Samhain marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year,
for the Celts divided the year into two seasons:
the light and the dark, at Beltane on May 1st and Samhain on November 1st.
In the country year, Samhain marked the first day of winter,
when the herders led the cattle and sheep down from their summer hillside pastures to the shelter of stable and byre.
The hay that would feed them during the winter must be stored in sturdy thatched ricks,
tied down securely against storms.
Those destined for the table were slaughtered,
after being ritually devoted to the gods in pagan times.
All the harvest must be gathered in -- barley, oats, wheat, turnips, and apples -- for come November, the faeries would blast every growing plant with their breath, blighting any nuts and berries remaining on the hedgerows.