Halloween ~ Samhain
The spirit behind the original Halloween goes back some 1200 years BCE and takes us to the Pagan culture of the Celts in Ireland and Scotland. It was to celebrate the end of Summer and its bountiful harvests as Winter and the new year are ushered in.
Practiced between the Autumnal equinox and the Winter solstice, the profundity of Samhain looked to Nature to realize the cycles of life as well as its renewal.
During the 3 day festival, an enormous bonfire would be lit and there would be the expression of gratitude by sacrificing food and perhaps animals to the spirits be they fae or gods, depending upon what beings' presence was sensed ...
Most importantly, people felt deeply connected with the forests, brooks, animals, mountains as much as their community and thus intuitively realized a pervasive interconnectedness while humankind is at Nature's mercy. It was a time of taking stock of one's resources esp. food if one wished to survive the dark and harsh Winter.
Today we still practice dressing up, playing tricks on each other and watching our kids enjoy Trick-or-Treating as they revel in the spookiness of many a neighbors' outside Halloween decorations. One more creative than the other ...
