Winter is coming

Hallowe’en on 31 October is the date when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead are believed to be at their thinnest – but it’s actually a Christianisation of a much older festival, Samhain. The last fire festival of the pagan year, falling between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice, like Hallowe’en Samhain was very much a festival that commemorated the dead. If you want a break from stuffing your face with sweets and trick-or-treating, you could try these more traditional ways of celebrating Samhain instead...

Ancient tradition

Two thousand years ago, Samhain was widely celebrated by the Gaelic people of Ireland,