The roots of the holiday are as such: Shortened in name from All-Hallow-Even, taking place on the evening of or before ‘All Hallows’ Day’, or ‘All Saints Day’, this prior Pagan holiday was a day of festivities in Northern Europe. Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV were responsible for allocating the Christian Feast of ‘All Saints Day’ from the dates of May 13 to November 1. The move was initiated in order to supplant the original Pagan feast with a Christian Feast Day. Because of the measuring of sunset to sunset, according to the Florentine Calendar, the days of ‘All Hallows’ and ‘All Saints’ were now the same day.
The Irish tradition of ‘All Hallows’ Eve’ is still respected and followed, and the terminology remains the same. Festivals that occur are referred to as ‘Samhain’ or ‘Oiche Shamhna’, to the Irish, ‘Samhuin’ to the Scottish/Gaelic, ‘Calan Gaeaf’ to the Welsh, ‘Allantide’ to the Cornish and ‘Hop-tu-Naa’ to the Manx. Some parts of Ireland also refer to Halloween as ‘pooky night’, using the mischievous spirit, ‘puca’ as a basis for the folklore.
Magic is considered most potent during Halloween, and it’s considered a liminal time of the year. Irish tales of the ‘Sidhe’ abound as well as tall tales throughout other cultures, and ‘witch lore’, tails of witches and hobgoblins abound throughout the world.
