By Charlene Kemp

Christmas and ghost stories, it may seem that the two don’t fit together well, but they actually do. When you think about it why wouldn’t our love ones pay us a visit at such a special time if they can, to offer us reassurance, make us feel their prescene and their love.

Even though it is not popular now days, in victorian times it was somewhat of a tradition at christmas time to gather around a fire and tell one another spooky ghostly tales. Remember that the victorian era is where spiritualism, seances, ectoplasm and table rapping became popular so it would make sense that victorians would have done such traditions rooting back to their roots in pagan custom.

Evidence lining this is in a line from ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ where it is mentioned ” There’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of christmas long, long ago…”

There is also the Dickens classic ‘ A Christmas Carol ‘ which is properly one of the last remaining tales of a haunting one may associate with this time of year.

Then there is the miracles that surround Christmas itself, and that being the birth of Jesus Christ.

So I decided to look up 5 ghostly tales of christmas to somewhat put you in the spirit 😉 and of course follow a forgotten tradition.

THE CHRISTMAS VISITOR

I had an unusual visitor on Christmas Day, 2008 and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Santa Claus passing by my house in Bloomington, Indiana. The day started in typical fashion with the opening of gifts around the Christmas tree. I served an early Christmas dinner for family and friends, and everybody departed by 5 p.m., except my sister and brother-in-law who live with me. They were sleeping in a bedroom at the end of the hall with the door open.

I went into my bedroom with my dog, Toby and shut the door securely. Toby curled up on the foot of my bed to sleep, like he always does. It was chilly, so I pulled the blankets and comforter up around my head and curled up to nap for an hour.

I was just dozing off when I heard the latch on my bedroom door open. I waited several seconds for my sister or brother-in-law to ask me whatever they came to say, but there was no other sound. It was almost 7 p.m., so my bedroom was pitch black. I had left lights on in the kitchen and the bathroom, and there were lots of christmas lights in the living room, so the hallway would have been well lit.

I would be able to see whoever was at the door just by lifting my head.

I pushed the blankets down and lifted my head from the pillow, but just as I would have been able to see who was in the doorway, an extremely bright light hit me right in the eyes. I shielded my eyes and yelled, “Turn out that @#%$ light! You’re blinding me!” The light immediately disappeared and I heard the bedroom door latch closed. My bedside light is a touch lamp, so I tapped it on and looked around the bedroom. There was no one in the bedroom except me and Toby.

Toby jumped off the bed and went to the door without showing any signs of alarm. At first I wasn’t frightened because Toby is a Dutch shepherd — well trained to be an excellent watchdog and proven personal protection dog.

Since Toby was already up, I decided to go let him outside and see what Sis or brother-in-law needed. When I went into the hallway, I could see both of them still in bed. I took Toby to the living room to let him outside, and there was nobody there either.

So who opened my bedroom door and turned a spotlight on my face?

Ordinarily, I’m not a skittish person, and strange noises or lights wouldn’t alarm me, but this situation was just too eerie, and the light had made my skin crawl. Let me add that the latch on my bedroom door is broken in such a way that the inside door handle must be jiggled for the latch to pop out and engage. It makes a very distinctive sound that I’m used to listening for, because if it doesn’t latch, the door swings open. I am absolutely positive that the door was latched closed when I got into bed, just as I’m certain it was the door latch I heard during the incident.

When I left the bedroom, the door was latched closed again. I couldn’t understand how my sister or brother-in-law could have come into my room and then returned to their own bed and crawled under the covers in the few seconds it took me to reach the hallway, but I figured it had to be one of them, since Toby always barks and growls at everybody and everything he doesn’t immediately recognise.

When brother-in-law got up to get ready for work that night, I asked him what he wanted earlier in the evening when he opened my door. He looked puzzled and said, “I never got up and I certainly never opened your door. I slept soundly the whole time I was in bed.” Okay… I then asked Sis, “Did you want something earlier this evening when you opened my door?” She also looked puzzled and said, “I dozed off and on, but I never got out of bed and I never saw or heard anything in the hallway.” She leaves their bedroom door open at all times and she faces the hallway so she can see whoever is coming or going throughout the house.

