Halloween traces its origins to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrated over 2,000 years ago in what is now Ireland and parts of the UK. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter, a time when Celts believed the boundary between the living and the dead blurred. To ward off roaming spirits, people lit bonfires and wore costumes. When Christianity spread, All Hallows’ Eve emerged on October 31, preceding All Saints’ Day on November 1. Over time, the traditi

Samhainn is traditionally a Celtic festival which divided the year between the light and the dark half, Samhainn, pronounced ‘Sa-wayne’, was the celebration of the end of the harvest and a time where the boundary between our world would become weaker allowing ancestors and fairies to roam. Samhainn in Scottish Gaelic, was celebrated on 1 November with the festivities starting the night before. The festival is known as Samhainin Irish and Sauin in Manx. As religion changed in the British Isles wi