In the three millennia that have past since the Celts and their Druid priests and priestess first danced the “dance of life in the darkness,” Halloween has become a commercial enterprise rivaling Christmas in its commercialism. It has evolved from a simple festival celebrating life and death in the countryside to a $2 billion a year marketing extravaganza. At its root, however, lie the same basic principles that have endured and reincarnated themselves over the centuries.

Halloween originates as a pagan custom and ritual in the Celtic regions of Ireland and Britain. It marked the end of the growing year and the beginning of winter. At this great crossroads, it was believed that the veil between the living world and the other world, the Celtic afterlife, was at its thinnest and spirits could freely roam between the two. It was customary at this time to dress in animal skins and otherworldly accoutrement to blend in with the roaming spirits. Rituals of dancing by the light of a bonfire to celebrate life and death and to leave food for returning loved ones were the custom of the day. Divination was also a common practice and thought to be at its most powerful during this special time that was a gateway between times and worlds.

After more than a thousand years of spreading from Celtic tribes to other peoples, Samhain became permanently ingrained into mainstream cultural beliefs and customs. Much to the chagrin of the up and coming Christian movement, Samhain rituals involving communion with dead, were as popular as ever. Unable to abolish the ancient pagan customs, the church decided to adopt the concept, giving birth to All Hallow’s Eve, the evening of the hallowed or holy, to honor dead saints. Still, the old ways were too deeply rooted and continued to prosper. All Hallow’s Eve eventually became commonly known as Halloween and the church continued its commemoration of saints on All Saints Day. Later, All Souls Day was added to honor all of the dead.

When Irish immigrants came to America, they brought with them many of the ancient customs that stood the test of time and suppression by the church. The custom of carving turnips to create a beacon of light to guide the spirits of the dead on their journey was one such practice. Once here, they found that the native squash, in particular pumpkins, was much softer and easier to carve than turnips. Their customs, being reborn in the new world, led to Jack-o’-Lanterns and pumpkins being forever associated with Halloween.

Victorian culture also made its mark on Halloween. Victorian parties and amusement was a custom of a culture unto itself that lent perfectly to Halloween. During the reign of Queen Victoria, the divination once practiced by the ancient Druids to foretell the prosperity of the year to come, became a popular parlor game at Halloween fêtes, or celebrations. The forms of divination that were practiced are as numerous as Jack-0′-Lantern faces, however they all had a similar theme. The Victorians were obsessed with marrying off their daughters and making sure they would have good marriages. To that end, divining a girl’s future husband was the most common purpose for divination. One common method was staring into a candle flame in front of a mirror at midnight on Halloween. If you were lucky, you would be able to see your intended’s face in the mirror.

Despite the Victorian’s fascination with divination, Christian influence continued to transform the ancient customs. Leaving treats and food for passing spirits soon became superseded by “souling.” People would beg breads and cakes from others and in return offered up prayers for the giver’s departed loved ones. This gave way to our modern day trick-or-treat with people dressing up in scary costumes, just as the ancients did, to walk freely amongst the spirits “souling” for treats.

Through the ages Halloween has taken many twists and turns, been suppressed, has risen up, prevailed and transformed itself into a worldwide extravaganza of ritual and merriment. Though the exact details of its origins are still shrouded in the long-forgotten mysteries of the ancient Celts, we can only hope that they would be awed and delighted with how their festival once held by the light of a bonfire on a fragrant autumn night has become endeared and revered by the world.

For your own handmade ornaments, try making simple ones by hanging cookies on the tree. While the cookies are still warm, make a small hole with a toothpick. After they are completely cooled, feed a piece of ribbon through the hole to hang them. Also, try spray-painting pinecones gold or covering them with glue and sprinkling with glitter. If you are truly an obsessive person, try your hand at creating elegant jeweled baubles using an assortment of beads and sewing trims pinned to satin balls. During the holidays, kits can be found at most craft stores. Once you try one, you won’t be able to stop since beading is highly addictive. Finish your tree with strung cranberries or popcorn and natural elements such as dried flowers and seedpods. If you have a stash of antique leaded tinsel, don’t forget that as well. It is very different than what is generally available today and is weightier and more elegant.
No matter whether your tree is large or small, or you decorate with items of nature, antiquity or hand, a tree that is carefully planned and meticulously decorated will radiate brightly in the eyes of all who behold its majestic presence.

With the lack of commercial decorations, and the expensive nature of ones that were available, the Victorians relied heavily on greenery as the primary means of decoration. Adorned with berries, seedpods, dried flowers and ribbons, fresh greens, garlands and wreaths were the showstoppers of the Victorian Christmas.