So who was my special Christmas visitor and how did they get in and out so quickly? Like most people, the thoughts of loved ones are always close at hand during the holiday season. When I first went to lie down, I was thinking how happy I was that my small family had enjoyed a pleasant Christmas, but it would have been so much better if my mother and brother had still been alive to share it with us. I would like to think it was my brother’s spirit stopping by to say “Merry Christmas. I still think of you, too.”

I haven’t been able to debunk this strange event or find any kind of rational explanation. I’m half afraid that my heart stopped during my sleep and the light I saw was the bright light people report after near-death experiences. Leave it to me to see the Stairway to Heaven and ruin my chance at eternal paradise by saying “Turn out that #$%@ light!” I’ve made a mental note that if I ever see another bright light to clean up my language… just in case. — Scarlet Dragon

http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/haunted-christmas_2.htm

WARNED BY A GUARDIAN ANGEL

It was just a few days before Christmas, 1991, and I had some last minute Christmas shopping to do. Working full time and being a full-time mom, this was a rare chance to get out and have some time to myself. It was dusk, and the weather was overcast and chilly. I entered the store with a real Christmas spirit. I browsed here and there. Looking down at my ragged purse, I realized that perhaps I should splurge and buy myself a new purse.I decided that since I was there to shop, I may as well buy myself a new purse.

After about five minutes of browsing, I noticed a man. He did not bring attention to himself, rather something brought my attention to him. He was a young adult, dark-skinned, tall, with a head of long, dark, curly hair. He was really good looking with a well-defined jawline, high cheekbones and a great complexion. He was wearing a long, tan-coloured trench coat. He was standing in front of me about 10 feet away. He seemed interested in the purses also.

I resumed looking at every purse in the aisle when out of nowhere — and totally unexpected — a voice boomed in my head: “Look up, you are being followed!” Instinctively, I looked up without hesitation. There was the same man, standing several yards in front of me, still looking at purses. Of course this unsettled me, so I decided to leave the purse aisle. I went to a couple of other departments in the store, but the same guy was never more than 20 feet away from me.

He was unlikely store security.

The man was tracking me all right, but for ominous reasons. Unbeknownst to this man, I had been alerted to his presence by that voice.

By now my Christmas spirit was fading, and I decided to check out. As I approached the check-out counters, there stood the same young man, reading a paperback book from the book racks. I paid for my goods and headed for the front exit lobby doors.

As I approached the front exit, I saw this same individual again. He was in the store lobby, pacing back and forth! I was immediately reminded of how a lion acts in a cage at the zoo. And now I knew this person was just as deadly. A people greeter was standing just a few feet from the exit doors. I told her, “That young man in the trench coat in the lobby has been following me through the store. Can you please get someone to walk me to my car?” She said, “Yes, I’ll be right back.” I just stood there because I did not want my stalker to realise I was “onto him.”

I looked to my right. The canteen was there, and maybe I could waltz over and look at the menu. I was starting to get hungry. As I started to walk toward the canteen, my skin crawled. There in the canteen area, sitting at a table, glaring right at me, was my would-be stalker. His eyes met mine for about three-seconds. They were full of hate.

A guardian angel had thwarted whatever evil plan he had for me, and he was pissed. He walked back into the store while I stared at the floor, and then set down at the canteen to maintain an innocent demeanour. But the glare in his eyes gave it away. He knew I had been warned by a guardian angel — and I knew that he knew it. — Tonja Earles

http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/haunted-christmas_2.htm

The Returned Relative

It was Christmas time of 1995 or ’96 at my aunt’s house on a reservation in North Dakota. Some of my family was in the living room watching television, the kids were playing in the rooms or sleeping, and my uncle, aunt, and I were sitting at the table putting a puzzle together. My cousin, who worked at a casino, would come home around midnight or 1 a.m.

This night, as she pulled up and was walking toward the house, she looked in the window and saw me sitting at the table, my uncle sitting across from me, and someone standing to the left of me and someone standing in the corner, so she continued to walk in the house thinking nothing of it. As we were sitting there talking, she looked at me and asked who was standing next to me a few minutes ago and who was in the corner. I told her no one and she said, “Yeah, there was someone standing next to you. It looked like your mom and she was playing with your hair.” (I have long hair, which I used to wear down all the time.) She said this person was running her hand on my hair, like a mother does to a child.

