While largely fallen out of favor, the Halloween feast is a big part of the tradition. Mince meat pies, berries, nuts, meat, baked breads and sweets. The food involved is not only for the living but also the dead, with traditional sweets and treats given out on Halloween being homemade, though these have fallen out of fashion as time has gone on, and negative press has been made to keep people from keeping to tradition. The importance of the homemade warm food is key, as the spirits of the dead are meant to consume the spirit of the food, not the food itself. With the steam of fresh baked bread, meat, etc being what they primarily feast off. Though they are likely to show up to your door for Tricks or Treat hidden among Iron Man and the Hufflepuffs.-TLK

Popular American Halloween Costumes

Part 1: Ghosts

The common bedsheet ghost is a rather recent concept, originally ghosts were depicted as wearing the clothes they had when they died but over time artists began to depict ghosts as being covered in their “Burial shroud” creating the modern image of the white sheet ghost we all know and love/hate. The idea of spirits and ghosts coming to our aid or coming to harm is rather old this boon or bane of spirits is a very old and deeply important custom to Europeans. Especially in the coming season when the veil is thin, as Halloween approaches and our ancestors and all sorts of ghosts, ghouls, and goblins run amok. Oh and who can forget a good old haunted house, Recall your ancestors light a jack’o lantern as a totem of protection and a beacon to the spirits of the ancestors, wear a costume so they know they are welcome. There is not much to fear if your dearly departed know where to find you as the parade of spirits and wild hunt ride across the sky.

In old tales of King Arthur, his origin as a Bear King, whether in spirit or physically as a bear is rather clear. He possesses the strength of a bear, to the point where he can kill with a hug. When he "dies" is around Samhain, and arises again around Candlemas. The Sleeping King theme, likely partially arises from the Hibernation of the bear, and the hibernation of our people, as records of Semi-Hibernation from rural areas of Europe has been recorded indicating a Semi-Hibernation may be the norm for Hyperboreans. The Bear is often used as an indicator of the seasons similar to the Solar-Lunar calendar. With the Bear beginning to go into Hibernation at the same time as the veil thins and the spirits begin to come visit. The Bear one of the oldest forms of the deities and the animal that is between animal, man, and god is the one that travels to the otherworld in his kingly sleep as the spirits of said Otherworld travel here.-TLK

Shire to Shire series: Northumberland and the Dwarves of the Simonside Hills

The Simonside Hills are a wild and rugged area, with the town of Rothbury nestled below. These hills are one of the last major strongholds of the Dwarves in the British Isles. A place for their mining, blacksmithing and ale-drinking to continue without human interference. Much like the Will-o’ the Wisp, the Dwarves lead lost travellers into danger at night by use of their lantern light, sending them over the cliffs to be smashed on the rocks below. One tale tells of a man that was lost out on the hills after sundown, and to his relief saw the light of a Dwarf house. He entered and warmed himself by the fire, only to then be greeted by a returning Dwarf, who sat opposite him in silence until the fire died. When dawn came, the man awoke to find the house gone. He was lying on the edge of a cliff, inches away from death. He was one of the few that lived to tell the tale.