Massachusetts Paranormal Institute

PURSUING THE PARANORMAL: "Samhain"

      My favorite time of year is finally here and it's not just becauase I have a strong involvement and fascination with the paranormal or that Halloween is around the corner.  It's more the smell of burning leaves, pumpkin spice coffee and football! The setting sun causes oddly different shadows to form on the walls inside my house and the cool crisp air is great for working outside, stacking wood. And I certainly enjoy attending as many Halloween events as possible.  

      Yes, Halloween is coming on fast and there is one very special event you just don't want to miss.  This is a fundraiser for the Hyannis Public Library and they asked The Massachusetts Paranormal Institute if we could design a Halloween program.  Well, did we ever!

"THE NEW ENGLAND VAMPIRE TRADITION!"  is back.

      We were extremely fortunate in being able to book Susan Jarek-Glidden, Ph.D.  Dr. Glidden is one the country's foremost experts in how Olde New England, including Cape Codders, dealt with their very real fear of vampires! You just can't make this stuff up.  She's studied this field for over thirty years and on October 30th, 2009, at the Hyannis Public Library she will share all these little secrets with us. As I said this is a fundraiser and the entire $5.00 ticket price goes to the library. You must call the Hyannis Library at (508) 775-2280 for tickers in advance.

      Interestingly enough, Halloween originated, it is believed, from the customs and traditions of the Celts in Ireland over 2000 years ago as party or, more accurately, a celebration of their New Year which began on November 1st. They called this celebration "Samhain".  The Celtic people celebrated their New Year on November 1st because they believed this was the end of the old cycle and the beginning of a new one.  When the trees came back to life, warm days with crops growing but now the "life-giving" harvest was completed. Easy to understand as the sky got darker, temperatures began dropping, foliage began to change colors and eventually shrivel and drop to the ground, not to mention that many would perish from the harsh conditions of the season, that they associated death with the winter.

      They also believed that on their New Years Eve, October 31st, the veil between the world of the living and the dead was at its weakest point and that spirits could easily pass back into the world of the living. Their custom called for priests or shamans to communicate directly with the departed spirits in an attempt to divine what was in store for them.

      While occupying the area, the Romans combined two of their traditional holidays, one honoring the deceased and the other honoring the goddess of fruit. It has been reported that the icon used for Pomona, the goddess of fruit, was an apple and, hence the tradition of bobbing for apples began.

        So by this point we're still pagans wearing animal skins as costumes and dancing around bonfires and bobbing for apples. Hundreds of years later the church, it is widely believed, wanted to institute its own holiday so Pope Boniface IV incorporated All Saints Day which was known as Alholowmesse and then became All-Hallowmas. In Ireland it became known as Hallow E'en. Most likely, the Irish migration to America brought with it the strongest, and currently dominant, of the European traditions of what would become one of this country's favorite holidays. Halloween.   

       The "Trick or Treating" seems to be a remnant of an English tradition where the less fortunate would go door-to-door in the more affluent areas and receive pastries in return for their prayers or blessings on departed family members.

      So that's the quick version of how we came to celebrate Halloween. 

      Please remember, if you or someone you know, has a Cape Cod ghost story or is suffering as a result of a paranormal disturbance,  please contact me directly and discreetly at Dave@massachusettsparanormalinstitute.com or visit the website at http://www.massachusettsparanormalinstitute.com/  or     nespi.davesircom@gmail.com