The Dark Half

A vintage photograph of some of my relatives, discovered in an old forgotten box.

Samhain is the ancient Celtic/Gaelic festival dividing the light half of the year (summer) from the dark half (winter). Now, we now call it Halloween. Ancient people believed Samhain night to be an active time for fairies, ghosts, goblins, and other dark creatures. They wore masks to confuse the spirits, to be passed by and mistaken for one of their kind or to scare the creatures away and ward off evil. And one way or another, the tradition trickles on. Perhaps in a less reverent way, but it survives nonetheless. So don your mask and light a bonfire - I think these masks would do.

 

P.S. As an American I'm just learning that Samhain should be prounounced as "sah-ween" or "sah-win" or the like. Oh, the mysteries of old Gaelic.