Haloween customs

From the Smithsonian

Kale as matchmaker

Meet the Cromartie Fool, the goofy man holding a kale stock. According to Celtic tradition, it was believed that this jester presided over Halloween festivities—many of which involved single men and women uprooting kale stalks to determine their future. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.


Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-halloween-tradition-best-left-dead-kale-as-matchmaker-100207686/#EXuYqlcPp2WfiMZz.99
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Via TeaAtTrianon:

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BBC on the UK's Haloween and Winter customs

There are men who carry flaming barrels of tar through a Devon village, folk who pour cider over apple tree roots and cross-dressing troupes who perform something called Soul Caking to ward off evil spirits.
There is also a village in Somerset called Hinton St George which has a tradition of pumpkin carving and night-time walks that sounds remarkably similar to the Halloween rituals we all know.

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