I'm going to be honest. I love it when the clocks go back. The dark nights, cosy and warm with the telly on, curl;ed up on the sofa eating hot cheese on toast for supper as you snuggle up under a duvet! But, I'm not going to admit to liking everything. I don't "do" or "get" Halloween. It is an old Celtic festival hijacked by the Americans to turn into a dumbass festival where you are meant to enjoy yourself. The roots of Hallowe'en (spelt correctly) are sinister and macabre and yet, here we are in modern Britain, with most unaware of the origins or the meaning of what the English used to observe as a day where you would observe the transition between the living and the dead. Many Halloween traditions, like wearing masks, telling ghost stories, and carving vegetables into lanterns, sprung directly from Samhain celebrations. The Church contributed to Halloween celebrations as we know it, too: an activity called souling, when a person would go from house to house asking for cakes in return for praying for the souls of those in the house, was popular during the later Middle Ages, and may be the inspiration for our modern-day trick-or-treating.
31st October was chosen as the date for Hallowe'en by Pope Gregory IV in the year 835. This date just happened to coincide with the Celtic festival of Samhain, which was a commemoration for the dead. But like most Celtic and Pagan festivals, the Christians stole to make it into their own observation event.
But, Hallowe'en asides, I do feel poignant and proud each Remembrance weekend and then, gleefully get excited when Christmas approaches. I love the mid-November through to Christmas Day period. It really is my favourite time of the year. The twinkling tree lights, the presents, the music. The whole ambience of occasion. Is this your favourite time of the year? Or do you long for the never ending days of Summer? I'm not a summer fan. Never have been, but between now and Christmas, I simply love it. I do not observe New Year though.