Up: [[Wheel of the Year]] Created: 2023-10-15 Updated: 2026-02-07 October 31st is the last day of the Celtic year. The Celts believed that the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest on this night so there is a better chance of contacting spirits. It was also thought that any divinations would be more reliable because of the closer proximity to the [[Otherworld]] On Samhain (pronounced Saa-win) the community would get together to lay out food for the dead, and celebrate the end of the harvest. They would light huge fires to ward off evil and make sacrifices of produce and livestock to appease the gods. People wore costumes so their identities would be hidden from any evil spirits of the deceased. When Romans conquered the Celts, two Roman festivals were added into Samhain. Feralia was for commemorating the dead. There was also a celebration of Pomona, goddess of fruit and trees. Our Hallowe’en tradition of bobbing for apples comes from Pomona. The laying out food for the dead in Samhain turned into handing out candy to kids. These traditions came to North America in the 19th century when Irish people were escaping the potato famine. ### Irish tale of Jack Another great factoid about this time is the story of the Jack-o-lantern. There’s an Irish tale of Jack, “a stingy drunk with low morals” according to Ivy Newport who reported this in her *Studioworks Journal 58*, October 2023: Jack was barred from heaven. The devil wanted him but Jack trapped the devil twice and bargained his way out of hell. That left him wandering endlessly. The devil took pity on him and gave him a burning ember for his lantern to light his way. Irish people made lanterns of turnips carved with a demon face to put on their doorstop to help avoid an unwanted visit from Stingy Jack and other wandering souls. In North America that turnip became a pumpkin, not only because of the long growing season of the pumpkin but also because the pumpkin is traditional in indigenous harvest celebrations.