Halloween is here !

It’s Halloween in the Baronnies!

This celebration finds its pagan origins in the Celtic festival of Samain (kind of new year) coming from Ireland. Its name is a contraction of the English “All Hallows-Even” which means in contemporary English “The eve of All Hallow’Day”, which can be translated as “the day before all the saints”

In Provence, each village has its “masc” or “masco”: this person lives outside the urban area and has his own toad, the flagship animal who escorts the diabolical acts.

If you meet a certain Josepha from Montbrun-les-Bains, one piece of advice: run away! It is said that at the end of the 16th century, she settled in the valley of Jabron, above Montfroc and that she had a divinatory gift … Or was she possessed by the Evil?

On our land, be careful with owls. They can watch your houses during the night. If they start whimpering, crying, making uttering sounds and speaking backwards, then they are probably “oulourgo”. The “oulourgo” are souls of ghosts close to their family who are reincarnated as nocturnal birds. In the eighteenth century, in the valley of Toulourenc, women reincarnated as an owl were nailed on the doors of the houses: Be attentive and careful!

It was at this time also that it was thought that the Devil was hiding at the top of the Ventoux: it may still be … At the beginning of the 20th century, it would have been transformed into a wolf going down from the north of the mountain towards the surrounding villages.

If the past doesn’t scare you, you must know that the Devil has the reputation of crossing the mountain of Lure and Mont Ventoux over our mountain passes and ridges. The devil can invoked if you’d like to take revenge on your neighbors, but…this could turn against you ….

To survive the night of October 31st, we invite you to brandish your magic wands in linden wood and to wear your witch hats if you do not want the rato penado (the bat) to fly into your hair!