"begging for candy). In Cornwall and Wales, the autumn ancestor festivals occur around Nov. 1. In Cornwall the festival is known as ""Kalan Gwav"", and in Wales as ""Calan Gaeaf."" The festivals bear some similarities to the better-known Gaelic festival of Samhain, from which modern Halloween is derived. During ""Samhain"", November 1 in Ireland and Scotland, the dead are thought to return to the world of the living, and offerings of food and light are left for them. On the festival day, ancient people would extinguish the hearth fires in their homes, participate in a community bonfire festival, and then"
"Samhain Samhain (; ) is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the ""darker half"" of the year. Traditionally, it is celebrated from 31 October to 1 November, as the Celtic day began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lughnasadh. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Similar festivals are held at the same time of year in other Celtic lands;"
"planner. Starting at sundown, Wiccans celebrate a holiday known as Samhain. Samhain actually comes from old Celtic traditions and is not exclusive to Neopagan religions like Wicca. While the traditions of this holiday originate in Celtic countries, modern day Wiccans don't try to historically replicate Samhain celebrations. Some traditional Samhain rituals are still practised, but at its core, the period is treated as a time to celebrate darkness and the dead – a possible reason why Samhain can be confused with Halloween celebrations."" The traditions and importance of Halloween vary greatly among countries that observe it. In Scotland and Ireland,"
"of the Dead. In some rituals the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the festival of Beltane, which is celebrated as a festival of light and fertility. Many Pagans believe that at Samhain the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the whole year, making it easier to communicate with those who have left this world. In addition to the eight major holidays common to most modern Pagans, there are a"
"between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the whole year, making it easier to communicate with those who have left this world. Holidays Calendars Early Irish literature Samhain Samhain (; ) is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the ""darker half"" of the year. Traditionally, it is celebrated from 31 October to 1 November, as the Celtic day began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along"
"as All Saints and All Souls. Since then, Samhain has been popularly seen as the Celtic New Year and an ancient festival of the dead. The calendar of the Celtic League, for example, begins and ends at Samhain. In the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages, Samhain is known as the 'calends of winter'. The Brythonic lands of Wales, Cornwall and Brittany held festivals on 31 October similar to the Gaelic one. In Wales it is ""Calan Gaeaf"", in Cornwall it is Allantide or ""Kalan Gwav"" and in Brittany it is ""Kalan Goañv"". The Manx celebrate Hop-tu-Naa on 31 October,"
"century. Since the later 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Samhain, or something based on it, as a religious holiday. Neopagans in the Southern Hemisphere often celebrate Samhain at the other end of the year (about 1 May). In Modern Irish as well as Scottish Gaelic the name is . Older forms of the word include the Scottish Gaelic spellings and . In Manx Gaelic the name is . These are also the names of November in each language, shortened from ""Mí na Samhna"" (Irish), ""Mì na Samhna"" (Scottish Gaelic) and ""Mee Houney"" (Manx), meaning ""month of Samhain""."
"the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which comes from the Old Irish for 'summer's end'."" Samhain () was the first and most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and was celebrated on 31 October – 1 November in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. A kindred festival was held at the same time of year by the Brittonic Celts, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Kalan Gwav in Cornwall and Kalan Goañv in Brittany; a name meaning ""first day of winter"". For the Celts, the day"
"October–1 November, to mark the beginning of winter. It was called ""Samhain"" in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, and ""Calan Gaeaf"" in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. The festival is believed to have pre-Christian roots. After the Christianization of Ireland in the 5th century, some of these customs may have been retained in the Christian observance of All Hallows' Eve in that region—which continued to be called ""Samhain""/""Calan Gaeaf""—blending the traditions of their ancestors with Christian ones. It was seen as a liminal time, when the spirits or fairies (the ""Aos Sí""), and the souls of the dead, could"
"the four ""greater Sabbats"". Samhain is seen by some Wiccans as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have died, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and other loved ones who have died. In some rituals the spirits of the dead are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the spring festival of Beltane, which Wiccans celebrate as a festival of light and fertility. Wiccans believe that at Samhain the veil"
"Aidan Kelly around 1970 as a reference to , a character from Welsh mythology. Among the sabbats, it is the second of the three Pagan harvest festivals, preceded by Lammas / Lughnasadh and followed by Samhain. Samhain () is considered by Wiccans to be one of the four ""Greater Sabbats"". Samhain is considered by some as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets, and other loved ones who have died. Aligned with the contemporary observance of Halloween and Day"
"Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of Hallows' Even or Hallows' Evening), also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a celebration observed in several countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain; that such festivals may have had pagan roots; and that"
