Thread by @MeaveofConnaugh

“Boys” said Meave to the boys “will one of yis tie this lucky charm around the foot of that criminal that we hanged earlier”. “You know it is Halloween” replied the boys. “Nera” said Meave “surely you are not scared”. “Of course not” shivered Nera #Halloween

As Nera walked towards the gallows, the demons of the glen screamed. “It’s shocking dark” he thought “but I’m sure everything will be grand” he mused “despite it being Samhain, darkness, horror and death and the door to the otherworld is probably open” #Hallloween

The body of the dead criminal swung limply on the gallows. “He looks horrible and scary” thought Nera. “Howya” said the dead criminal “Jesus Christ” yelped Nera anachronistically “Ya frightened the life outa me” #Halloween

“Nera” said the dead man “will you allow me to climb up on your back so you can carry me over to that house til we get a drink”. Nera was a bit surprised by this request but agreed to help the dead lad out; ”sure, jump up” #Halloween

When they got to the house they noticed it was surrounded by a lake of fire. “Whats this” asks Nera. “We can’t go in there” said the dead lad “they have already raked the ashes”. “But the lake of fire” asked Nera “Long story” said the corpse “there’s another house” #Halloween

Next house had a lake of water around it. “A lake of water” said Nera “at least it’s a bit more natural”. “Natural?” smiled the corpse “you ain’t seen nothing yet”. They went in and the corpse drank some bath-water. “Yock! - let’s rock and roll back to the gallows” #Halloween

We will stop for a minute to see what the story tells us about Halloween. The tale is set at Cruachan, Meave’s Connaught fortress, intimately associated with strange goings-on - a liminal landscape - the awful cave - the Cave of the Cats - entrance to the otherworld is nearby

Lets look for boundaries in this story as Halloween is all about the crossing of boundaries. The criminal -does not belong to society, he exists outside it. He is hanging -he is not on the ground, not fully in the air. He is dead, yet speaks. He can talk but can’t walk #Halloween

As soon as Nera agrees to carry the dead man, he has, unwittingly entered the world of the dead. We know the dead wish to return to the homestead at Halloween but confronted with a lake of fire, the dead man cannot enter the house #Halloween

They have raked the ashes” alludes to the tradition of leaving a fire in the hearth to welcome the dead on this night. Raking the ashes means extinguishing the fire. There is no welcome for the dead here. The lake of fire is what the dead see when tradition is broken #Halloween

If you do not leave a fire in the hearth on Halloween, you do not welcome your ancestors back to the homestead. The dead perceive this insult as a lake of fire between them and their families - an almost unforgivable act. #Halloween

At Halloween, time itself is disordered. You have not welcomed your family dead to their homestead, you have put your ancestors outside of tradition, you have made a criminal of your dead ancestor - it is your fault that they were hanged. The otherworld is unforgiving #Halloween

This part of the story points to the vital importance of following tradition. You must leave a fire burning in the hearth on Halloween night - to fail to do so is a disaster for your ancestors - by not welcoming them you are casting them off to a lake of fire #Halloween

At the next house, the dead man found only bath-water to drink. The symbolism is unmistakable; you must leave proper hospitality for the returning dead. He drank the dirty water and considered the insult worse to the original hanging - he preferred the gallows #Halloween

These stories tell us lots about what happens to our dead ancestors at Halloween. At Halloween, the dead return to their family homes and must be welcomed. The dead will not harm the living but by ignoring tradition, the living can harm the dead #Halloween

Tomorrow night we will continue to explore the Adventures of Nera and his journey in the Celtic otherworld- a vital story in understanding Halloween from the point of view of the otherworld. #Halloween

I am promoting Irish Folklore since 2012, I am always looking for followers- the more followers the further the stories go. Can you help #Halloween #IrishFolklore

An example of the importance of leaving a fire in the hearth for the dead; in 1942, Barney Gargan’s father in Cavan, the morning after Halloween, found footprints in the ashes pointing towards the door - a clear sign that the children should emigrate #Halloween #Heartbreak

And if the dead left his mother heartbroken, all the children who emigrated did well for themselves. The ancestral dead made sure they were ok. What would have happened if Barney’s fatherhad “raked the ashes” on Halloween night - it doesn’t bear thinking about #Halloween

So here we have Halloween being about “trick and treating” (and we will see what this originally was) without a thought about our dead granny (she won’t thank you for breaking tradition - remember the ‘lake of fire’), we will go at it again tomorrow night #Halloween