It kinda freaked me out, being I was probably only 12 or 13 at the time. My cousin swears up and down that someone was standing over me rubbing my head and watching me put the puzzle together with my aunt and uncle, and that there was another person standing behind this person. We got around to thinking it was probably her mom she saw. (She passed away on her birthday a week before Christmas back in 1992.)

In my family we consider our aunts and uncles to be just like our moms and dads. After thinking that it could have been her, it didn’t scare me so much. However, we couldn’t figure out who the person was standing in the corner. And always around Christmas time something strange always happens … and we just think it’s her visiting us. – V. Page

http://thestir.cafemom.com/celebrities/165955/5_true_christmas_ghost_stories

The Haunted Tree

My parents and I lived in a small home that was around 90 years old. The year would have been 1996. We lived there from the time I was seven years old to the time I was 19. From the very day that we moved in, I felt that I was not alone. One year around Christmas time, I was having a friend spend the night. The heat had just shut off briefly and she and I were sitting in the living room watching television when the temperature dropped substantially. As I rose to turn up the heat, the Christmas tree began to shake violently. Ornaments were falling off right and left and she and I were terrified! We ran upstairs and lay down on my bed. My white cat curled up with us and my door was open slightly. When I gazed out at the dark hallway, I was horrified to see a tall white figure run down the hall. I turned to my friend and she acknowledged that she had seen the exact same thing. She never spent the night ever again. – Caitlin Williams

http://thestir.cafemom.com/celebrities/165955/5_true_christmas_ghost_storie

The Ghostly Choir

On Christmas Eve night, 1978 at about 3:00 a.m. in Klamath Falls, Oregon, I was suddenly awakened by a choir singing. The house was new construction, miles from the nearest church. I strained to hear any words that I could understand or a tune that I could identify, but I could not understand the language or tune. I did get a feeling of “angelic” exaltation, reverence, and gladness of heart. This was truly a heavenly choir lifting their voices on high, singing hosanna in the highest, in an unknown tongue, without accompaniment of instruments.

I examined the television, but it was turned off, as was the radio. I explored outside, but the singing was not heard outdoors. The way the countless male, female and children’s voices entwined together, the tonals going from operatic highs to the deepest bass voices in perfect harmony. It must have lasted about 10 minutes, but it was touching for an eternity. – Mel

http://thestir.cafemom.com/celebrities/165955/5_true_christmas_ghost_stories

So yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting the Thirsk Museum located in Thirsk in Yorkshire. Thirsk is a beautiful little town enriched with history and still remains its old cobble streets and old Georgian houses and cottages as shops and eating establishments,  I was privilege to have an interview with Susan the owner of the museum who normally at this time of the year closes the museum to the public, only opening between the months of March to October.
My visit was to basically hear her thoughts of one of the museums exhibits that had been given to them during the seventies. The Busby Stool.

The Busby Stool also known to many as the ‘Chair of Death’ and the ‘Cursed Chair’ is allegedly a haunted oak chair and is said to be one of the most haunted items in the world.

It is said that the curse was put on the chair by the Murderer Thomas Busby before his execution by hanging in North Yorkshire.

Busby was arrested, tried and condemned to death after he murdered his father-in-law Daniel Auty in 1702. The execution’s site which was opposite and was renamed The Busby Stool Inn, it was said to be haunted by Busby’s ghost also but unfortunately the pub isn’t here to this day and a takeaway stands in its place.

Even though this isn’t thought to be the actual Busby Chair that Thomas Busby would have placed a curse on as it is believed this one would have been made around the 1800s , This chair has somehow been given the name and has been given the reputation of that the original would have had, as it has also been alleged to have caused deaths of those who had dared to sit within it at The Busby Inn.

It is unknown what may have happened to the original chair.

Two Young airmen sat in the inn one night daring each other to sit within the chair. Eventually one of them caved in and placed his bum within the chair for a second. On their way back to the field they both died in a traffic accident.

Post world war II a young builders apprentice died soon after having lunch at the Inn. His workmates had dared him to sit within the chair, which he did and later that day fell through a roof of a building and died. 

A delivery man sat in the chair while it was stored away in the cellar after enquiring about the legend. He died in a car crash that evening when he lost control of his car and it crashed killing him sometime later.

Many airmen from the nearby airfield lost their lives after having sat in the chair. It was said all who did would not return home from the war.