The greenery used was determined mostly by geographic location, though holly and various types of pine, fir and cedar were generally available. Branches were placed everywhere. No spot was left untouched when it came to embellishing for the holidays. Holly was used to top off pictures on the wall by sliding the stems of a large bunch behind the top of the picture frame. Cedar was hung from lighting fixtures and allowed to cascade downward. Evergreens were also woven into wreaths and lush garlands that adorned widows and doors, bringing the warmth of life and summer into the home during the cold winter.
Making your own garland is a great way to gather your family together and rekindle the traditions of the past. Garlands should be full and lush and draped over curtain rods, hanging down the full length of the widows. Don’t forget to adorn doors, archways, banisters and mantles too with homemade garland!
To make a garland, begin with a length of twine about twice the length of garland you’ll need. Cut your evergreen of choice (cedar and boxwood work best) into sprigs about 6 inches long. Gather a few of the sprigs together in a bunch in your hand to approximately the fullness you want the garland to be. Attach the bunch with floral wire onto the end of the twine so that as you add additional bunches you will be traveling down the length of the twine. Continue adding bunches of greenery, overlapping the wired portion of the previous bunch and wrapping the wire three times around each bunch. Continue until you have the desired length of garland and then tie off the wire and trim away any excess wire, twine and woody stems. This is a good two-person job. One person can bunch the greenery and hold it in place over the twine while the other wraps the wire.

To compliment the gorgeous garland you made, use an ample amount of poinsettias throughout the house and particularly on the stairs. Consider one plant on each step! If your stairs are wide enough, place candles next to the plants on each step, but far enough away to ensure responsible burning. Never leave burning candles unattended.

Christmas would not be complete without mouthwatering sweets and a Victorian Christmas couldn’t be recreated without the grand finally, the plum pudding. A “plum” was generally any one of a variety of dried or candied fruits. A popular combination for this dark and extremely rich bread pudding usually consisted of raisins and molasses. This year, try your hand at making one. Modern variations can easily be located in holiday cookbooks and on the Internet. When serving, flame the pudding by pouring some slightly warmed brandy over it and lighting the pudding with a match. Its best served warm with heavy cream poured over top.

When holiday guests arrive at the front, dim the electric lights and light your candles. With the flaming Christmas pudding in hand, usher them into your holiday fantasy of a glorious Victorian Christmas.

But alas, we ordered this 7′ Fraser fir from Mountain Star Farms and it was shipped via FedEx, arriving the day after it was cut.

This has been one of the easiest Christmas trees to put up and is far better than any artificial tree could ever be. We used our collection of old and antique glass ornaments, a light dash of tinsel and beeswax candles for a truely old-fashioned look. The freshness and beauty of this tree-spirit has made the holiday home come alive with the promise of Summer in the midst of Winter’s snow.

The 7′ tree arrived via overnight FedEx and was deposited at the back door. Clear instructions were listed on the box as was a guideline for where to cut the box open to access the trunk to make a new cut so the tree would take up water. We did this and then placed the tree immediately in water until we were ready several hours later to bring it inside.

The tree, still in its box, was placed in the bag-lined tree stand. A disposal bag was included in the section of the box that was cut away. The bag was placed between the tree and the stand so that after Christmas, the bag could simply but pulled up around the tree to prevent any needle mess and will later be covered with the tree skirt.

Once the tree was securely in the stand, a utility knife was used to slice the length of the box. The tree burst out of the box with little effort and the branches quickly fell into place. There was one lower limb that had been broken by boxing which we placed in the rear. After a day or so the tree is expected to resume its natural shape. The freshness is incredible. We have never had a real Christmas tree that was as crisp or fresh.

The tree, now decorated, is incredible and ready for holiday celebrating to begin. We used our collection of old and antique glass ornaments, a light dash of tinsel and beeswax candles for a truely old-fashioned look. This has been one of the easiest Christmas trees to put up and is far better than any artificial tree could ever be. The freshness and beauty of this tree-spirit has made the holiday home come alive with the promise of Summer in the midst of Winter’s snow.

For a time peace and trade did exist. It’s not known whatever happened to the Peacemaker after he accomplished his impossible feat, but he has lived on in legend, myth and as an archetype. He remains an unsung hero of American history for truly he was the father of the concept which the founding fathers of the United States based their vision of a country of freedom and independence on.

The Cake: The cake in the photo is as easy as pie to make. It’s simply a yellow cake with vanilla pudding between they layers and frosted with Cool Whip and topped off with blueberries and strawberries.

George Washington tried to bring the local custom into national recognition during his lifetime, but was unsuccessful. It was Abraham Lincoln, at the influence of Sarah Josehpa Hale, who set a date for Thanksgiving to be recognized as a national holiday. Sarah was a force to be reckoned with. She was the first female editor of a magazine in the country and routinely featured articles and tips for fashion, news, holiday celebrating, recipes, and various inventions for the home. In 1827 she had a national circulation of 150,000 and regularly featured editorial content calling for a national day of thanksgiving and recipes and ideas for celebrating it. Over the course of four decades she used her influence with the American public, senators, and presidents and accomplished her goal in 1863 when President Lincoln announced the last Thursday in November to be the new national holiday of Thanksgiving. The date was adjusted by President Roosevelt to be the fourth Thursday in order to promote post-depression holiday economics.

Sarah remained an influential editor and proponent of the advancement of education and development of women until she was 89 and died two years later. This year when we’re all sitting down to our Thanksgiving feasts, let’s take a moment to remember these unsung heroes of American history: the Native Americans for their kindness and help given to strangers in their land and Sarah Josehpa Hale for without her tireless efforts Thanksgiving as we know it today would never exist.