I'm posting
pre posting so the date will be Halloween when this goes live. Yes we celebrate Halloween on the island, although it goes by a different name - "Hop Tu
Naa. " So is Halloween or Hop Tu
Naa we celebrate and what is the difference?
Hop Tu
Naa is a corruption of "
Shogh Ta'n Oie"
meaning this is the night. What night though? That would be the Celtic New Year - "
Oie Houney." The Celtic
new year of course has since been moved to Jan. the Celtic year was separated in to 4 and
Sauin- "New Year" was celebrated in "
Mee Houney" the Manx for November. As Halloween is Oct 31
th the new celebrations have become
intergrated as one, although younger
Manxies now assume "Hop Tu
Naa" and Halloween is one in the same and is celebrated thus so.
Pumpkins are
halloween, where as true Hop Ta
Naa goer should be seen swinging a hollowed out turnip lantern and singing old
manx folk songs, not trick or treating. Trick or treating is an American custom which has been adopted in the UK Halloween celebrations, and yes into Manx ones too.
So Hop Tu
Naa like a lot of traditions has been swallowed up with a more commercial celebration and has less to to with celebrating the old New Year, and more to do with rotting kids teeth on sweets. Ramsey though and many parts of the island do try and uphold many of the Hop Tu
Naa traditions and there is no finer sight than a group of
Manxies, swinging those turnip lanterns and singing a
manx song. It's also a little creepy to in a Wicker Man sense, but we won't go into that.
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