Samhain (Halloween)

Samhain is a Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of the "darker half" of the year. It also marks the 45 days between autumnal Equinox and Winter solstice. Like Beltane on May 1st, Samhain blurs the veil between our world and the Otherworld, inviting contact with spirits and faeries. Rooted in Celtic paganism, Neolithic tombs in Britain and Ireland align with Samhain's sunrise. In the modern era, traditions include grand gatherings, feasts, and open burial mounds as portals to the beyond. It's also the Scottish Gaelic name for November. Like Beltane (1st May) Samhain is a threshold festival, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld blurred, making contact with the 'spirits' or 'faeries’. At Samhain, the ancestors were appeased with offerings of food and drink to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. The souls of dead kin were also thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality, and a place was set at the table for them during a meal. Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins, and some Neolithic passage tombs in Great Britain and Ireland are aligned with the sunrise at the time of Samhain. Samhain is mentioned in the earliest Irish literature, from the 9th century, and is associated with many important events in Irish mythology. The early literature says Samhain was marked by great gatherings and feasts and was when the ancient burial mounds were open, which were seen as portals to the Otherworld. The festival was not recorded in detail until the early modern era. It was when cattle were brought down from the summer pastures and livestock were slaughtered. Special bonfires were lit, which were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers. This place is called Wistman's wood on Dartmoor in the UK. It is considered one of the most haunted places in the UK.