Editing Halloween (section)

===Gaelic folk influence===
[[File:Traditional-irish-halloween-mask.jpg|thumbnail|An early 20th-century Irish Halloween mask displayed at the [[Museum of Country Life]] in [[County Mayo]], Ireland]]

Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by [[Folk culture|folk]] customs and beliefs from the [[Celtic nations|Celtic-speaking countries]], some of which are believed to have [[Celtic polytheism|pagan]] roots.<ref>Boenig, Robert. ''Anglo-Saxon Spirituality: Selected Writings''. Paulist Press, 2000. p. 7</ref> [[Jack Santino]], a [[Folkloristics|folklorist]], writes that "there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived".<ref>Santino, Jack. ''The Hallowed Eve: Dimensions of Culture in a Calendar Festival of Northern Ireland''. University Press of Kentucky, 1998. p. 95</ref> The origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the [[Gaels|Gaelic]] festival [[Samhain]].<ref name="rogers_s">Rogers, Nicholas. "[https://books.google.com/books?id=stWZ_UDteMIC&pg=PA11 Samhain and the Celtic Origins of Halloween]". ''Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night''. [[Oxford University Press]], 2002. pp. 11–21. {{ISBN|0-19-516896-8}}.</ref>

Samhain is one of the "[[quarter days|quarter days"]] in the medieval Gaelic calendar and has been celebrated on 31 October{{snd}}1 November<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5434659/halloween-pagan-origins-in-samhain/ |title=How Halloween Traditions Are Rooted in the Ancient Pagan Festival of Samhain |magazine=Time |language=en |access-date=4 December 2019}}</ref> in Ireland, Scotland and the [[Isle of Man]].<ref name="Roud">''A Pocket Guide To Superstitions of the British Isles'' (Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; Reprint edition: 4 November 2004) {{ISBN|0-14-051549-6}}</ref><ref name="bbc_halloween">[http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/halloween_1.shtml All Hallows' Eve] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103105817/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/halloween_1.shtml |date=3 November 2011 }} BBC. Retrieved 31 October 2011.</ref> A kindred festival has been held by the [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] Celts, called ''[[Calan Gaeaf]]'' in Wales, ''[[Allantide|Kalan Gwav]]'' in [[Cornwall]] and ''Kalan Goañv'' in [[Brittany]]: a name meaning "first day of winter". For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the festival begins the evening before 1 November by modern reckoning.<ref>[[Dáithí Ó hÓgáin|Ó hÓgáin, Dáithí]]. ''Myth, Legend & Romance: An encyclopaedia of the Irish folk tradition''. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. p. 402</ref> Samhain is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century,<ref name=hutton365-369>[[Ronald Hutton|Hutton, Ronald]]. ''The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain''. Oxford University Press, 1996. pp. 365–369</ref> and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween.

[[File:Snap-Apple Night globalphilosophy.PNG|thumb|''Snap-Apple Night, or All-Hallow Eve'', painted by [[Daniel Maclise]] in 1833, shows people feasting and playing divination games on Halloween in Ireland.<ref>{{cite news |title=Snap Apple Night, or All-Hallow Eve. January 1, 1845 |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/644100 |access-date=19 October 2021 |agency=Metmuseum.org |quote=In October 1832 Daniel Maclise attended a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland and, the next summer, exhibited a painting at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, titled "Snap Apple Night, or All Hallow Eve." |archive-date=25 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025195305/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/644100 |url-status=live }}</ref>]]

