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A leap year, with its extra added day, 29 Febeuary, is generally thought to be a propitious time for embarking on important new projects.  Choosing 29 February itself as the starting date is particularly astute as the projects is sure to prosper, and children conceived or born on that date ae thought to enjoy special blessings.

 The best known tradiion connected with leap years is that this is the one time when girls can decently make marriage proposals.  Men are warned that it is bad luck to turn such an offer down, though - according to the Scots - they will be immune from such ill fortune if the girl concerned has neglected to wear a scarlet flannel petticoat, which must be partly visible, under her dress.   

http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Leap_year

Feburary /29: Old Slavic Velja Noc/Great Night/New Year's Eve--Spirits of the dead visit their living relatives, overseen by Veles, Lord of the Dead.

People wearing animal masks and wool cloaks wandered through the villages representing the dead, and a grain effigy of the Morana of the old year was burned. Morana and Jarilo are born of Solntse (Goddess of the Sun) and Perun (God of the Sky). Veles steals Jarilo and raises him in Virey, realm of the dead. [a/k/a Wielkanoc]  

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/veles_(god)  

Powers greatly increased on this night. Invoke the spirits and the angels who might reveal the symbols and the secret words. 

The name Jack in Jack-o-Lanterns perhaps comes from the story of "Jack the Irish Villain", a man rejected by good and evil who wandered the world forever looking for a place to rest.  His only warmth came from a small candle in a rotten potato.  Irish immigrants brought with them to North America the Jack-o-Lantern tradition, but turnips were scarce so the pumpkin became a good replacement. 

A prominent emblem of modern Holloween festivites, the pumpkin was long revered as a symbol of fertility and protection againts evil.  Today's grotesque hollowed-out pumpkins, lit from within by candles, were orginally intended to protect revellers by scaring away any evil spirits abroad on the particular night.  Nowadays, this function seems to be increasingly forgotton as popalar mythology revels in tales of pumpkin monsters and pumpkin-headed demons, leading successive generations of children into the mistaken belief that pumpkins themselves represent evil and may be in league with witches, vampires and so forth.  

In keeping with the orginal idea that pumpkins bestowed protection against evil was the old tradition that they were best planted on Good Friday.  Once growing, they should never be pointed at: to do so inflicts the power of the evil eye and stunts their further development.  

Witchlore suggested that pumpkin seeds could be consumed to calm an excessively passionate nature, and that when mixed into a paste with oil and rubbed on the skin they eradicated freckles.   Cassell Dictionary of Witchcraft David Pickering  Pg. 216                                  




Here are some common superstitions that have long been a part of the folklore around this time of tear:  

Burning candles inside a Jack O’ Lantern keeps evil spirits away.   If you don’t burn candles on Samhain, you will suffer bad luck the rest of the year.  

If you gaze into the flame of a candle on Samhain, you will be able to see the future.  

If you hear footsteps behind you on this night, do not turn around to see who it is or you could be confronted by the personification of Death and pass away! 
 
If you allow a fire to burn out on Samhain, you will have bad luck the rest of the year unless it is relit by a priest.  


If you see a spider on Samhain, then it is likely that the spirit of a dead loved one is watching you.  

If you want to meet a witch on this night, put your clothes on inside out and walk backwards.  

If you give out nuts to children on Samhain, you will be protected from the Devil.
 
  If you ring a bell on Samhain, then the dark spirits will be scared away! It’s a good thing that a lot of doorbells are rang on that night.
 
If a bat flies around your house three times on Samhain, you will die within the year.

To ward off bad spirits, bury animal bones in your front yard.  

If the flame of a candle flickers and turns blue, there is a spirit in the room.  

If a crow caws at night on Samhain, then death is very near.  

All souls in purgatory are released for 48 hours to roam the earth on Samhain.  

If you float egg yolks in a bowl of water on this night, you will see patterns that will tell you about your future.  

If you eat a hazelnut on Samhain night and fall asleep, you will dream of your future spouse.  

The first person to go apple bobbing and successfully catch and entire apple in their mouth would also be the first to marry.  

Knocking on wood on Samhain will keep bad luck away.  

Gazing into the flame of a candle on Samhain will allow you to see your future.  

If you look down and you are casting no shadow at all, then you are in danger of having an evil spirit steal your soul.  

If you walk backwards down a staircase holding a mirror and candle, you will see the face of your future wife or husband.  

If you blindfold yourself and go out into the garden on Samhain and pull up Kale, the roots will tell you whether or not your future wife or husband will be tall or short, old or young, or healthy or unhealthy.  

Febuary 3 marks the Chinese New Year of the Hare or Rabbit.  The Hare or Rabbit is the fourth sign of the Chinese animal zodiac.  This animal is the luckiest of signs.  The rabbit or hare is talented and affectionate, yet shy and seeks peace.  A rabbit/hare should marry a pig or a sheep - not a rooster.  

The Rabbit/Hare is the emblem of self-sacrifice.  The story is told that when the animals bought their gifts for the Budda, the Rabbit had nothing to offer but his own body.  He threw himself on to a fire, but only after carefully combing his fur to remove any insects that would have died through the rabbit's actions.  As award for the animal's selflessness, the Budda transferred the Hare to the Moon, there the Rabbit can still be seen to this day, as his cauldron distilling the liquid once supposed to have the power of indefinitely prolonging life.  

