Samhain in Scotland

Wow, Scotland continually amazes me. I finally feel like I'm settling in to my surroundings. I've found some good friends at Church and living in my block of apartments (yes, person who lives in 3/8 who will undoubtedly read this blog and for whom  haven't thought of a self-conscious nickname yet). It's been a while since I've laughed as heartily as I did this weekend, or even tonight at activities over at the ward building.

Last night, I took some time to go to the Fire Festival celebration on the Royal Mile by the Beltane Fire Society. I met up with two of my American friends, and we just watched as the dancers passed us by, costumed in deep-hued body paint, branches and brambles, bits of fur, crepe and animal costumes. It was a procession from pre-history; these were actors who reenacted how close humans once were to nature, having costumes of fire demons and winter demons. They burned incense, beat drums, held aloft lit torches. It was so much better than any other Hallowe'en I could have imagined for myself. Indeed, it wasn't even a Hallowe'en celebration but a Samhain (pronounced sow-wen, apparently) ritual.

It wasn't quite the drug-induced pagan-fest it appears to be in the pictures. I was shooting with the 'night mode' on my camera, but the 'auto mode' works much better.

There were dancing red devils that ran and shouted through the other procession members, solemn blue branch-wielders that kept the crowd back, a glowing-eyed raven attended by smaller crows, an elephant, a lion, all sorts of birds, and winter spirits with white fur, black eye makeup and spears. The winter spirits were probably my favorite for the reason that they were near us in the crowd as we watched.

The fact that we were standing in front of St. Giles' kirk did not escape me. The square where the procession performed was the site of the old Edinburgh Tolbooth, the prison. Who knows how many mobs have assembled there on a night like this one? A cold night, fires burning, crowds of people, not being entirely sure what was going on... However, unlike the mob nights where such a man like Porteous was taken from the Tolbooth and hung in the Grassmarket, like in Walter Scott's The Heart of Mid-lothian, tonight was much calmer. However, I would imagine that the crowd gathered for the Samhain festivities would have left a guinea in payment for any rope they had taken.

Ooch, bring yoor torch and pitchfork!

And, if everything uploads correctly, there's even a video to show you! Yay! I haven't watched it myself, so I don't know what you should expect.

In summary, a Scottish Halloween is better than an American one.

Also, a quick note on adding my sentiment to what a lot of my friends are thinking about: staying a whole year abroad. I haven't much thought about it; even though I love the city and am really starting to love the people I've met here, come mid-December I will be ready to return home. I have been away for a while, and I want to return to my native land. It's wearying being abroad, and I want to return to Scripps and prepare for my senior year and thesis. However, that does not mean I won't come back to Edinburgh. A lot of the people I've met from Church are here doing Master's programs, and I'm seriously considering coming back as a degree-seeking student in a few years' time.

So the natural proclivity to stay in Edinburgh is still in me, but in a more subdued/sleeper form.