With summer holidays behind us the next significant date looming on the calendar is Halloween. For the most part we wonder why. Any great significance that Halloween might once have held for out forebears has long been lost in the proverbial mists of time. Now, if anything, it's an opportunity for the marketing of plastic pumpkins and other such tat. American traditions, such as trick or treating have found their way across the pond, much to many peoples annoyance. It might be different if the spirit of the event had also been applied, rather than just the greed. However, it was not always this way and not all the aspects we think of as typically American started over there.

The custom of decorating with apples, pumpkins and autumn leaves has its origin in the ancient Druid festival of Samhain. The festival celebrated the end of summer and a successful harvest. It also mark the time when the veil between the living and the dead was at its thinnest. A time when it was easiest to contact the spirits of the departed or, perhaps, the most appropriate time to remember loved ones that had died. In order to ward off any evil spirits, which might be lurking, lanterns were originally carved out of turnips and large beets. Scary faces were cut into the vegetables and a glowing coal was placed inside. These lanterns were carried around the village, or left burning on doorstep, to frighten away the evil spirits. When the Irish immigrants arrived in America, they found pumpkins abundant and much easier to carve than turnips, thus the tradition of turning pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns began.

The best pumpkins for carving have a flattened end to prevent tipping, but really any size or shape of pumpkin will do. Having a good solid handle (the stalk) will make it easy to open and close the jack-o-lantern lid if you want to put a candle inside. (When cleaning the pumpkin out, don't forget to separate the seeds as they make a delicious snack when lightly stir-fried in oil and salted). For an alternative to pumpkins, ornamental gourds also make good Halloween decorations. These should be harvested when the stem of the fruit starts to dry. Care must be taken not to bruise the gourd. Allow the fruit to dry for about a week in a warm, dry place, then it can be waxed and polished; or smoothed, using steel wool, to produce a surface for painting or staining.

Another traditional fruit for Halloween is the apple. Bobbing for apples may be a popular children's party game but it has another link back to pagan traditions and associations with the land of the dead. In the western world the Tree of Life, spoken of in the book of Genesis, is often depicted as an apple tree although this is not suggested anywhere in the bible. In Celtic mythologies the land of the dead was often described as an island planted as an orchard. In Arthurian myth this island is presided over by Morgan le Fey. Her symbol is a 'golden bough', that is an apple branch with flowers and ripe fruits on it at the same time. In consequence it has long been considered unlucky to have an apple tree with both fruit and flower on it as it was said to indicate that there would be a death in the household.

In earlier times apples could sometimes play a significant role in determining a young girl's future. It was said that if she slipped an apple under her pillow, on Halloween eve, she was sure to dream of her sweetheart. To discover who she was destined to wed she must stand in front of a mirror, at midnight on Halloween and brush her hair three times while eating an apple. The image of her future husband would appear in the mirror looking over her shoulder. When she saw his face, she peel must peel an apple in a single strip and toss the peel over her left shoulder using her right hand. The peel would form the first initial of his name. A popular rhyme at the time went as follows:

"If your future hubby's name you wish to know,
Over your left shoulder an apple peel throw.
It will wriggle and coil, and you will see
The first initial of who it will be.
For the witches plot, and the hexes scheme
On the mystic night of Halloween."

To discover what her future spouse was going be like she had to visit a cabbage patch on Halloween. She must rush in and to pick the first cabbage she saw. If the cabbage had a short stalk, her spouse would be short, a long stalk showed that her spouse would be tall. If there was soil on the leaves meant that she would marry a rich man.

If a young maiden couldn't choose between two suitors, on Halloween night she took two hazelnuts, each representing one of her beaus, and tossed them in the fire. The nut that burned the brightest or popped the loudest indicated which man she would eventually wed. In England, this led to Halloween having the alternative name of 'Nutcrack Night'. It is appropriate that hazelnut should be used for this type of divination as in Celtic myth they are the symbol of wisdom.

Throughout the years, other plants and herbs also were associated with Halloween usually because they have been thought of as protective herbs. In Mediterranean countries, prior to the fourteenth century, rosemary was placed over the cradle of babies to protect them, not just on Halloween, but all the year round. It was often burned with juniper and thyme as a means of cleansing a room of bad spirits and warding off witches. Rue, once called 'Herb of Grace of Sundays' was hung from doorways and windows to ward off evil spirits and prevent them from entering the house.

One last thought to consider. In September 1752 the Gregorian calendar was adopted in England replacing the Julian calendar. This resulted in eleven days being removed from the calendar so that September 2nd was followed by September 14th. Halloween, as has already been said, was a time to remember those who had died. The addition of eleven days onto Halloween, October 31st, takes it to November 11th, Remembrance Day. An interesting coincidence.

Question and Answer Sessions

These have been recorded over the last few seasons and feature Gardeners Stuart Phillips, Roger Clarke, John Bosworth, Nickolas Warliker, Becky Sam Bosworth, and Dave Watkins.