The Celts celebrated Halloween as Samhain, ‘All Hallowtide’ – the ‘Feast of the Dead’, when the dead revisited the mortal world. The celebration marked the end of Summer and the start of the Winter months.

During the eighth century the Catholic Church designated the first day of November as ‘All Saints Day’ (’All Hallows’) – a day of commemoration for those Saints that did not have a specific day of remembrance. The night before was known as ‘All Hallows Eve’ which, over time, became known as Halloween.

Here are the most notable Irish Halloween Traditions:

Colcannon for Dinner: Boiled Potato, Curly Kale (a cabbage) and raw Onions are provided as the traditional Irish Halloween dinner. Clean coins are wrapped in baking paper and placed in the potato for children to find and keep.

The Barnbrack Cake: The traditional Halloween cake in Ireland is the barnbrack which is a fruit bread. Each member of the family gets a slice. Great interest is taken in the outcome as there is a piece of rag, a coin and a ring ineach cake. If you get the rag then your financial future is doubtful. If you get the coin then you can look forward to a prosperous year. Getting the ring is a sure sign of impending romance or continued happiness.

The Ivy Leaf: Each member of the family places a perfect ivy leaf into a cup of water and it is then left undisturbed overnight. If, in the morning, a leaf is still perfect and has not developed any spots then the person who placed the leaf in the cup can be sure of 12months health until the following Halloween. If not…..

The Pumpkin: Carving Pumpkins dates back to the eighteenth century and to an Irish blacksmith named Jack who colluded with the Devil and was denied entry to Heaven. He was condemned to wander the earth but asked the Devil for some light. He was given a burning coal ember which he placed inside a turnip that he had gouged out.

Thus, the tradition of Jack O’Lanterns was born – the bearer being the wandering blacksmith – a damned soul. Villagers in Ireland hoped that the lantern in their window would keep the wanderer away. When the Irish emigrated in their millions to America there was not a great supply of turnips so pumpkins were used instead.

Halloween Costumes: On Halloween night children would dress up in scary costumes and go house to house. ‘Help the Halloween Party’ and ‘Trick or Treat’ were the cries to be heard at each door. This tradition of wearing costumes also dates back to Celtic times. On the special night when theliving and the dead were at their closest the Celtic Druids would dress up in elaborate costumes to disguise themselves as spirits and devils in case they encountered other devils and spirits during the night. By disguising they hoped that they would be able to avoid being carried away at the end of the night. This explains why witches, goblins and ghosts remain the most popular choices for the costumes.

Snap Apple: After the visits to the neighbours the Halloween games begin,the most popular of which is Snap Apple. An apple is suspended from a string and children are blindfolded. The first child to get a decent bite of the apple gets to keep their prize. The same game can be played by placing apples in a basin of water and trying to get a grip on the apple without too much mess!

The Bonfire: The Halloween bonfire is a tradition to encourage dreams of who your future husband or wife is going to be. The idea was to drop a cutting of your hair into the burning embers and then dream of you future loved one. Halloween was one of the Celt ‘fire’ celebrations.

Blind Date: Blindfolded local girls would go out into the fields and pull up the first cabbage they could find. If their cabbage had a substantial amount of earth attached to the roots then their future loved one would have money. Eating the cabbage would reveal the nature of their future husband – bitter or sweet!

Another way of finding your future spouse is to peel an apple in one go. If done successfully the single apple peel could be dropped on the floor to reveal the initials of the future-intended.

Anti-Fairy Measures: Fairies and goblins try to collect as many souls as they can at Halloween but if they met a person who threw the dust from under their feet at the Fairy then they would be obliged to release any souls that they held captive.

http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=6447

Chant for Samhain

Flags of Florida

Florida

Provisional military flag of Florida adopted 13 January 1861 by Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr., 05 February 2000

PROVISIONAL MILITARY FLAG OF FLORIDA Florida did not have a state flag at the time state forces seized the federal Pensacola Navy Yard on January 12, 1861, just two days after the state voted to secede from the Union. After the United States flag was hauled down, it was reported that initially “a dingy white flag” that “looked like an old signal flag with a star put on it” was hoisted the next day in its place. Colonel William H. Chase, commanding Florida state forces at Pensacola, issued orders one day later establishing a provisional military flag. It was to be used until such time as civil authorities designed a state flag.

