SAMHAIN (HALLOWEEN)

Celtic New Year ? Harvest festival ? Festival of the dead? Whatever, for the Irish, Halloween is a must. Thousands of people dress up, so don't forget your costume and your candy! Parades and dreamlike parades roam the streets.

The origins of Halloween go back to the time of Celtic rule. About 3,000 years ago, the Celtic year ended not on December 31, but on October 31, when the harvest ended. The Celts worshipped Samhain, the god of Death, on that night. The beliefs wanted then that the ghosts take advantage of this evening to visit the living. The Celts put out all the fires in the cottages, a huge banquet was organized and animal sacrifices were practiced. They sang and danced around large fires and celebrated the passage from the season of the sun to the season of darkness. To frighten the spirits, the participants dressed in terrifying costumes. They also thought of leaving offerings in front of their doors to appease the ghosts. The druids of the village distributed the embers of the pyre to each family the next day to rekindle the extinguished fires in the houses. These embers were supposed to keep away the evil spirits all year long. The Christianization, at the beginning of the 7th century, marked the end of this festival. Nevertheless, these rites will remain. The migration of the festival to the United States occurred at the same time as the exodus of the Irish to the New World in the 19th century.