Halloween
by Rosemist

>Also know as:
>Samhain(Celtic)
>Shadowfesr(Strega)
>Martinmas, or Old Hallowmas(Scottish/Celtic)

> >This holiday is considered the Witches New Year, representing one full turn of the seasonal year. This is the last of three harvest Sabbots. Halloween is celebrated on October 31st, Samahin is recognized as November 7th(All Hallows Eve), and Martinmas on November 11th. Al festivals stand for the same purpose. >

> > In the Italian tradition this occasion is called Shadowfest. According to Italian tradition, the dead return to the human world begging on the night of November eve and continuing until the second night (three night in all). In Sicily it is custom to set an extra place at the table for the return of departed relatives. Sicilian families are also known to set a banquet out before the family tomb as they gather on November 2 to honor their dead.
> During the time of the Roman Empire, early Italians associated the fava plant with the dead, due to the single black satin on the otherwise perfect white petal. Romans served fava beans at funeral banquets, honoring the connection of the dead with the fava plant. This association has remained a part of Italian Witchcraft through the centuries; fava bean soup is still a traditional meal served on November eve (October 31st). A bowl of fava bean soup is placed outdoors at midnight as an offering to the spirits, and then buried after sunrise on November 1.
> In the tenth-century Italy, Christian monks searching for a way to assimilate this Pagan celebration decided to cook large batches of fava soup and offer them up for the souls of the dead. Hungry peasants took great delight in the vats of fava bean soup that the monks placed at the street corners. the church allowed this practice to continue because of the conversion opportunities, but it wasn't until the fifteenth century that the Church officially claimed the day of the celebration, November 1, calling it Ognissanti or "All Saints Day," and November 2 was designated "All Souls Day."
> In Modern Italy, Celebrants still eat Festival treats called ossi da morta (bones of the dead) and fava dei morte (fava of the dead), sweets that are similar to cookies, but fashioned in the shape of skeletons and fava beans. In Sicily special ritual breads are made in the form of a corpse laid to rest, along with figures made of sugar in the shape of traditional heroes and characters from Italy's past.