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Messy Minded Podcast
Samhain: Halloweens History & When the Fairies Handed Us the Keys
Ep. 16
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It's Halloweens origin story! Ever wonder why we carve faces into vegetables, hand candy to small pirates, and light fires to celebrate the dark? Turns out, Halloween didn’t start with chocolate — it started with Samhain, a Celtic festival where the veil thinned, the fairies roamed, and people wore disguises just in case something noticed them back.
In this episode, I tumble headfirst into the weird, wonderful history of Halloween — from druids and divine wars to bonfires, banshees, and the night the fairies basically handed humanity the keys to the world. Grab your pumpkin spice and a flashlight — things are about to get folklorically flammable.
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Sources:
Encyclopædia Britannica, “Samhain” – britannica.com/topic/Samhain
Ronald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain (Oxford University Press, 1996)
National Museum of Ireland, “The Festival of Samhain” – museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Country-Life/Exhibitions/Folklife-Collections/The-Festival-of-Samhain
Library of Congress, Headlines & Heroes Blog: “The Origins of Halloween Traditions” – blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2021/10/the-origins-of-halloween-traditions
History.com Editors, “History of Halloween” – history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween
Wikipedia, “Samhain,” “All Saints’ Day,” and “Cottingley Fairies” – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samhain; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Day; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies
BBC, “The Truth About the Cottingley Fairies” – bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-42456384
Leeds University Library Galleries, The Cottingley Fairies: A Study in Deception – artsandculture.google.com/story/lgVB6Ceti9WVAw
Music by: SoundPlusUS Label and Mr. Lex Oleksii Bezalov for "Spark Groove", Sosin Mykola "Halloween Spooky Eerie Music", Mykola Sosin "Mystery Mystic Mystical Music" and "Eerie - Wizard Mystery Music", MMAudio for "Chasing Faries", Hits Lab - Levgren Poltavsky " Halloween Background Music" and War Battle Military Drums", "Hunters of darkness epic and mystical fantasy music", Leigh Robinson " Alban Arthan (The Druids Christmas", scary horror creepy music, "Secret Room"
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