Friday, 1 October 2010

Samhain and Halloween

Everyone is getting ready for Halloween,  especially in the US where it is a great tradition.  It all began in Celtic times,  the Irish called it Samhain,  meaning roughly 'Summer's end'.  or the 'end of the harvest'.
Eventually, it became combined with All Saint's Day and All Hallow's E'en (becoming Halloween).
The Scottish, who called it Samhuin,  started using turnips - hollowing them out to light lanterns inside to ward off evil spirits.  I suppose that is where we began with pumkins?

It was considered that on 31st October,  the veil between life and the afterlife became thin,  and  I suppose that is where the 'spooky' stories began!

I am enjoying all your Halloween preparations!  Thank you all for sharing.
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4 comments:

  1. mo2 October 2010 at 14:42

    Hi Jacqui, You picture is just beautiful of the colorful autumn leaves. My favorite part of halloween is the day after it. "All Saint's Day". *hugs*

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous2 October 2010 at 20:18

    Hi Jacqui - wow, your photo is sooo pretty! And I learned something new today! :)
    Wishing you a lovely weekend,
    Zuzu

    ReplyDelete
  3. Reginas Cottage3 October 2010 at 10:28

    dear jacqui,
    wow...your fall photo of the leaves is
    sooooooooooo pretty!!!
    have a nice week,
    hugs regina

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous3 October 2010 at 18:02

    This is a most interesting time of the year. Thanks for sharing a little bit of the history behind this holiday.

    ~Ron

    ReplyDelete

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