Veneration of the dead begging for candy). In Cornwall and Wales, the autumn ancestor festivals occur around Nov. 1. In Cornwall the festival is known as "Kalan Gwav", and in Wales as "Calan Gaeaf." The festivals bear some similarities to the better-known Gaelic festival of Samhain, from which modern Halloween is derived. During "Samhain", November 1 in Ireland and Scotland, the dead are thought to return to the world of the living, and offerings of food and light are left for them. On the festival day, ancient people would extinguish the hearth fires in their homes, participate in a community bonfire festival, and then
Samhain (magazine) Samhain (magazine) Samhain was a theatrical periodical published irregularly, with an annual in December. The Irish poet W. B. Yeats was a regular and leading contributor of essays outlining his artistic principles. It existed between 1901 and 1908. "Samhain" was established in 1901. Publication began in October 1901, superseding "Beltaine", an occasional theatre review and publication of the Irish Literary Theatre named for the ancient Irish festival Bealtaine. The National Irish Theatre Society published "Samhain". It has been noted that the two periodicals "constitute at once a history and a running critical commentary … of the origin and growth of