Folklore of Halloween and Samhain
Halloween was already an ancient festival of souls 2,000 years ago. It has long been commemorated in countries from Ireland and Poland to Mexico and the Philippines (where trick-or-treating is called Nangangaluluwa, and your chickens are in danger of being purloined).
Halloween customs are relatively new to Australia, but are rapidly establishing themselves. When you come to think of it, every old, cherished custom was once a new-fangled idea, even in the BCE.
The ancient Druids of Britain and Ireland, whose mysteries held sway for centuries before the Romans came to those islands, celebrated a spooky night on October 31. These pagans – Druids, and the Celts in general, of whom they were the priestly class – called it Samhain. In the Northern Hemisphere, the day which falls slap bang between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice, is November 1. The eve of Samhain, October 31, was the night the lord of death was said to judge the souls of the departed.
What you could have expected on Samhain eve if you were a suburban Celt or Briton in 300 BCE, was to go to the mall bonfire and watch a neighbour being roasted alive, while you nibbled roast chestnuts with your diet cola. This was an 'end of summer' ceremony, and the druidic priests built a bonfire (bone-fire) to represent the sun which they wished would return, dispelling bitter cold and famine ...
Wilson's Almanac free Halloween e-cards & Samhain e-cards
Tagged: calendar+customs, halloween, e-cards, ecards, samhain, pagan, christian, free
"An Al-Qaeda terror suspect captured by the United States, who gave evidence of links between Iraq and the terror network, confessed after being tortured, a journalist told the BBC.
Celtic tree month of Ngetal (Reed) commences (Oct 28 - Nov 24)
In Western countries like France, Australia, the USA and the UK, there is a veritable jihad against traditional Muslim clothing. Read about the UK's 
As a kid, I lived near a Roman Catholic convent. Every Saturday afternoon about 20 nuns in headgear (nuns' '
899 Death of St King Alfred the Great (b. 847?), king of England from 871 to 899. The day was the 26th of October (because he died “
I've expanded the number of book reviews on 
1734 Restif de la Bretonne (Nicolas-Edme Rétif or Nicolas-Edme Réstif, called de la Bretonne for his father’s farm in Burgundy; d. February 2, 1806), prolific French novelist, early communist theorist, known as 'the Chronicler of the Street' (also 'the 
From Baz 'Storm Photo Chaser' le Tuff, comes this 
My US mate Jeff McIntire-Strasburg at that excellent blog 
2000 Japanese archaeologist and Vice Chairman of the private Tohoku Paleolithic Cultural Research Institute, Shinichi Fujimura, formerly known as ‘God’s hand’ or the ‘divine digger’ for his luck in finding important artefacts, was caught on the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper’s video cameras as he buried eight stoneware pieces shortly after 6 a.m. on October 22.
1967 [October 21 - 
"[USA] Congress is now pushing a law that would end the free and open Internet as we know it. Internet providers like AT&T and Verizon are lobbying Congress hard to gut Network Neutrality, the Internet's First Amendment and the key to Internet freedom. Net Neutrality prevents AT&T from choosing which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays AT&T more. So Amazon doesn't have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer. 
1966 US President 
"The latest move to kill off online freedom and the spread of information comes in the form of proposed EU legislation that would prevent users from uploading any form of video, whether that be a hard hitting political documentary film or your friends goofing around with diet coke and Mentos.
1968 
"The ACLU has released 44 military autopsy reports that clearly demonstrate cases of death by torture. DOD 003164 is one such example: '[detainee] died as a result of asphyxia due to strangulation. ... Autopsy revealed bone fracture, rib fractures, contusions in mid abdomen ... Manner of death is homicide. Whitehorse Detainment Facility, Nasiriyah, Iraq.' Another detainee died under similar circumstances on January 9, 2004 in Al Asad, Iraq. He was asphyxiated and suffered blunt force injuries ...
1874 California, USA: During a social event, British photography pioneer 
"In 2003, Haider Muhsin Saleh, was living in Dearborn Michigan. A former opponent of Saddam Hussein, he had once been imprisoned and tortured by Saddam's secret police in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Upon being released he had fled to Sweden and become a Swedish citizen. When the Hussein regime fell, Mr. Saleh heeded the United States' call for expatriates to return to and rebuild Iraq. He did so with his own funds. Upon his arrival in September of 2003 he was detained and sent to the same Abu Ghraib prison where he had been previously tortured by Saddam Hussein. Instead of getting a chance to rebuild his country he became prisoner #151138 and was subjected to 'interrogation.'
1924 New York’s great statue, 
"ELIZABETH JACKSON: Tomorrow afternoon in Canberra, hundreds of people are expected to turn out on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin for an exhibition to mark the fifth anniversary of the sinking of the SIEV-X, during which 353 asylum seekers drowned.
Vinternatsblót/Haustblót/
Today "could be a day of horror for superstitious people who dread the number 13, says a German professor: not only will the date be Friday the 13th, but all the digits in the numeric notation of the date add up to 13 as well ...
"This may seem a strange plea for environmentalists to make, but they do so sincerely. Not because sponsoring a tree is in and of itself a terrible thing to do – what activists are really concerned about is that people sponsor trees and windmills and light bulbs for the wrong reasons. The marketing hype from carbon ‘offset’ companies tries to get us to part with our money for what appears to be a noble cause. They appeal to the charitable impulses of their clientele or the image conscious drives of the corporate sector.
By Marty Kaplan
1809 Along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee, USA, at a tavern called Grinder's Stand, the untimely death of 
1880 Australia: At about 4:30 pm, William Johnston found a 6.7 m boat on Mutton Fish Point), about 14 km north of Bermagui, a village on the south coast of New South Wales.
1908 Harry Hooton (b. Henry Arthur Hooton; d. 1961), Australian anarchist poet.
1361 The duel between a dog and the Chevalier Macaire, France.
1977 Maria Rubio noticed that marks on her tortilla looked like 
"The first Americans were descended from Australian aborigines, according to evidence in a new BBC documentary.
Sad news that Australia's 
1914 Dr Jim Cairns (d. October 12, 2003), Australian politician, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer (1974-5) in 
1935 Chef Bert Sachse of the Esplanade Hotel, Perth, Western Australia created the pavlova, named after 
1968 A peaceful student demonstration in Mexico City ended in the Tlatelolco Massacre. In October 2003, 
WASHINGTON - "The White House ignored an urgent warning in September 2003 from a top Iraq adviser who said that thousands of additional American troops were desperately needed to quell the insurgency there, according to a new book by Bob Woodward, the Washington Post reporter and author. The book describes a White House riven by dysfunction and division over the war.
