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Thought I'd add tuppenceworth here...I grew up in a very working class Scottish town. Halloween was big, understood very much in the spirit of All Souls Night - very pagan. We dressed up and visited all of the neighbors in what I now recognise as similar to the American "trick or treat." As we lived on a council estate (public housing) house-dressing (at that time) was not even thought of, unlike Christmas which was the only occassion to put up a public display and that was usually only a tree. I note that in recent times, in what are now mainly ex- public housing estates in both Scotland and England that decorating the house and garden has turned into a kitch artform, especially among the working class. There is a collaboration of critics/artists called "common culture" who document this. However it mainly happens at Christmas. Halloween remains a time to bolt your door against the forces of darkness (capitalism) howling outside in the wind. ________________________________________ From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Caduceus Books [[log in to unmask]] Sent: 22 September 2012 19:26 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] House Dressing At Halloween? Greetings! >On moving to England people seem >To celebrate Guy Fawkes night more than Halloween, apart from when I lived near Pendle Hill. About twenty five years ago I visited Pendle Hill on Halloween. There were a lot of people there, even burger vans at the base of the hill. The atmosphere was quite rowdy, a sense of no one knowing what was going to happen and perhaps a hint of potential trouble. There were neo-pagans in our party but I certainly didn't notice any others. Nearby we stumbled upon preparations for an illicit open air Hawkwind gig. Despite the lack of any pagan themes, it did all seem somehow appropriate. > York seems to celebrate Halloween though its mostly a tourist thing with its reputation as the uk's most haunted city. For a few years c1982 I lived in a small village ten or so miles north of York and "Mischief Night" was a thing amongst the youngsters - the day before Guy Forkes (Nov. 5th) I think. Lads would go out and do minor acts of mischief intended to cause inconvenience, taking gates off hinges and leaving them up trees, that kind of thing. With my best wishes Ben -- Ben Fernee Caduceus Books 28 Darley Road Burbage Hinckley Leicestershire LE10 2RL U.K. Private premises, visitors welcome by appointment Telephone 01455 250542 (+44 1455 250542 from abroad) Fax 0872 115 6287 (+44 872 115 6287 from abroad) Skype ben.fernee.caduceus Web page:- http://www.caduceusbooks.com DISCLAIMER: This email is intended solely for the addressee. It may contain private and confidential information. If you are not the intended addressee, please take no action based on it nor show a copy to anyone. In this case, please reply to this email to highlight the error. Opinions and information in this email that do not relate to the official business of Nottingham Trent University shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by the University. Nottingham Trent University has taken steps to ensure that this email and any attachments are virus-free, but we do advise that the recipient should check that the email and its attachments are actually virus free. This is in keeping with good computing practice.