John Arnott MacCulloch

Samhain ( SAH-win, SOW-in; Irish: [ˈsˠəunʲ]; Scottish Gaelic: [ˈs̪ãũ.ɪɲ]) or Sauin (Manx: [ˈsoːɪnʲ]) is a Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season in autumn and beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year. It is also the Irish and Scottish Gaelic name for November. Celebrations begin on the evening of 31 October, since the Celtic day began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic…