The Origins of Halloween, Part Three: Spirits and Faeries

Everyone knows that Halloween is the night when ghosts and skeletons and all sorts of mischievous spirits and terrifying creatures come out to roam freely for a night in the world of humans!  

The ancient Celts, and some of our not-so-ancient Victorian ancestors, believed that on Halloween the spirits of the dead roamed the land of the living.  The prehistoric burial mounds, the sidhs in Ireland, opened up and their inhabitants tried to lure the living to join them.  According to some accounts, the spirits came out of the Cave of Cruachan in Connaught, accompanied by copper-colored birds who stole babies and brides!

This was also the night on which the faeries were most powerful. 

In Irish folktales Halloween seems to be by far the most popular time for the abduction and bewitching of humans by these "little people."  Those who had been taken away to fairyland could be rescued on the next Halloween by reciting a special spell or prayer as the fairies made their procession.

Sir Walter Scott reported the belief that if a person circles a fairy hill nine times, counterclockwise, alone on Halloween, a door will open by which he can enter the fairy's abode.  Are you brave enough to try it?

The Victorian vision of fairies was sometimes a bit darker than ours tends to be, and they were often associated with Halloween.  In addition to sweet flower fairies, the Victorian Faeries or Fae included mischievous, impish creatures as well.


To be continued..... more to come about Halloween and Halloween customs and traditions!

The vintage Halloween images and Victorian fairy images in this article are courtesy Lunagirl Images!