Samhain was also supposed to be the best time for clairvoyants to predict the future.

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During Samhain, Celts built huge bonfires on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits.

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The root word takes us back to the ancient Celts who held a ceremony called Samhain in order to honor the harvest cycle.

FORBES: Are You or Someone You Know Samhainophobic?

Campaigners staged their protest during a parade to mark Halloween and Samhain, a Celtic festival celebrating the end of the harvest, on 1 November.

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Celebrated on October 31 for more than a millennium, its origin dates back to the observation of the Celtic festival Samhain on the last day of October.

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In Ireland this time of year is Samhain (sow-wain), in America, we call it Halloween and in Latin America, El Dia DeL Muerto, The Day of the Dead.

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The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on Samhain, leading to the sinister superstition that ghosts, witches, devils, and fairies roamed the earth for that one day.

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The people who attended Samhain believed that the dead made their presence known during the festival, and that they must be appeased or else they would cause trouble and hardship for the townspeople.

FORBES: Are You or Someone You Know Samhainophobic?