Many of us are already familiar with Samhain as the Pagan predecessor to Halloween. It is one of the few Pagan and neo-Pagan customs that is actually mentioned in movies and television shows such as Hocus Pocus, Outlander and Supernatural. In the United States, many public schools teach about the Pagan roots of Halloween—though they may not refer to it by the name Samhain—in seasonal lessons which focus on the evolution of the holiday’s customs and beliefs. But where did our beliefs and customs as witches and Pagans come from? And how does our observation of Samhain in the twenty-first century link back to the observations we may be learned about in school?

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