Halloween

Introduction

The number three figures prominently in Celtic beliefs; many of their gods and goddesses were depicted with three heads or aspects. This may explain why many later Halloween fortune-telling games required tasks to be performed three times. The Celts believed in an afterlife, with souls journeying to an Otherworld sometimes called Tir na tSamhraidh, or “Land of Summer” (note the similarity to “Samhain”). They thought the doors between this world and the Otherworld opened one night a year—Samhain, of course. On that night, the dead might return to the living, and creatures called sidh, or fairies, could cross over to bedevil humans. Samhain features frequently in Celtic lore. Practically, it marked the end of summer and the beginning of winter. Crops were gathered, and livestock were brought in from the fields. Pigs and cattle were slaughtered, with only a small number kept for breeding stock. A Celtic day began when the sun went down, so Samhain started with the onset of darkness on October 31, accompanied by a feast celebrating the recent harvest and the temporary abundance of food. Some archaeological evidence suggests that Samhain may have been the only time when the Celts had ready access to an abundance of alcohol, and the surviving accounts of the festival—where drunkenness often occurred—support this. Samhain was also an important day for administration, akin to U.S. Tax Day in modern times.

Morton, Lisa. 2012. Trick or Treat : A History of Halloween. London: Reaktion Books

Images

Pumpkin Jack-o’-lantern: Halloween, glowing pumpkin, scary face, candles, autumn leaves, spooky decoration.

---

Haunted House: haunted mansion, full moon, spooky house, foggy night, eerie atmosphere, Halloween.

---

Graveyard with Grim Reaper: graveyard, foggy cemetery, grim reaper, dark atmosphere, Halloween, horror, tombstones.

---

Wicked Witch Brewing a Potion: witch, cauldron, potion, magic, Halloween, spooky, fantasy.

---

Spooky Castle with Bats: gothic castle, lightning, bats flying, dark sky, eerie castle, Halloween, horror.

---

Pumpkin-headed Scarecrow: scarecrow, pumpkin head, sunset, eerie, field, crows, Halloween, spooky.

---

Howling Wolf and Full Moon: werewolf, full moon, night sky, eerie, howling wolf, Halloween, horror.

---

Pumpkin Patch at Twilight: pumpkins, Halloween, twilight, jack-o’-lanterns, eerie, autumn.

---