A chimney sweep man who sat in the chair within the Inn after having a few drinks, left the Inn at some hour of the night/early hours of the morning and didn’t managed to get far. He was found hanging from a gate post next to the mock Busby Gibbet which is located next to the Inn. A report into his death decided that this gentlemen had taken his own life.

After researching it is claimed that between the two chairs they have allegedly caused up to 63 deaths, after speaking to Susan the owner of the museum she was unsure of this fact and told me the stories she had heard surrounding the chair and how it ended up being at the museum.

After interviewing Susan I did decide that I would do a echovox session just to see what exactly would happen. The thing that properly interested me the most from this session is that when i ask ‘ Is this Chair Yours’ and ‘Do you haunt this chair’ and it replies with ‘Mould’ was something or someone trying to tell me this chair was a mold of the previous? is this how they would have spoken during the 1700s who knows but what i do know is that i would definitely not be parking my bum within it for no love or money….would you dare?

Below is the interview I did with Susan. Many thanks to Susan for allowing me to come and be able to do this. Links to the museums Facebook page and website can be viewed below.

https://www.facebook.com/Thirsk-Museum-549409998462630/

http://www.thirskmuseum.org/

The museum is free to visit during the opening months but the museum is ran on donations and it is kindly appreciated if you could donate something on your visit to keep the museum going.

Abergavenny has seen an explosion of tiny red bugs in these last fee weeka, due to the unusually warm weather and all parts of the UK have also been reporting hundreds of Ladybirds invading our homes and gardens! Some reports suggest they may in fact be an unwelcome species originating from North America called the Harlequin which threatens our native ladybirds. Like them or loath them though, they do bring with them more links to our ancient beliefs and have a mystery surrounding them that attracts people from all cultures as many still uphold their beliefs today about their magical properties.

Legends vary about how the Ladybird came to be named, but the most common (and enduring) is this:   In Europe, during the Middle Ages, swarms of insects were destroying the crops.  The farmers prayed to the Virgin Mary for help.  Soon thereafter the Ladybirds came, devouring the plant-destroying pests and saving the crops!  The farmers called these beautiful insects “The Beetles of Our Lady”, and – over time – they eventually became popularly known as “Lady Beetles”.  The red wings were said to represent the Virgin’s cloak and the black spots were symbolic of both her joys and her sorrows. This links it to spiritual idealism and religious devotion.

Children’s songs and stories abound about the ladybird and children’s toys, stories, clothing, and room decor continually incorporate the image of the ladybird. I am still squeamish about picking up any insects, except for Ladybirds, I always loved them and I even kept them as “pets” as a child, and would make them miniature gardens out of moss and stones and little twigs. There is an invisible connection between Ladybirds and children. Ladybirds are easy to find and accessible, giving children their first intimate chance to relate hands-on with a wild and truly free being.

Ladybirds as a spirit animal is believed to be foretelling of the spark of a child-like wonder in the natural world, waking the nature child within us all. She prompts us to go outside and stoop down to come eye to eye with the flowers. So much of the weight of the world can be forgotten in a moment of childlike empathy with the natural world. This is how the healing energy of ladybug spirit animal works within many belief systems. 

Nearly ALL cultures believe that a Ladybird is lucky. Killing one is said to bring sadness and misfortune.

“Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away home….your house is on fire, and your children will burn.  Except 

little Nan, who sits in a pan, weaving gold laces as fast as she can!”

If you are familiar with this well-known children’s rhyme, do you know how it originated? In Medieval England, the farmers would set torches to the old Hop vines after the harvest, to clear the fields for the next planting. The poem was a warning to the aphid-eating Ladybirds, still crawling on the vines in search of aphids.  The Ladybirds’ children (larvae) could get away from the flames, but the immobile pupae (Nan) remained fastened to the plants (laces) and couldn’t escape. 

In the 1800’s, some doctors used Ladybirds to treat measles!  They also believed that if you mashed Ladybirds and put them into a cavity, the insects would stop a toothache! This would taste revolting as Ladybirds have a bitter foul taste as they emit a yellow substance.

Here are a few more folklore tales that surround the pretty little red bugs. 

 If the spots on the wings of a Ladybird are more than seven, it’s a sign of coming famine.  If less than seven, it means you will have a good harvest.