Samhain marked the end of the [[harvest]] season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year.<ref name=monaghan407>Monaghan, Patricia. ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore''. Infobase Publishing, 2004. p. 407</ref><ref>Hutton, p. 361</ref> It was seen as a [[wikt:liminal|liminal]] time, when the boundary between this world and the [[Celtic Otherworld|Otherworld]] thinned. This meant the ''[[Aos Sí]]'', the 'spirits' or '[[fairy|fairies]]', could more easily come into this world and were particularly active.<ref>Monaghan, p. 41</ref><ref>O'Halpin, Andy. ''Ireland: An Oxford Archaeological Guide''. Oxford University Press, 2006. p. 236</ref> Most scholars see them as "degraded versions of ancient gods [...] whose power remained active in the people's minds even after they had been officially replaced by later religious beliefs".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Monaghan |first1=Patricia |title=The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore |date=2014 |publisher=Infobase publishing |page=167}}</ref> They were both respected and feared, with individuals often invoking the protection of [[God in Christianity|God]] when approaching their dwellings.<ref name="Monaghan2009">{{cite book|last=Monaghan|first=Patricia|title=The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nd9R6GQBB_0C&pg=PA167|access-date=19 October 2015|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-1037-0|page=167|quote=They were both respected and feared. "Their backs towards us, their faces away from us, and may God and Mary save us from harm," was a prayer spoken whenever one ventured near their dwellings.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423051036/https://books.google.com/books?id=nd9R6GQBB_0C&pg=PA167|archive-date=23 April 2016}}</ref><ref>Santino, p. 105</ref> At Samhain, the ''Aos Sí'' were [[propitiation|appeased]] to ensure the people and livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink, or portions of the crops, were left outside for them.<ref>[[Kevin Danaher|Danaher, Kevin]]. ''The Year in Ireland: Irish Calendar Customs''. Mercier Press, 1972. p. 200</ref><ref>[[Walter Evans-Wentz|Evans-Wentz, Walter]] (1911). ''The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries''. p. 44.</ref><ref>[[F. Marian McNeill|McNeill, F. Marian]] (1961). ''The Silver Bough, Volume 3''. p. 34.</ref> The souls of the dead were also said to revisit their homes seeking [[hospitality]].<ref>"Halloween". ''Britannica Concise Encyclopedia''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009. Credo Reference. Web. 21 September 2012.</ref> Places were set at the dinner table and by the fire to welcome them.<ref name=mcneill1>McNeill, ''The Silver Bough, Volume 3'', pp. 11–46</ref> The belief that the souls of the dead return home on one night of the year and must be appeased seems to have ancient origins and is found in many cultures.<ref name=miles>Miles, Clement A. (1912). ''Christmas in Ritual and Tradition''. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/time/crt/crt11.htm Chapter 7: All Hallow Tide to Martinmas] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104130353/http://www.sacred-texts.com/time/crt/crt11.htm |date=4 November 2013 }}.</ref> In 19th century Ireland, "candles would be lit and [[Christian prayer|prayers]] formally offered for the souls of the dead. After this the eating, drinking, and games would begin".<ref>Hutton, p. 379</ref>

Throughout Ireland and Britain, especially in the Celtic-speaking regions, the household festivities included [[divination]] rituals and games intended to foretell one's future, especially regarding death and marriage.<ref name="Hutton, p.380">Hutton, p. 380</ref> Apples and nuts were often used, and customs included [[apple bobbing]], nut roasting, [[scrying]] or mirror-gazing, [[Molybdomancy|pouring molten lead]] or [[Oomancy|egg whites]] into water, [[dream interpretation]], and others.<ref>[[Kevin Danaher|Danaher, Kevin]]. "Irish Folk Tradition and the Celtic Calendar", in  ''The Celtic Consciousness'', ed. Robert O'Driscoll. Braziller, 1981. pp.&nbsp;218–227</ref> Special [[bonfire]]s were lit and there were rituals involving them. Their flames, smoke, and ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers.<ref name=monaghan407/> In some places, torches lit from the bonfire were carried [[sunwise]] around homes and fields to protect them.<ref name=hutton365-369/> It is suggested the fires were a kind of [[sympathetic magic|imitative or sympathetic magic]]{{snd}}they mimicked the Sun and held back the decay and darkness of winter.<ref name=mcneill1/><ref name=frazer63>[[James George Frazer|Frazer, James George]] (1922). ''[[The Golden Bough|The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion]]''. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb06301.htm Chapter 63, Part 1: On the Fire-festivals in general] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012203326/http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb06301.htm |date=12 October 2013 }}.</ref><ref name=macculloch>MacCulloch, John Arnott (1911). ''The Religion of the Ancient Celts''. [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/rac/rac21.htm Chapter 18: Festivals] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012092340/http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/rac/rac21.htm |date=12 October 2013 }}.</ref> They were also used for divination and to ward off evil spirits.<ref name="CarterPetro1998">{{cite book|last1=Carter|first1=Albert Howard |last2=Petro|first2=Jane Arbuckle|title=Rising from the Flames: The Experience of the Severely Burned|year=1998|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]]|language=en|isbn=978-0-8122-1517-5|page=100|quote=Halloween, incorporated into the Christian year as the eve of All Saints Day, marked the return of the souls of the departed and the release of devils who could move freely on that night. Fires lit on that night served to prevent the influence of such spirits and to provide omens for the future. Modern children go from house to house at Halloween with flashlights powered by electric batteries, while jack o'lanterns (perhaps with an actual candle, but often with a lightbulb) glow from windows and porches.}}</ref> In Scotland, these bonfires and divination games were banned by the church elders in some parishes.<ref>Hutton, pp. 366, 380</ref> In Wales, bonfires were also lit to "prevent the souls of the dead from falling to earth".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cymraeg.gov.wales/news/index/calan-gaeaf?lang=en|title=Halloween traditions|year=2016|publisher=Welsh Government|access-date=2 October 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002215831/http://cymraeg.gov.wales/news/index/calan-gaeaf?lang=en|archive-date=2 October 2017}}</ref> Later, these bonfires "kept away the [[Devil in Christianity|devil]]".<ref name="Rosinsky2002">{{cite book|last=Rosinsky|first=Natalie M.|title=Halloween|year=2002|publisher=[[Capstone Publishers]]|isbn=978-0-7565-0392-5|page=8|quote=Christian leaders made old Celtic and Roman customs into new Christian ones. Bonfires were once lighted against evil spirits. Now, they kept away the devil.}}</ref>

