Episode notes
Forget pumpkins and plastic skeletons, in Tudor England, Halloween was sacred.
On 31st October, All Hallows’ Eve marked the start of Hallowtide, a three-day festival blending pagan Samhain customs with Christian devotion:
- All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween) – ringing bells, lighting bonfires, wearing masks to ward off spirits, and “souling” for cakes to pray for the dead.
- All Saints’ Day (1 November) – honouring every saint and martyr in heaven.
- All Souls’ Day (2 November) – remembering all the departed, especially those in Purgatory.
In this episode, I step back into Tudor England to uncover:
- The origins of apple bobbing and “Nutcrack Night”
- How souling became the forerunner of trick-or-treating
- Why Hallowtide was both festive and deeply spiritual, a time to bridge the worlds of the living and ...
Read more- All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween) – ringing bells, lighting bonfires, wearing masks to ward off spirits, and “souling” for cakes to pray for the dead.
- All Saints’ Day (1 November) – honouring every saint and martyr in heaven.
- All Souls’ Day (2 November) – remembering all the departed, especially those in Purgatory.
In this episode, I step back into Tudor England to uncover:
- The origins of apple bobbing and “Nutcrack Night”
- How souling became the forerunner of trick-or-treating
- Why Hallowtide was both festive and deeply spiritual, a time to bridge the worlds of the living and ...