The late autumnal festival of Samhain is a time to rest, regenerate and dream, as the divide between worlds fades away.

Samhaim, later known as Halloween, is a cross-quarter festival and the counterbalance to Beltane. The final harvest of berries and nuts is gathered and the nutritional sap of the plants returns to the earth. The light is going as the days shorten and darkness takes over.

The veil between the worlds thins in this season and it's an ideal time to communicate with the world of spirits, to divine and to prophesy.

According to Celtic belief, people didn't actually die by moved on elsewhere. Samhain was a time when their spirits could slip back to visit this world. This veil between realms also allows the fairy folk to come into your world and make mischief.

Samhain represents the powers of death and darkness, but the Celts were not afraid of theses forces and regarded them as important and as meaningful as the forces of light. Its latter-day festival Halloween seeks to repel them.

Unable to repress the people's strong allegiance to the dark energies of Samhain, the Christian Church renamed the festival All Saints Day (1 November) to honor all saints, known and unknown. In later times, the day following Samhain also became known as All Souls or all Hallows, when people would pray for the dead.

For the early-rising Celts, days began in darkness, which is why many of our modern-day celebrations start on the Eve of All Hallows. The combination of the Celts' Eve and the Christian's All Hallows give us Halloween' on 31 October. Thus, the Church's fear of the dark powers has moved the emphasis towards making fun at this time. Children's games, such as making jock-o'-lantern, survive only as a light hearted reminder of Samhain. Jack-o'-lanterns were originally carved from turnips, to keep spirits away until sunrise.

With all the fun at Halloween, you can still lay a more meaningful emphasis on what you do. By dressing up as a witch you are imitating the wise Crone, whose conical hat draws up the energy of the Crown Chakra and assists in thinking. The hat's brim sends out the Crone's will, and, because people's noses and ears never stop growing, the witch's long nose represents the wisdom of age.

Another popular tradition is carving a Halloween lantern. You can have fun carving Halloween lanterns from pumpkins. The sweet flesh can then be used for making a pumpkin pie. The custom originates from the belief that these

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about The origin of Halloween?
We want to hear your view. Write now!