[Borealis]

Samhain is the druidic festival that was the precursor to Halloween.  St. Patrick, a Romanized Celt, renamed it to All Hallow's Eve and told the stuffy Roman Catholic bishops it was a pre-celebration of the Catholic saints (hence All Saints Day the following morning) so they wouldn't abolish the holiday for being 'pagan.'  He knew abolishing the holiday would have caused some fiery Celtic riots.  He was known for his efforts such as these to ease the differences between Celts and their Roman conquerors.

...and change of plans for me...no costume, no voodoo ritual, I will be spending the only holiday I love nursing this stupid ****ing flu...joy

[Stunaep]

Originally posted by Borealis

[Raven2001]

Borealis almost had a cookie

Samhain was the new year celebration of th Celtic cultures, a day that didn't belong to a year... the year ended at the 30th, and restarted at the 1st November... the 31st day of October was a "yearless" day, wich was believed to be a day where the living and dead worlds were closer from each other, thus making it easier to contact the ancestors...

BTW, I'm no Irish, but portuguese... and yes I'm pagan

[Fineus]

Say, doesn't that mean I get a cookie?

Ah well - it's good to know I'm not the only one around these barren lands!