Where does Samhain come from?
Good question. Samhain originally came from the Ancient Gaels. The word Samhain itself is Gaelic. The Gaels are the ancestors of the Irish and Scottish. Samhain has always been celebrated in October, but only in the past decades has been associated as being the Wiccan/Pagan New Year. The Gaelic festival was primarily used as a time to track the food stores set aside for winter, and was also a day where a lot of livestock was slaughtered. The Gaels also believed this was the day that the veil between the worlds of the living and dead was virtually gone. Both good and evil spirits of the dead would cross over into the world of the living. Jack-O-Lanterns, originally made from turnips and other plants of the like, were set out to frighten away the evil spirits. Pumpkins weren’t carved until the Europeans came to North America, where the orange squash was widely found. Bonfires were lit to frighten away the evil spirits, and small bonfires were placed on “fairy mounds” or “spirit mounds.”
