Spooky season is upon us, and if you’re using Halloween as an excuse to get dressed up and eat too many sweets, then trust me you’re not alone!

But did you know that Halloween has its origins in the pagan celtic culture of Scotland and Ireland?

In the pagan calendar, Halloween is known as Samhain, and falls on the night of 31 October to 1 November every year, marking the halfway point between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. Ushering in the “dark half” of the year. it is thought that at Samhain the boundary between our world and the supernatural realm (known as the Otherworld) thinned, meaning that spirits and magical creatures could travel freely between the two.

Bonfires were lit, and offerings were made to the spirits for protection throughout the course of the year. It was also thought that ancestors returned on the night of Samhain, and often families would “invite” the spirits of their ancestors to dinner by keeping doors and windows open, while children would play games to entertain the dead.

From around the 16th Century, records show that in Scotland folk would dress up in masks or painted faces to resemble the spirits and travel from house to house on Samhain, accepting gifts of food in return for a song or a poem. This is known as guising, and is a tradition that I took part in when I was little. If no offering was made, then it was said to bring bad luck to the home, which later evolved to the guisers playing pranks. This tradition was taken across the Atlantic Ocean to America by Scottish and Irish immigrants in the 19th Century - it’s easy to see where Trick or Treating came from!

Rather than pumpkins, turnips were hollowed out and carved into grotesque faces, illuminated with candles to ward off evil spirits and light the way for the guisers. This tradition remains in some parts of Scotland. I remember carving turnips with Grampa when I was little - it was so hard, and a lot tougher than pumpkin carving, but an important part of Scotland’s celtic history.

This Halloween, I will be honouring my celtic heritage with a moon phase necklace set with swirling green marble from the Isle of Skye. Happy Samhain everybody!