[[File:Traditional Irish halloween Jack-o'-lantern.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Halloween turnip|A plaster cast of a traditional Irish Halloween turnip (swede, [[rutabaga]]) lantern on display in the [[Museum of Country Life]], Ireland<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://thedialog.org/uncategorized/from-turnips-to-potatoes-to-pumpkins-irish-folklife-expert-says-jack-o-lanterns-began-in-ireland/|title=From turnips to potatoes to pumpkins: Irish folklife expert says Jack-O-Lanterns began in Ireland|first1=Sarah|last1=MacDonald|first2=Catholic News|last2=Service|work=The Dialog |date=19 October 2017|access-date=7 December 2020|archive-date=28 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228153806/http://thedialog.org/uncategorized/from-turnips-to-potatoes-to-pumpkins-irish-folklife-expert-says-jack-o-lanterns-began-in-ireland/|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

From at least the 16th century,<ref name=mcneill2>[[F. Marian McNeill|McNeill, F. Marian]]. ''Hallowe'en: its origin, rites and ceremonies in the Scottish tradition''. Albyn Press, 1970. pp. 29–31</ref> the festival included [[Mummers Play|mumming]] and [[guising]] in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales.<ref name=hutton379-383>Hutton, pp. 379–383</ref> This involved people going house-to-house in costume (or in disguise), usually reciting verses or songs in exchange for food. It may have originally been a tradition whereby people impersonated the ''Aos Sí'', or the souls of the dead, and received offerings on their behalf, similar to '[[soul cake|souling]]'. Impersonating these beings, or wearing a disguise, was also believed to protect oneself from them.<ref>[[Christina Hole|Hole, Christina]]. ''British Folk Customs''. [[Hutchinson (publisher)|Hutchinson]], 1976. p. 91</ref> In parts of southern Ireland, the guisers included a [[hobby horse]]. A man dressed as a ''láir bhán'' ([[White horse (mythology)|white mare]]) led youths house-to-house reciting verses&nbsp;– some of which had pagan overtones&nbsp;– in exchange for food. If the household donated food it could expect good fortune from the 'Muck Olla'; not doing so would bring misfortune.<ref>''Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, Volume 2''. 1855. pp. 308–309</ref> In Scotland, youths went house-to-house with masked, painted or blackened faces, often threatening to do mischief if they were not welcomed.<ref name=hutton379-383/> [[F. Marian McNeill]] suggests the ancient festival included people in costume representing the spirits, and that faces were marked or blackened with ashes from the sacred bonfire.<ref name=mcneill2/> In parts of Wales, men went about dressed as fearsome beings called ''gwrachod''.<ref name=hutton379-383/> In the late 19th and early 20th century, young people in [[Glamorgan]] and [[Orkney]] [[cross-dressing|cross-dressed]].<ref name=hutton379-383/>

Elsewhere in Europe, mumming was part of other festivals, but in the Celtic-speaking regions, it was "particularly appropriate to a night upon which supernatural beings were said to be abroad and could be imitated or warded off by human wanderers".<ref name=hutton379-383/> From at least the 18th century, "imitating malignant spirits" led to playing pranks in Ireland and the [[Scottish Highlands]]. Wearing costumes and playing pranks at Halloween did not spread to England until the 20th century.<ref name=hutton379-383/> Pranksters used hollowed-out [[rutabaga|turnips]] or [[mangelwurzel|mangel wurzels]] as lanterns, often carved with grotesque faces.<ref name=hutton379-383/> By those who made them, the lanterns were variously said to represent the spirits,<ref name=hutton379-383/> or [[Apotropaic magic|used to ward off]] evil spirits.<ref name=palmer87>Palmer, Kingsley. ''Oral folk-tales of Wessex''. David & Charles, 1973. pp. 87–88</ref><ref>Wilson, David Scofield. ''Rooted in America: Foodlore of Popular Fruits and Vegetables''. Univ. of Tennessee Press, 1999. p. 154</ref> They were common in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands in the 19th century,<ref name=hutton379-383/> as well as in [[Somerset]] (see [[Punkie Night]]). In the 20th century they spread to other parts of Britain and became generally known as [[jack-o'-lantern]]s.<ref name=hutton379-383/>