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 "ziema", Lithuanian "žiema", Slavic "zima", Greek "kheimon", Hittite "gimmanza"), cf. Old Irish "gem-adaig" ('winter's night'). "Samonios" may represent the beginning of the summer season and "Giamonios" (the seventh month) the beginning of the winter season. The lunations marking the middle of each half-year may also have been marked by festivals. "Samain" or "Samuin" was the name of the "feis" or festival marking the beginning of winter in Gaelic Ireland. It is attested in some of the earliest Old Irish literature, from the 10th century onward. It was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals: Samhain (~1 November), Imbolc (~1 February), Bealtaine