Things that go bump in the night

So 31 October, otherwise known as ‘Halloween’, has come and gone. But how much do we all really know about the roots of this night where everyone dressed up as ghouls and demons? I was very surprised to realise that I didn’t know quite as much about it as I had thought I did. For instance, I hadn’t been aware that this night is linked to the Celtic festival of ‘Samhain’, a name derived from Old Irish, which roughly means ‘summer’s end’.

The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the “lighter half” of the year and the beginning of the “darker half”, and is sometimes regarded as the “Celtic New Year”.

The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld  became weaker on Samhain, allowing spirits (both benevolent and malign) to pass through. The family’s ancestors were honoured and invited into the home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the desire to ward off evil spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks. Their purpose was to disguise the wearer as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young men dressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.

Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock  for winter stores. Bonfires played a large part in the festivities. All other fires were doused and each home lit their hearth from the bonfire. The bones of slaughtered livestock were cast into its flames. Sometimes two bonfires would be built side by side, and people and their livestock would walk between them as a cleansing ritual.

So maybe next year I’ll avoid the traditional Halloween parties and head off to celebrate the festival of Samhain, Celtic style, instead.