The Victorians in Britain believed that if a Ladybird alighted on your hand, you would be receiving new gloves…..if it landed on your head, a new hat would be in your future.

Folklore suggests if you catch a Ladybird in your home, count the number of spots and that’s how many coins you’ll soon find.

If a Ladybird is held in the hand while making a wish, the direction that it flies away to shows the direction in which your luck will come from.

In France, if a Ladybird landed on you, whatever ailment you had would fly away with the Ladybird.

In some Asian cultures, it is believed that the Ladybird understands human language, and has been blessed by God, Himself.

In Belgium, people believed that if a Ladybird crawled across a young girl’s hand, she would be married within a year. 

People in Switzerland told their young children that they were brought to them, as babies, by Ladybirds.

According to a Norse legend, the Ladybird came to earth riding on a bolt of lightning.

To dream of a ladybird is a sign that you are likely to experience a run of good luck in the near future. To dream of many ladybirds can point to feeling as though things are somewhat out of control, as though a lot of small things are going wrong. Consider ways in which you can take one step at a time to feel more in control of your life and your work. To see a ladybird in your dream can also symbolizes beauty. The dream may also be a metaphor for a lady who is bugging you in your waking life. Perhaps there is an issue that you need to address with this lady. If this insect is unusually big, then it is corresponding to the magnitude of the problem.

Their life cycle requires about four weeks, so several generations are produced each summer.  This cycle ties the ladybird to the energies of renewal and regeneration and so it is easy to see why this tiny little beetle brings with it a powerful message. Because the life cycle of the adult ladybird is short it shows us how to release worries and enjoy our lives to the fullest.

With the unusual increase in numbers lately, I think we should still all take great comfort from these legends and welcome any possibility of the good luck that has been foretold by these magical little bugs!

By Claire Barrand

By Claire Barrand

Halloween or Hallowe’en is now celebrated across the world on the night of 31st October. A special time of the year when many believe that the veil between our world and the spirit world is at its thinnest, where spirits can make contact with the physical world, a night when magic is at its most potent.

 Modern day celebrations generally involve groups of children dressed in scary costumes roaming from house to house, demanding “trick-or-treat”. Fearing the worst, intimidated householders normally hand over vast amounts of treats in the form of chocolates, sweets and candy to avoid whatever dastardly tricks may have been dreamt up by these little scoundrels. The origins of these celebrations however date back thousands of years, to pagan times.

The origins of Halloween can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. (a Gaelic word meaning ‘Summer’s End’) In Wales this was known as. “Nos Calan Gaeaf” This is the most well-known Halloween tradition in Wales. The Welsh translation, interestingly, is ‘the first of winter’

 Until 2,000 years ago, the Celts lived across the lands we now know as Britain, Ireland and Northern France. Essentially populated by farming and agricultural people, the Pre-Christian Celtic year was determined by the growing seasons and Samhain marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark cold winter. The festival literally symbolised the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead. November 1st was considered the end of the summer, and the start of the month of death in the Celtic calendar, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and animals were slaughtered to provide meat for winter. Indeed, the Modern Welsh for November Tachwedd literally means ‘The Month of Slaughter’. 

It was believed by the Celts that on the night of 31st October, ghosts of their dead would revisit the mortal world and large bonfires were lit in each village in order to ward off any evil spirits that may also be at large. Celtic priests, known as Druids, would have led the Samhain celebrations. It would also have been the Druids who ensured that the hearth fire of each house was re-lit from the glowing embers of the sacred bonfire, in order to help protect the people and keep them warm through the forthcoming long, dark winter months.

Carved pumpkin Jack O lanterns were in fact originally made from turnips and lit to guide the dead back to earth, and the Celts also dressed in costumes much as we do today, but they would have worn animal skins, masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present. It was in these ways that beings such as witches, hobgoblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day. The period was also thought to be advantageous for foretelling on matters such as marriage, health, and death. On tradition observed was once the bonfire had been lighted, each member of the family would throw into the blazing heap a white stone containing some mark or cabalistic sign. Next morning, among the charred ashes these stones are sought for, and if by any chance one of them has disappeared, it is believed that the luckless thrower will never see another All Saints’ Day. 

