Halloween

Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while "some folklorists[->0] have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona[->1], the goddess of fruits and seeds, orin the festival of the dead[->2] called Parentalia[->3], it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain[->4], whose original spelling was Samuin (pronounced sow-an or sow-in)".[1] Thename is derived from Old Irish[->5] and means roughly "summer's end".[1] A similar festival was held by the ancient Britons[->6] and is known as Calan Gaeaf[->7] (pronounced Kálan Gái av).[->8][->9][->10]Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise[->11] showing a Halloween party in Blarney[->12], Ireland[->13], in 1832. The young children on the right bob for apples[->14]. A couple in the center play avariant, which involves retrieving an apple hanging from a string. The couples at left play divination[->15] games.
The festival of Samhain celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year andbeginning of the "darker half", and is sometimes[2] regarded as the "Celtic New Year".[3]
The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld[->16] became thin on Samhain,allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. The family's ancestors were honoured and invited home while harmful spirits were warded off. It is believed that the need to ward offharmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes[->17] and masks[->18]. Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm. In Scotland the spirits were impersonated by young mendressed in white with masked, veiled or blackened faces.[4]HYPERLINK \l "cite_note-ArnoldB-4"[5] Samhain was also a time to take stock of food supplies and slaughter livestock[->19] for winterstores. Bonfires[->20] 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.[6]...