Introduction
Hist! be still! ’tis Hallowe’en,
When fairies troop across the green!
On Hallowe’en when elves and witches are abroad, we find it the custom over all the world to build bonfires, to keep off evil spirits; and this is the night of all nights to entertain friends with stunts similar to those performed two hundred years ago. On this night fortunes are told, games are played, and if it so happens that your birthday falls on this night, you may even be able to hold converse with fairies—so goes the ancient superstition!
So, careful be on Hallowe’en,
Whenever you come out;
So, careful be on Hallowe’en,
The witches are about!
Hallowe’en had its origin in the old Druid festival. The Druids kept fires burning all the year in honor of the sun-god. On the last night of October, they met at the altars where their fires were burning, put them out with much pomp and ceremony, and again relighted them. They took embers from the new fires, returned home and kindled fires on their own hearths. Superstition had it, that a home where one of these fires burned constantly, throughout the year, was protected from all evil. Later on, any fire kept evil spirits away. While each country still has its own witches, fairies and ghosts, they all agree the night of October 31st is a great time for celebrations.
This little book will be found useful in school, church and home, in planning celebrations for Hallowe’en.
The very air is full of magic, so,
LET’S WRITE AN INVITATION HEARTY,
ON HALLOWE’EN NIGHT, TO A NUT-CRACK PARTY.