The year of the Rabbit or Hare should be an excellent time period.  A time foe peace and co-operation.  A year of diplomacy, avoiding confrontations and achieving ends through quite determination.   Family, romance, career, personal abitions - all these are favourably aspected and can lead to success in many fields.  

Positive Side - new discoveries in the field of medicine, and any matters which concern prolong of life or improvements in the quality of social welfare. 
 
Negative Side - people for health reasons, begin taking medication most avoid becoming dependent on it. 

 The Year of the Rabbit is a time of peace and diplomacy. But, the Metal element brings a competitive side.  The Year of the Rabbit is projected to bring in a time of peace, tranquility and diplomacy. However, the Metal element gives this bunny a competitive, aggressive, cold, and sometimes insensitive side.  

Dictionary of Witchcraft - Like the HARE, the rabbit was long considered a favorite disguise of witches and their familiars (a demon or imp, uasually in the outward form of an animal, that was assigned to a witch to carry out magic on their command), and in former times it was thought ominous if such a creature was seen to close to livestock or to the family home.  

This link with the forces of darkness may go all the way back to pre-Christian pagan faith, when sightings of rabbits playing in the moonlight led to their indentification with the baleful Moon God. 

As well as adopting the form of a rabbit as a disguise, witches were also reputed to use parts of rabbits in various spells - notably those connected with making mischief or with feritility and sex magic, reflecting the animals remarkable powers of reproduction.

Witches and Wizards - The hare is a soft-footed servant.  

In both physical and behavioral, the hare was a natural ally of witches.  Hares are swift and agile, able to stand on their hind legs like a person, prone to gathering in parliament-like groups, orgiastically mad in the spring, destructive of crops and possessed of a most unbeastlike cry.  

Some witches traveled in the shape of hares; others had hare familiars - demonic servants in disguise.  

Given the asociation of hares with witchcraft and magic, it is not surprising that superstition surrounded them.  It was said, for example that the sight of a hare running down a village street presaged fire and that the appearance of a white hare in a mine would be followed by a fatal accient.  

To see a rabbit all is well with friends.  To see a dead rabbit a friend is stressed.

Curiously enough, possession of a hare's-foot brought luck.  This belief  arose not from the hare's traffic with witches but from a much more ancient associations. The hare is notably prolific creature, and its foot was long a sexual symbol. 

A witch's familiar, a power or token animal is a perfect costume for Samhain. Animals are equal to humans for they think, feel, speak, and do.  They are credited to have a supernatural powers and a kinship with spirit, since ancient times.  They are associated with magic because animals are able to sense and predict future events. 

A person's power animal, their familar are often wise counselors and messengers with information to protect and guide   The familiar costume needs to have character.  An opening is needed to be left for arms, completely cover the torso and to lace in loose ribbon around the neck and armholes to keep the costume in place.  

Samhain is one of those holidays that actually promotes the idea of being superstitious. Superstitions have been around for thousands of years and reflect our fears about those things we don’t understand.  

Here are some common superstitions that have long been a part of the folklore around this time of year:  

Burning candles inside a Jack O’ Lantern keeps evil spirits away.  

If you don’t burn candles on Samhain, you will suffer bad luck the rest of the year.
 
 If you gaze into the flame of a candle on Samhain, you will be able to see the future.  

If you hear footsteps behind you on this night, do not turn around to see who it is or you could be confronted by the personification of Death and pass away!  

If you allow a fire to burn out on Samhain, you will have bad luck the rest of the year unless it is relit by a priest.  

If you see a spider on Samhain, then it is likely that the spirit of a dead loved one is watching you.  

If you want to meet a witch on this night, put your clothes on inside out and walk backwards.  

If you give out nuts to children on Samhain, you will be protected from the Devil.
 
 If you ring a bell on Samhain, then the dark spirits will be scared away! It’s a good thing that a lot of doorbells are rang on that night.
 

If a bat flies around your house three times on Samhain, you will die within the year.

To ward off bad spirits, bury animal bones in your front yard.  

If the flame of a candle flickers and turns blue, there is a spirit in the room.  

If a crow caws at night on Samhain, then death is very near.  

All souls in purgatory are released for 48 hours to roam the earth on Samhain.  

If you float egg yolks in a bowl of water on this night, you will see patterns that will tell you about your future.  

If you eat a hazelnut on Samhain night and fall asleep, you will dream of your future spouse.  

The first person to go apple bobbing and successfully catch and entire apple in their mouth would also be the first to marry.  

Knocking on wood on Samhain will keep bad luck away.  

Gazing into the flame of a candle on Samhain will allow you to see your future.  

If you look down and you are casting no shadow at all, then you are in danger of having an evil spirit steal your soul.  

If you walk backwards down a staircase holding a mirror and candle, you will see the face of your future wife or husband.  

If you blindfold yourself and go out into the garden on Samhain and pull up Kale, the roots will tell you whether or not your future wife or husband will be tall or short, old or young, or healthy or unhealthy.