Colonel Chase chose a pattern that simply altered the United States flag. Chase’s General Order No. 3 of January 13, described a flag of thirteen alternating red and white stripes, with one large white star on a blue field (canton). The order further stated that it was to be displayed at the Navy Yard, forts, barracks, and hospital in possession of Florida state troops.

It seems likely that these provisional Florida flags may have been made from existing stocks of captured United States flags from the Navy Yard. U.S. flags could have been easily altered by stripping the stars and replacing them with a single large one. The large star apparently represented the recently seceded sovereign state of Florida. On January 14, the first of these flags was raised. A Union ship in Pensacola harbor recorded in its logbook: “Florida forces hoisted the American flag with lone star.” Another reference to this flag occurred on February 22, when southern and northern forces around Pensacola commemorated George Washington’s birthday with cannon salutes. Observers on the same Union ship reported that the “flag of one star and many stripes” was visible flying over Fort Barrancas. This lone star pattern was not unique. The Texas navy also used this pattern from 1836 to 1845.

Although no official order discontinuing use of this flag is known, events in March 1861 appear to have led to its demise. Control of the Navy Yard and surrounding forts was transferred from state to Confederate national authority. Colonel Chase resigned and Brigadier General Braxton Bragg was later appointed area commander. On March 4 the recently formed Confederacy adopted its new national flag, which apparently soon replaced Florida’s provisional flag. Units from other southern states, including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, were also gathered in the Pensacola area, so the need existed for a unifying symbol. The close similarity in appearance between Florida’s provisional flag and that of the United States made the flag impractical during wartime. No examples of these provisional Florida flags are known to have survived. It is quite possible that they were recycled, with the material being used to construct Confederate first national flags.

No references have been found that indicate that this flag saw use by Florida forces outside of the Pensacola area. Likewise, no documentation is known that this flag pattern was used as a unit flag by Floridians.

Florida state flag adopted 13 September 1861 by Devereaux D. Cannon, Jr., 05 February 2000

FLORIDA STATE FLAG, 1861 PATTERN As the question of possible secession arose in late 1860, the state legislature considered adopting a state flag and state uniform. No decision was made before adjourning at the end of the year. The issue came up again in early 1861, with legislative agreement that a state flag was needed. On February 8, a law was enacted authorizing and directing the governor, “with the advice and consent of his staff,” to “adopt an appropriate device for a State flag which shall be distinctive in character.”

Since more than six months elapsed before a design was chosen, Governor Madison Stark Perry must have had more pressing war-related priorities. On September 13, 1861, Governor Perry reported that “the Flag has been deposited in the Executive Chamber.” The secretary of state then recorded a detailed description of Florida’s state flag.

The Confederate first national flag greatly influenced the design chosen by the governor of Florida. In fact, the Florida state flag can be viewed as a modification of the national pattern. The flag kept the red, white, and red bars, expanded the blue canton to form the left half of the state flag and replaced the stars with a unique seal representing Florida. The new seal was in the shape of a vertical oval, called an ellipse. The edge of the ellipse or oval band formed a frame bearing the inscriptions of the early statehood period motto above: “In God Is Our Trust” and the state name below: “Florida.” The seal itself was complex as the description notes: “In the center of the ellipse is a single strong Live Oak Tree. Beyond is seen the Gulf of Mexico, with vessels in the distance. In front of and near the foot of the Oak is a piece of Field Artillery. Beyond the gun, and resting against the boll of the Oak, is seen a stand of six colors-the Confederate and State Flags to the front. To the left of the Field Piece are Four Muskets stacked. To the right and near, balls piled and a drum.”