In the decades that followed, Britain was invaded by a new religion. Christianity arrived bringing the Christian Festivals and amongst them “All Hallows’ Day”, also known as “All Saints Day”, a day to remember those who had died for their beliefs, but this was in fact originally celebrated on 13th May. 

Pope Gregory had the date of the All Hallows’ feast moved to 1st November sometime in the 8th century. He announced that Christian missionaries were to convert pagans to the Christian religion and where possible, incorporate the beliefs, festivals and sacred sites of pagan beliefs into the Christian religion.  It is thought that in doing so, he was attempting to replace or assimilate the Celtic Samhain festival of the dead with a similar “church approved” celebration.

The night or evening of Samhain therefore became known as All-hallows-even then Hallow Eve, still later Hallowe’en and then of course Halloween. The Christian Church may have intended that people would spend their time praying for the souls of the dead on an important holy day. However, the fact that this was a day off from work gave many people even more of an excuse to celebrate Halloween with more excitement and excess than ever

In the eleventh century, a further festival was added to the church calendar; All Souls Day on 2 November. The three festivals of All-Hallows Eve, All Saints and All Souls were together known as Hallowmas. 

Despite the Church’s success in establishing a Christian basis for the autumn celebrations, many of the ancient customs and traditions associated with them were still practiced by the population. The carving of gourds and the wearing of costumes and masks to scare away malevolent spirits are typical of the superstitions carried over from these celebrations into the All Hallows Eve.

The custom of “trick-or-treating” has its origins in a ritual wherein the elders of a village or town would go from house to house and receive offerings of food and gifts for the souls of dead friends and relatives thought to visit on this night. This practice evolved during the Middle Ages, when beggars would travel from village to village and beg for “soul cakes”. Villagers would offer prayers along with the cakes to those who had died in the past year for their transition to heaven. 

Fire sticks and torches clearly anticipated the Guy Fawkes revels on the 5th of November and naturally lead to bonfires, which had a grimmer significance on the eve of All Saints’ Day. 

Queen Mab is a fairy referred to in Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, where “she is the fairies’ midwife, described as a miniature creature who performs midnight pranks upon sleepers, sometimes relieving desires but sometimes leaving nasty blisters on the lips should she so choose.

The Daily Telegraph reported in 1882…

 “It may be all very foolish and inconsistent with the severity of this extremely matter-of- fact age, but there are scores of country folks, even of today, who have the utmost faith in the existence of some Queen Mab “that plats the manes of horses in the night, and bakes the elf locks in foul sluttish hairs, which once entangled much misfortune bodes.” 

Such Mabs and elves and witches must be guarded against in order to ward off their evil eyes and mischievous influence. It is fire that is their bane. Let the farmer carry a bunch of straw fired about his corn and all will be well with the crop; let him murmur some such incantation as “, Fire and red low light on my team now,” and he is likely to avoid any subsequent danger or mischance; let the laborer light a torch and flash the fiery cross in the air, and away will fly the witches, baffled and undone” 

This is why fire sticks were among the commonest asset of a well-considered Halloween. The same use was to be found in the scarlet -berries of the rowan tree or mountain ash, and in a coil of scarlet wool. They say in Scotland, “Rowan tree and red thread. To gar the witches and dance them dead,” which, being interpreted, means to dance down until they die from exhaustion.

Variations of these bonfire ceremonies were observed in all parts of the country. The love ceremonies in connection with Halloween are almost as numerous as those connected with St. Valentine’s Day, and apples as well as nuts play a curious part in the accurate adjustment of the destinies of the young people. To burn two nuts side by side in order to see if the flame is mutual, steadfast, and enduring, or sudden, fitful, and impetuous, was common as was the old trick of flinging orange or apple peel over the shoulder to see what initial it would form. Many young women also believed that if they took a candle and stood in front of a mirror, where she had to eat an apple before it and comb her hair. If lucky, she will see the face of her future husband peeping over her shoulder. 

The Evening Express in 1910 observed, 

“It is the night of nights in the year when the spirits of the dead take deep delight to walk abroad and disturb trembling humanity”

This Halloween, Abergavenny will see many celebrations going on across town, many of them, sadly now Americanized and not at all sympathetic to our Celtic roots. But whatever your method of celebration or even if your choice is to abstain, I hope we can respect that this is a historical and fascinating custom that we are keeping alive in 2016, so enjoy your evening and stay safe!