1st November: All Saints Day

Today is All Saints Day. Here are ten facts about this feast and the way it is celebrated around the world.

1. All Saints Day is also known as All Hallows Day. This day is to honour all those saints who do not have a special feast day of their own, and to remember departed relatives. It stems from the idea that there is a spiritual bond between those who have departed and those still alive.
2. In the west, it is celebrated on 1 November but the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost, marking the end of the Easter Season.
3. It was first celebrated in the 9^th Century when Byzantine Emperor Leo the Wise wanted to build a church dedicated to his late wife, Theophano. When he was denied permission to have a church dedicated to her, he dedicated it to All Saints instead, so that she would be celebrated along with all the other saints.
4. In French speaking countries this day is known as La Toussaint. It is traditional to place wreaths made from Chrysanthemums on the graves of relatives.
5. The traditional hymn to sing on this festival is For All the Saints by Walsham Howe.
6. As on many feast days, there are traditional ways to predict the weather over the coming weeks. For example,If ducks do slide at Hollantide, at Christmas they will swim; if ducks do swim at Hollantide, at Christmas they will slide – so a mild All Saints Day predicts a white Christmas. Another way is to cut a chip from a Beech tree. If the wood is dry it will be a warm winter. According to the Pennsylvania Dutch, the weather today and tomorrow predicts the weather for the next six weeks. If the weather is fine, there will be six more weeks of sun. If cold and unpleasant, winter is about to begin.
7. The angel presiding over All Saints Day was the angel of fruits, seeds, called La Mas Ubhal, ie, the day of the Apple fruit. Pronounced lamasool, corrupted to lamb’s wool, it gave its name to a traditional drink consumed on this day in Ireland. Lamb's wool is ale mixed with roast bruised apples.
8. It was a day for lighting fires in many traditions. This may arise from the festival coinciding with the pagan festival of Samhian. In Scotland, Druid priests would light fires and distribute the flames to followers while in England a more Christian reason for bonfires was a ceremony called Tinlay or Teanlay where a bonfire was lit to light souls out of purgatory, on the eve of All Souls Day. Another common custom was soul caking, in which people would go fro door to door begging for cakes in exchange for prayers for departed souls.
9. In the time of Charles I, the young men of the Middle Temple considered today the beginning of Christmas and would begin a series of meetings at St Dunstan's tavern consisting of a mock parliament with light-hearted debate, followed by dancing.
10. Wiccans today celebrate this day as the second day of Samhain. The theme of their celebration is fruition, maturity, immortality, and resurrection.

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