The most sacred holiday celebrated throughout the Wheel of the Year is Samhian. Sometimes referred to as Halloween, Hallows, Hallowmas, or All Hallows Eve - the "hollow" in all of these names comes from the Middle English word that means "holy." The name "Halloween" means "hallowed evening". The traditional Celtic name for this night is Samhian (pronounced something like; 'sow-en'), which may mean "summer's end" or may be named after Samana, an Aryan death god who is the Grim Reaper and leader of the ghosts of our ancestors. The veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is thinnest on this night. Celtic tradition says that all those who die each year must wait till Samhain before crossing into the spirit world where they will begin their new lives.

At this moment of crossing, the spirit of ancestors who still have unfinished business in this world may appear. In ancient times, people who feared the presence of hostile spirits would attempt to drive them away with grotesque faces carved on pumpkins lit from within by a candle. Samhian is the time to celebrate the Crone, the wise one, the healer. In modern times, she is represented as the witch flying on a broom with her familiars, the owl and the black cat, across the full moon. In the Demeter/Persephone myth, it is the time when Demeter finds Persephone in the underworld and begins the long journey to bring her back. Samhain is a celebration of the link between the living and the dead. Ponder the fact that directly opposite Samhain on the Wheel of the Year is Beltane, that joyous, exuberant celebration of light and life.

Spread Hallowmas Theme package builds templates based on this holiday for you to create eBooks to celebrate the coming festival.

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