How To Be A Real Leprechaun

I grabbed all of my art supplies, pens, paper, glue, glitter, etc. By the time I laid out all of my supplies, I had a plan. I took paper and began working. I kept checking the time every other minute. I knew the leprechaun would move soon, and I had to act fast. I looked at my finished product and was proud of my work. In my hands, I held a nice waiting area for the leprechaun. Inside of the

Celebrated on October 31st, the festival of Halloween (also known as Samhain) includes dressing in costume, trick or treating, and decorating. Tracing back in history Halloween is considered to be one of America’s oldest holidays, and is still celebrated today. Halloween is believed to come from Celtic rituals. Celtics believed the cosmological myth of Saman (Lord of the Dead). Saman would call on the souls of the people that passed away that year to take them to the afterlife or underworld; the Celtic underworld identifies with the Christian Hell. In order for the spirits to believe they were on their own, the living would wear costumes and mask their identities, along with fairies, witches and demons. This functions as a cosmological myth because it provides a creation story and framework in which this universe occupies and includes many other realms of existence. Another tradition that followed was to give food to the Saman, to persuade him to be more tolerant while he judged the dead ancestors of the living, which he would chose to take to the underworld. In this essay I will further investigate what the origins of Halloween consist of and how it offers reasoning for trick-or-treating. Also I will examine how trick-or-treating, which is still continued today, is connected to ancient Celtic festivals.

The blazing hot sun beamed down on my skin as the song “Mardi Gras Mambo,” a traditional song almost everyone in Louisiana has heard once before replayed continuously and the shouts, “Throw me some beads mister,” overwhelmed me. For years, I had waited to finally be a part of this, no longer was I an average citizen at the corner of Capitol Street, hoping to be in knowledge. I was a part of something grand, Mardi Gras. This was the first time I was getting to ride on the float with my older cousins and other various family members. I never realized how much work was put in to ensure success by the end of the night. I remeber how I stayed awake the night before, restlessly pacing across the floor. It was to the point that I begin making a checklist, as I scuffled my feet across the house, making sure that everything was in place.

New Orleans is an iconic city for its relation to magic. Ever since the beginning of the slave trade, voodoo has been an apparent piece of culture in New Orleans. It combines pieces of African folklore and Christianity into one practice which has stuck with the Louisiana city. According to a recent study, Skeptical Inquirer found that about fifteen percent of New Orleans still practices voodoo today (Nickell). Although New Orleans’ culture has been largely shaped by belief in magic, many other areas have been influenced by the belief, Ireland is one of those areas. It has a history with folklore, fairy tales, magic and has shaped it to be what it is today. The fairy tales weren’t made to be believed in, but instead they were used to teach. They were intended to “instruct and engage all ages” (Waldron). These types of influences aren’t just limited to New Orleans and Ireland, they are found all over the world. Almost every society on earth has been influenced or affected by magic and folklore and has adapted it to fit their own circumstances

Out I went into the meadow, Where the moon was shining brightly, And the oak-tree’s lengthening shadows On the sloping sward did lean; For I longed to see the goblins, And the dainty-footed fairies, And the gnomes, who dwell in caverns, But come forth on Halloween. “All the spirits, good and evil, Fay and pixie, witch and wizard, On this night will sure be stirring," Thought I, as I walked along; “And if Puck, the merry wanderer, Or her majesty, Titania, Or that Mab who teases housewives If their housewifery be wrong, Should but condescend to meet me”— But my thoughts took sudden parting,

“Red and green holiday tinsel still lined the doors and a string of colored light framed the mirror the mirror behind the bar. The waitress moved from table to empty table, sashaying her hips as she straightened the ketchup bottles. She had a high bouffant the color of washed-out lace, exactly like the angel hair that swirled beneath the artificial tree with gold ornaments that was balanced on a table at the end of the room. She was decorated too. Over her beige turtleneck she wore a black felt bolero with MERRY and CHRISTMAS written in green glitter on either side, and around her neck hung a pendant made from a Bic lighter in a gold lamé case. It swung like a charm between her low breasts” (Dorris 213).

