Lux Ferre

Coel Coeth (also Coel Certh)—Welsh name for the BONFIRE each family built in the most prominent place near the house on November Eve. Part of this tradition involved each member of the

Clowns— Clowns have been popular Halloween figures ever since COSTUMING began to figure prominently in the holiday’s celebrations. Clowns—principally the “whiteface” comic figures typically found in circuses— bear some resemblance to MUMMING

Churches—Churches figure in Halloween history not only as places of worship on ALL SAINTS’ DAY and ALL SOULS’ DAY, but also as much-frequented sites in FORTUNE-TELLING customs. In Wales, women used to

Christmas—The most popular holiday in Western culture, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25. Surprisingly, Christmas shares a number of factors in common with Halloween: Both were regarded in the

Ch’ing Ming (also Qing Ming)— Chinese festival of the dead with some similarities to ALL SAINTS’ DAY and ALL SOULS’ DAY. Ch’ing Ming is the first of two Chinese festivals of the

Changelings— One Irish belief was that FAIRIES occasionally kidnapped human children and replaced them with a fairy child; this was often performed on Halloween. A changeling could be forced to reveal itself

Champ (also pandy)— Popular Irish Halloween FOOD similar to COLCANNON, made of mashed potatoes with milk, butter and LEEKS, sometimes prepared with FORTUNE-TELLING tokens (a thimble, a ring, and a coin). In

Chalking —One old Halloween PRANKING practice was to chalk the backs of passersby, shout “Halloween!” and then run off. Chalking was popular in parts of England, especially at Diss, Norfolk. The custom

Celts—A number of barbarian tribes organized under the name Celtae (or the Greek form Keltoi), and spread across Europe and the British Isles; the Irish Celts gave history SAMHAIN, the forerunner of