Given the middle name Samhain, due to a scheduled induction on Halloween night, my youngest daughter Éloïse was born three years ago today, just days shy of her namesake celebration. Despite the early arrival, our aptly dubbed 'spooky kid' possesses all the cliché loves for the harvest season. From pumpkins and ghost stories, dressing up, falling leaves she loves it all including an almost insatiable appetite for apples (she eats 2-3 a day sometimes!)
Curious about how her favourite fruit fits into Scottish traditions, I learned more about the link between apples, matchmaking, and games (with the latter sometimes feeling more Squid Game than MASH!)
Samhain 101
If you are new to this celebration or need a quick refresher, Samhain (pronounced Saw-In) is an annual Gaelic harvest festival from October 31st to November 1st. It marks the arrival of winter and the 'darker half' of the year (about autumn equinox and winter solstice) and is one of the four festivals associated with the Celtic seasonal calendar. Those who celebrate Samhain believe that during this time, the partition between the physical and spiritual world is at its thinnest, making it easy to make predictions and communicate with spirits.
Halloween Origins with Apples, Nuts & Kale
With a heightened connection between the dead and the living, it's easy to see how traditional celebrations such as