An upbeat tempo, clapping, dancing, and traditional foods casted an authentic festive Irish atmosphere at O’Reilly’s Pub on Friday, April 15, 2016. Friday night, my boyfriend drove down to surprise me and I surprised him by taking him with me to attend the Traditional Irish Session at O’ Reilly’s Pub. We arrived there around 7:15 and the parking lot was already starting to fill up. There was mostly adults, but there were also a large amount of families at this event. As soon as we walked into the pub, the loud Celtic music transformed the atmosphere. The pub was somewhat crowded, but everyone seemed to be in a lively mood which projected an energetic anticipation for what was to come. The musicians were set up in front of a small stage on the

Two summers ago on a trip to Ireland with my family, a day excursion thick with fog and rain heavier than the days that had come before began with a boat ride by the Cliffs of Moher and ended by warming up in a small pub. The dim lit rooms of the County Clair bar were filled with fried fish and empty glasses of Guinness with only the beige foam left clinging to the sides. We rushed inside pulling our rain slickers off and huddling at a table, ordering tea and drinks. Towards one corner of the room grouped old men with white hair and beer bellies that slouched in their chairs playing high speed fiddle tunes. Their fingers moved effortless and lips remained in smirks as they jumped into new tune after new

Macy starts out her night out the same way, just like she been for the pass few years. She wakes up and get dress for work to go and take care of the elderly, what ever they might need. On this night the moon was high and full, and she knew it would be hell. The people always says, “the crazy comes out on full moons,” and that is the truth!

We avoid crossing paths with black cats, afraid that they might bring us bad luck. But what about the Halloween traditions and beliefs that today’s trick-or-treaters have forgotten all about? Many of these obsolete rituals focused on the future instead of the past and the living instead of the dead. In 18th-century Ireland, a matchmaking cook might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to bring true love to the diner who found it. In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that an eligible young woman name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then toss the nuts into the fireplace. The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding, the story went, represented the girl’s future husband.At some Halloween parties, the first guest to find a burr on a chestnut-hunt would be the first to marry; at others, the first successful apple-bobber would be the first down the

All Saints' Eve and many more… Halloween celebrations in the Great Britain might involve parties where your friends are told to arrive in a costume to fit in to the day's theme. Yet there are

It isn't unusual for this specific fiend to be summoned—from depleting Halloween party tricks in relinquished shelters to more authentic rituals in the woods—yet it needs to concede that this is the first time it's ever been called forward from its domain, down beneath the earth, into a claustrophobic lounge showered in dull pink sparkles shining from the old glass lights and an abundance of wide-eyed, frightening vintage porcelain dolls. Going with those peculiarities are tea cups and saucer sets placed on racks with frilly doilies sewed with the most extreme care, and cross-sewed 'Live, Love, Laugh' hung over the wooden-framed bed.

Patrick’s Day street party in Tempe with bar-hopping college students, locals, and winter visitors wearing green shirts, shoes, hats, and beads. Not everyone wore green even though it’s a significant artifact, there are no rules. The practices that occur within the St. Patrick’s Day celebration include alcohol since going to the pub is a rite of passage in Ireland, a cultural aspect hardwired into the Irish, as bars advertised $1 Irish whiskey shots and green beers. Street artists who seized the opportunity to make a few dollars performing a magic show, captivated small groups of people. Since I don’t drink alcohol, I observed the event from the street, therefore missing the full-on cultural experience of the bagpipes and Irish dancers, although live bands played songs by Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys. The Mill Avenue business district works as a team to successfully produce a popular experience for consumers. And for many people it seems, St. Patrick’s Day is a ritual of their socialization process into our culture. There’s no Irish heritage requirement to appreciate Irish culture and history or indulge in Irish folk tales and leprechaun lore, which suggests the Irish attitude of “live like there’s no tomorrow” is attributed to its mass

Regarding the actual trick-or-treating, several argue that celebrating All Hallows’ Eve may have started as just such a cause to “trick” the Devil, himself; by ridiculing. Others, such as Albert Mohler, in his article claim, “The pagan roots are well documented and that the holiday is rooted in a Celtic festival”.

The day I got four Christmases began with a fiery sunrise whose golden arcs of color dotted my path as I made my way across the matted, gray carpet that snaked up the walls. I walked down the stairs, making sure to step on my toes first to ensure a quiet descent. No one in my family was awake yet, and I was surrounded on all sides by disillusioning silence as in all early hours of the morning. Directed only by the sunlight filtering in through the upper windows, I managed to pick my way across the furniture to the fireplace. We didn’t have a Christmas tree, and at seven years old, I longed for the splendor of a beautiful evergreen tree adorned with iridescent fairy lights. All we had was a wreath my mother had hung up on the front door, and it didn’t even have ornaments on it.