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and Beltane marked the divide of the year into the two main halves, the light' half and the dark' half.

The light' half began at the full moon near the end of April/beginning of May (Beltane), a time when the world starts to open up with the light and warmth of summer.

The dark' half began at the full moon near the end of October/beginning of November (Samhain), heralding the end of the life of summer when the world starts to darken and the days start to shorten.

The last harvest of the year was gathered at this time, before the Earth went into a state of hibernation and the bitter cold death of winter set in.

Whenever there is an end, there is always a beginning. Because of this the Celtic New Year also began at Samhain, which is why this festival had so much significance.

Not only was Samhain the celebration of the last harvest and a time to welcome the beginning of a new year, it was also considered as the Festival of the Dead.

Festival of the Dead

Because Samhain signalled the transition between the end of summer and the beginning of winter, the barriers between the world of the living and the worlds of the spirits and that of the Gods were thought to be at their thinnest.

For this reason the souls of the dead, and all manor of spirits both evil and friendly were thought to roam the earth.

Huge emphasis was placed on this part of the Samhain festivities. Death was not feared as it is today; it was embraced as a natural part of life's eternal cycle.

The ancients believed death was not the end of life, but the next step in the soul's evolution. For this reason the spirits of the ancestors were welcomed and honoured.

The Church saw this harvest festival as a threat because of its connotations with death. They wanted the people to be afraid of death and to be fearful that they may end up in the Hell so that they would abide by the Christian laws.

And so the Church tried to create a connection between Samhain and devil worship by demonising all the Pagan gods, and associating the Summerland's (Pagan after life) with the Christian Hell.

Ancient Traditions

Although this happened time and time again with many Pagan festivals and folklore, the traditions behind many Pagan beliefs remained.

For example; bonfires played a huge part in the celebrations of Samhain, and the custom of lighting bonfires for religious purposes is still going strong today.

The term bonfire, incidentally, comes from bone' and fire' as the bones of the cattle that were slaughtered for food to last throughout

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