Circle Of Ashes And Stones
There are many practices followed on Halloween Eve that don't fall into the lot system. These practices are "once and done" procedures that became superstition, but appear to be birthed by ritual or religious formulas. The earliest and most prevalent practices revolve around the bonfire and a white stone, and we can find records of this practice in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Britain. Each person says a prayer and walks around the bonfire three times. In some areas, the young men of the family guard the stones, making a game out of protecting the "family jewels". When the teens and young adults tire of jousting, the smaller children take over and the emotional content around the practice grows more serious. Just as children were used to "watch the hearthfires" in Germany and other Celtic regions to ensure warmth and cooking capabilities in the morning, here the little ones were responsible for the ''lives" of each family member until dawn. If, the morning after the bonfire was reduced to cold ashes, any family member's stone is discovered missing, the superstition prevailed that the person who belonged to the missing stone would be dead before the next Halloween. In North Wales, this fire was called Coel Coeth, where each family member built a seperate bonfire near their homes. In Scotland, the ashes were collected from all the bonfires in the area, then spread into a large circle. The next morning a Druid priest would rekindle the main bonfire to ensure the health and wealth of those whose stones remained.
Halloween
Silver Ravenwolf
ISBN 1-56718-719-6