halloween wean' is phrase
that may even yet be occasionally heard
north Of the Tweed, and in most OF the
popular accounts of wizards ana al un-
canny folk the date OF their births Is gen.
orally set down as on the last aay Oh
October. When, later ON, Aii-hailoW
Eve became Christian observance, the
old customs pertinent to its celepratlon'
did not pass into disuse; on the contrary,
thew became more and more deeply es-
tabiished, every here and there accumu-
latino some new superstition, or annex
ing some old belief that had long linger-
ed without direct association with any
special day. season, or locality. bonhres
are still lit ON Hallowmas Eve, though
perhaps only one OF two here ana there
among the members of the innumerable
! village communities who thus celebrate
the great event know that the pracuce
is remnant of paganism; indeed, u Is
surprising, in the use OF this as OF many
other popular customs, to ind now lew
know ANYTHING whatever OF the slgnifl-
cance of their celebrations. we 90 as
our fathers did before us, is suihcient to
account for everything. In rrotestan1
countries the vigil OF All-souls IS nc
longer q religious Observance, or at any
rate is not SO in Scotland, England OF
Germany. 1t may be said that Haiiow-
cen. as we understand it, is only cele'
brated by the Teutonic aud Celtic races
With the Latins it is merely religious
vigil. round its observance clinging few,
if any, of those wild legends or supersti
tions that are so plentiful IN Scandinavia
Scotland and Ireland. The nearest ap
proach to the Northern solemni'y. ane
even weirdness, is the Venetian ''ott
J delle morti or night of all the dead; bu
: the religious ceremonies attendant there
, on take place, not on the 3lst OF october
but on the eve of Allsouls Day, that Is
; the day following. 1t is in Scotland AM
. Ireland that Halloween is kept in its en-
, tirety; in the former, curiousiy enough
$ more in the East, mid.country and DOW
q lands than in the remoter Highland dif
tricts; in other words, more among th
Scots proper than among the pure Celt'
The best chronicle OF Hallowmas Nv