More treats than tricks for Hallowe’en
Hallowe’en began as the Celtic festival of Samhain, old Celtic for ‘Summer’s End’, says Wikipedia. It celebrates the end of the ‘lighter half’ of the year and beginning of the ‘darker half’, and is sometimes regarded as the Celtic New Year. The name Hallowe’en was shortened by the Scots from ‘All Hallows Evening’.
The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on Samhain, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through. It seemed to be working around Darlinghurst last Saturday night!
by Michael Gormly