"Samhain itself was Christianized as Halloween by the early Church. Some believe, however, that Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, as well as watching horror films. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular, although elsewhere it is a more commercial and secular celebration. Some Christians"
"that the Manx sometimes called 31 October ""New Year's Night"" or ""Hog-unnaa"". The ""Tochmarc Emire"", written in the Middle Ages, reckoned the year around the four festivals at the beginning of the seasons, and put Samhain at the beginning of those. However, Hutton says that the evidence for it being the Celtic or Gaelic New Year's Day is flimsy. Rhys's theory was popularised by Sir James George Frazer, though at times he did acknowledge that the evidence is inconclusive. Frazer also put forth that Samhain had been the pagan Celtic festival of the dead and that it had been Christianized"
"ended and began at sunset; thus the festival began on the evening before 7 November by modern reckoning (the half point between equinox and solstice). Samhain and Calan Gaeaf are mentioned in some of the earliest Irish and Welsh literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century, and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween. Samhain/Calan Gaeaf marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year. Like Beltane/Calan Mai, it was seen as a liminal time, when the"
"beginning of the darker half (winter). It is here where it was believed that the division between life and the after life was thinnest. It was believed that this thinning allowed spirts to move between this world and the other. The widely practice holiday of Halloween originates from Samhain. Another tradition rooted in folklore is Beltane. Beltane is held on the first day of May. This tradition is a celebration marking the beginning of summer. During this tradition rituals were performed to protect both crops and livestock. Large bonfires were lit serving as protection for grazing cattle. Today Beltane festivals"
"try to emulate the historic festival as much as possible. Other Neopagans base their celebrations on sundry unrelated sources, Gaelic culture being only one of the sources. Folklorist Jenny Butler describes how Irish pagans pick some elements of historic Samhain celebrations and meld them with references to the Celtic past, making a new festival of Samhain that is inimitably part of neo-pagan culture. Neopagans usually celebrate Samhain on 31 October – 1 November in the Northern Hemisphere and 30 April – 1 May in the Southern Hemisphere, beginning and ending at sundown. Some Neopagans celebrate it at the astronomical midpoint"
"dates. Within 12 miles of the Hill of Tara is another significant site known as Hill of Ward or Tlachtga, named after a powerful druidess. The site dates from 200 AD and is reputed to be the place of the first Celtic Pagan Fire Festival that took place on the eve of Samhain, 31 October. It was a pagan ritual of burning cattle bones, referred to then as bonefires or 'tine cnámh'. Samhain was later incorporated or replaced by All Saints' Day in the Christian calendar. A theory that may predate the Hill of Tara's splendor before Milesian times is"
"two being the autumnal equinox (or Mabon) and Samhain. Wiccans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the god in bread and eating it, to symbolise the sanctity and importance of the harvest. Celebrations vary, as not all Pagans are Wiccans. The Irish name Lughnasadh is used in some traditions to designate this holiday. Wiccan celebrations of this holiday are neither generally based on Celtic culture nor centered on the Celtic deity Lugh. This name seems to have been a late adoption among Wiccans. In early versions of Wiccan literature the festival is referred to as ""August Eve"". The"
"on 31 October–1 November, to mark the beginning of winter. It was ""Samhain"" in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, and ""Calan Gaeaf"" in Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. The festival is believed to have pre-Christian roots. In the 9th century, the Catholic Church made 1 November All Saints' Day. Among Celtic-speaking peoples, it was seen as a liminal time, when the spirits or fairies (the ""Aos Sí""), and the souls of the dead, came into our world and were appeased with offerings of food and drink. Similar beliefs and customs were found in other parts of Europe. It is"
"ancient origin by medieval Irish writers. The festivals of Samhain and Imbolc are not associated with ""paganism"" or druidry in Irish legend, but there have nevertheless been suggestions of a prehistoric background since the 19th century, in the case of Samhain by John Rhys and James Frazer who assumed that this festival marked the ""Celtic new year"". The Celtic peoples of Gaul and Hispania under Roman rule fused Roman religious forms and modes of worship with indigenous traditions. In some cases, Gaulish deity names were used as epithets for Roman deities, as with Lenus Mars or Jupiter Poeninus. In other"
"deceased relatives and they decorate them with flowers and candies and other offerings. Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of Hallows' Even or Hallows' Evening), also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a celebration observed in several countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the"
"he has the power to make those who invoke him invisible. During the English Puritan period, Baal was either compared to Satan or considered his main assistant. Some demonologists believe his power is stronger in October. The origin of Halloween in Samhain involves pagan worship and sacrifice to Baal. While his Semitic predecessor was depicted as a man or a bull, the demon Baal was in grimoire tradition said to appear in the forms of a man, cat, toad, or combinations thereof. An illustration in Jacques Collin de Plancy's 1818 book ""Dictionnaire Infernal"" placed the heads of the three creatures"
"Halloween and Hallowmas. Halloween (or ""Hallowe'en"") is a shortened form of ""All Hallow Even,"" meaning ""All Hallows' Eve"" or ""All Saints' Eve."" Hallowmas, the day after Halloween, is shortened from ""Hallows' Mass,"" and is also known as ""All Hallows' Day"" or ""All Saints' Day."" Some important and powerful objects in legends could be referred to as ""hallows"" because of their function and symbolism. The Tuatha de Danaan in Ireland possessed the Four Treasures of Ireland which could be interpreted as ""hallows"": the Spear of Lugh, Stone of Fal, the Sword of Light of Nuada, and The Dagda's Cauldron. In the"
"for example the Brythonic Calan Gaeaf (in Wales), Kalan Gwav (in Cornwall), and Kalan Goañv (in Brittany), both Celtic branches are roughly as old as each other. Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and there is evidence it has been an important date since ancient times. Some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise around the time of Samhain. It is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and many important events in Irish mythology happen or begin on Samhain. It was the time when cattle were brought back down from the summer pastures"
"in conformity with the generally accepted pronunciation of the eponymous ancient holiday. Samhain's lyrics were much darker than those of the Misfits, with themes rooted in paganism and the occult and eventually the horrors of reality, as opposed to the sometimes cartoonish ghouls and ghosts of the Misfits. Samhain's musical style was a dark, gritty, and experimental combination of punk, gothic rock, and on the last album, heavy metal. Samhain released two full-length albums and one EP during their three-year career as an active band. Danzig has said that he wrote two songs (""Death Comes Ripping"" and ""Bloodfeast"") with the"
"and much celebrated holiday in Scotland and Ireland on the night of 31 October. The name ""Halloween"" is first attested in the 16th century as a Scottish shortening of the fuller ""All-Hallows-Even"", and according to some historians has its roots in the Gaelic festival Samhain, when the Gaels believed the border between this world and the otherworld became thin, and the dead would revisit the mortal world. In 1780, Dumfries poet John Mayne makes note of pranks at Halloween; """"What fearfu' pranks ensue!"""", as well as the supernatural associated with the night, """"Bogies"""" (ghosts). Robert Burns' 1785 poem ""Halloween"" is"
"as festivals, and time was counted forward and backwards from them without reference to the ordinary calendar. In her fine study of the festival of the beginning of harvest, in Irish ""Lughnasa"", Máire MacNeill has demonstrated the continuity between the myth known from the early Middle Ages and the customs which survive to our own day. Lughnasa, called Calan Awst in Welsh, is a summer feast and was dedicated to the god Lug. Of great interest is the use in the Coligny calendar of the word ""Saman"", a word that is still in use in Gaelic refer to Hallowe'en (evening"
"Middle Irish writer notes that Samhain is also called ""Féile Moingfhinne"" (the Festival of Mongfind or Mongfhionn), and that ""women and the rabble make petitions to her"" at Samhain. Many other events in Irish mythology happen or begin on Samhain. The invasion of Ulster that makes up the main action of the ""Táin Bó Cúailnge"" ('Cattle Raid of Cooley') begins on Samhain. As cattle-raiding typically was a summer activity, the invasion during this off-season surprised the Ulstermen. The ""Second Battle of Magh Tuireadh"" also begins on Samhain. The Morrígan and The Dagda meet and have sex before the battle against"
"the Gaelic festival of Samhain, when the Gaels believed the border between this world and the otherworld became thin, and the dead would revisit the mortal world. In 1780, Dumfries poet John Mayne noted Halloween pranks: """"What fearfu' pranks ensue!"""", as well as the supernatural associations of that night, """"Bogies"""" (ghosts). The bard of Scotland Robert Burns' 1785 poem ""Halloween"" is recited by Scots at Halloween, and Burns was influenced by Mayne's composition. In Scotland, traditional Halloween customs include: Guising — children in costume going from door to door demanding food or coins — which became established practice by the"
"and when livestock were slaughtered for the winter. As at Bealtaine, special bonfires were lit. These were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers and there were rituals involving them. Like Bealtaine, Samhain was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld could more easily be crossed. This meant the ""Aos Sí"", the 'spirits' or 'fairies', could more easily come into our world. Most scholars see the ""Aos Sí"" as remnants of the pagan gods and nature spirits. At Samhain, it was believed that the ""Aos Sí"" needed to be propitiated to ensure that"
"eventually written down in the Middle Ages by Christian monks, who Christianized it to some extent. Nevertheless, these tales may shed some light on what Samhain meant and how it was marked in ancient Ireland. Irish mythology tells us that Samhain was one of the four seasonal festivals of the year, and the 10th-century tale ""Tochmarc Emire"" ('The Wooing of Emer') lists Samhain as the first of these four ""quarter days"". The tales say it was marked by great gatherings where they held meetings, feasted, drank alcohol, and held contests. According to Irish mythology, Samhain (like Bealtaine) was a time"
"In vampire hunter lore, people born on Saturday were specially designated as ""sabbatianoí"" in Greek and ""sâbotnichavi"" in Bulgarian (rendered in English as ""Sabbatarians""). It was also believed in the Balkans that someone born on a Saturday could see a vampire when it was otherwise invisible. The annual cycle of the Earth's seasons is called the Wheel of the Year in Wicca and neopaganism. Eight sabbats (occasionally ""sabbaths"", or ""Sun sabbats"") are spaced at approximately even intervals throughout the year. Samhain, which coincides with Halloween, is considered the first sabbat of the year. An esbat is a ritual observance of"