Happy Samhain

Happy New Year, if you happen to celebrate it as such, although that assertion about the old Celtic calendar is under scrutiny by historians. In modern Paganism Samhain (pronounce sow--rhymes with cow--en) represents the end of summer with the last harvest, the turning of the year, and also celebrates the spirits of the dead and that of the ancestors. Samhain eve is where we get Halloween. This reverence for the departed is shared in Mexico, where today is the first day of the two Dias de los Muertos (Days of the Dead). Today is also All Saints' Day in Catholicism, followed tomorrow by All Souls' Day.