The timing of the introduction of the flag, in the closing weeks of Governor Perry’s administration, is interesting. It would appear that the flag was produced mainly to comply with the legislative directive. There are no indications that the incoming governor, John Milton, made any attempts to promote his predecessor’s state flag design, or to produce and distribute multiple flags. The lack of a state flag tradition, combined with the difficulty of reproducing a rather complex seal design, were no doubt factors working against the production of more flags. Additionally, the delay in choosing a design, along with the rise of southern nationalism and the popularity of the Confederate first national flag, further undercut the demand for a state flag. No further period references have been found to this state flag or to its use. There is a distinct possibility that no additional state flags were produced, beyond the one official example. This flag is not known to have survived and the illustration is based on the written description.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – A former manager of a kosher slaughterhouse raided by federal immigration agents in May has been arrested.

Immigration agents arrested Sholom Rubashkin, son of company owner Abraham Aaron Rubashkin, in Postville on Thursday.

The 49-year-old will face charges of conspiracy to harbor undocumented immigrants for financial gain, aiding and abetting document fraud and aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft.

Agents raided the Agriprocessors plant on May 12, arresting 389 people in what officials said was one of the largest single-site immigration busts in U.S. history.

A message left for Agriprocessors officials wasn’t returned.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081030/ap_on_re_us/slaughterhouse_manager_arrest;_ylt=ArixYJFoEOeDuvmb9PNLruZvzwcF

We all know what happens on Halloween, the night that little boys and girls dress up and (unwittingly) celebrate the ancient Celtic tradition of Samhain and All Hallows Eve.

Anyone who has woken up on Halloween morning to find their house egged, their pumpkin smashed or yard toilet-papered, however, is lucky enough to live where a sister tradition that is not quite as old (but a yearly custom all the same) is also practiced with fervor.

The night of Oct. 30, which goes by a variety of names including Devil’s Night in Detroit and Miggy Night in parts of England, sees neighborhood youngsters pull pranks just as diverse as the custom’s monikers, ranging from the innocent to the downright dangerous.

So where did this license to cause mayhem come from?
Mischief Night, as it is most commonly known in the United States, has been around in its present form for at least 50 years, when it became a day for playing “tricks” while Halloween itself was reserved for the little one to gather “treats.” The practice goes back hundreds of years before that, though, to a time when Halloween and misbehavior were inextricably linked.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20081030/sc_livescience/devilsnightthehistoryofprehalloweenpranks;_ylt=Apt0ARvgCHXZh4fNQ1VulC6s0NUE

It’s a busy day, so brevity is a must. Let’s just check in on the latest news about Joe the Plumber, who is coming to epitomize the dearth of intellect in the McCain campaign.

It was bad enough when John McCain severely damaged his electoral prospects, by nominating, as his vice president, somebody who knows virtually nothing about domestic and foreign policy…although, in Sarah Palin’s case, one could argue that she at least has held elective office and grappled on some level with some issues. But the slippery slope to ignorance is indeed precipitous, to the point where now we have the unlicensed Samuel Wurzelbacher speaking at a McCain rally in Ohio – and agreeing with some audience simpleton that “a vote for Obama is a vote for the death of Israel.” So said the simpleton, to which Wurzelbacher chimed in, “I’ll go ahead and agree with you on that.”

This is what happens when the clueless are given free rein, with the official blessing of the McCain campaign. Indeed, this episode yesterday was so egregious that it was even condemned, in clear and unequivocal terms…by Fox News.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/americandebate/Fox_News_versus_Joe_the_Plumber.html

HARRISBURG – A former employee of an affiliate of ACORN testified yesterday that the community group now in the national spotlight knew that most new voter registration forms it had gathered were fraudulent.

“Forty percent was OK,” said Anita Moncrief, referring to the number of bona fide registrations that officials at the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now believed was acceptable.

Moncrief was the star witness yesterday in a Commonwealth Court case brought by the state Republican Party and others who are asking a judge to step in and prevent voter fraud on Election Day.

For nearly two hours, Moncrief, 29, gave a scathing, though at times vague, assessment of ACORN and its efforts to go into battleground states and help mostly minorities and the poor register to vote for the first time.

The group, she said, barely trained its workers in how to register voters properly, and would fire employees if they did not meet a quota of 20 new voter applicants daily. And, if they were caught committing fraud, the group “threw them under the bus” as scapegoats to take all the legal blame, Moncrief said.

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/elections/20081030_Fired_ACORN_employee_testifies.html