Inside Salisbury: Halloween Special

Witchcraft, ghosts and the weird and wonderful of Salisbury

Photo by Beth Teutschmann on Unsplash

In this issue of Inside Salisbury

• Halloween traditions

• Folklore

• Witchcraft in Salisbury

• Salisbury ghosts

Halloween may be a popular holiday celebrated on October 31 each year, but its roots are complex blending pagan, Christian, and folk traditions.

In the traditions of the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), people would light bonfires and dress up in various costumes to ward off ghosts hoping that they would be mistaken for spirits and left alone by visitors from the other side.

All Hallows’ Eve (Halloween) is the day before All Saints’ Day and the word Hallowed means holy or sanctified. November 1 marked the beginning of the Celtic new year.

Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the darker times of the winter months. The souls of loved ones were believed to return to their homes and often a place was laid at the table for a lost family member at this time.

Halloween became a time for divination too with people trying to discover love, marriage, health or details of their death.

Traditions intertwined with festivals as part of the Roman invasions. The festivals - Pomona and Feralia, are where the dead are celebrated as well as the goddess of trees and fruit.

Bobbing apples became a Halloween tradition associated with the symbol for Pomona (apple). As the traditions expanded, stories of the dead and the veil for the ‘other side’ being the thinnest at this time became the norm.

Annette J Beveridge

https://insidesalisbury.uk

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Folklore

Pumpkins and Turnips

We associate the use of pumpkins for jack-o-lanterns, but before that, turnips were used. The name comes from the strange lights which were seen flickering over peat bogs. There is also a connection to the Irish legend Stingy-Jack, a drunk who allegedly bargained with Satan. He was apparently doomed to roam the Earth with just a hollowed turnip for his light.

Protective Elder

Elder trees have many superstitions associated with them and it is said that they protected people from witchcraft and if people planted elder trees close to the house, there was the belief it would bring them good luck. This is because it is thought to repel any malignant spirits.

It was generally advised not to cut down an elder tree. If this happened, and the wood was used to make furniture, it was said that the spirit of the tree, the Dryad, would subsequently haunt the owners.

Those standing beneath an elder tree at Samhain, Beltane, (May 1) or Midsummer (June 24) would enable the individual to see those from the ‘other world’ (Sidhe/Sith). Sleeping beneath an elder is said to invoke dreams of the fairies. Wearing elderflowers in the hair affords protection against evil spirits.

It is said that witches can also turn themselves into elder trees.

Hawthorn

The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon word hagedorn which translates as hedge thorn.

Hawthorn was considered a special tree for those practicing witchcraft, but to protect against witches, people often placed St. John’s Wort herb above the doorway. Placing a sprig of hawthorn above a baby’s cot was considered good luck.

Offerings placed beneath a hawthorn tree (strips of cloth, or coins) represented hope for healing or perhaps a blessing. The intent comes from respect and fear too as it may otherwise incur the anger of fairies who supposedly dwell within.

Rowan tree

The Rowan tree is also deemed a powerful protection against witchcraft. The tree featured in Norse mythology and the legend told that the life of god Thor was saved by the tree that bent over a fast-flowing river in the Underworld. Thor managed to grab the tree and he made it back to shore.

Rowan trees have, at times, been manipulated into archways enabling people to walk beneath them which was especially powerful if entering a garden.

Each Rowan tree berry has a small five pointed star (pentagram) opposite the stalk. A pentagram is an ancient symbol. For those needing protection, a piece of the tree would be carried to ward off witchcraft and they would even be used to protect cows.

Oak tree

Many superstitions are associated with Oak trees. Allegedly, sleeping beneath an oak tree will give a vision about the future.

At one time, people believed that if carrying a sprig of oak leaves, it would protect them from evil spirits. This may be derived from the fact that oak was used to make talismans and charms.

Blackthorn

Blackthorn has long been called the witches’ tree. At one time, if anyone carried a walking stick made from its wood, they would be suspected of being a witch. A blackthorn staff was often used to ward off evil.

Silver Birch

The Druids called this the Goddess Tree and the Lady of the Woods. It was known to protect against the evil eye and to protect against evil spirits. It is associated with new beginnings, love, fertility and light. Birch was sometimes used as a punishment to drive out evil spirits.

Elm trees

Elms were believed to guard passage to the underworld. In medieval times, two elm trees were used for hangings. This earned the trees a rather macabre reputation.

Witchcraft in Salisbury

Practitioners of magic allegedly used their supernatural powers to cast spells but many women practiced herbal medicine, and were healers or fortune-tellers. A belief in witchcraft has been noted over the centuries in a number of societies.

Even today, there are people who identify as witches and pagans in England. In Salisbury, Christianity was the most reported religion, but on the 2021 census, 158 people across Wiltshire selected Wicca as their religion.

Between 1500 and 1600, across Europe up to 80,000 women suspected of witchcraft were put to death. It was thought that many of these women were involved with the devil.

The first witch to confess to riding a broom (besom) was Guillaume Edelin and he was arrested in 1453 in France.

In Wiltshire, belief in magic was quite common. This was prior to the Civil War and some practices such as white magic, and the divination of hearth ashes for example were accepted. But darker magic was a different thing altogether.

Wiltshire had its own Wizard who came from Fonthill near Salisbury.