Happy Hallows evening

The origins of modern-day Halloween date back to ‘samhain’, a Celtic celebration when the realm between the living and the dead overlapped and ghosts could be commonly encountered.  In 601 AD, to help his drive to convert northern Europe to Christianity, Pope Gregory I directed missionaries not to stop pagan celebrations, but rather to Christianise them.  The celebrations of samhain became All Souls’ Day and All Saint’s Day, when speaking with the dead was considered religiously appropriate. All Saint’s Day was known as All Hallows’ Day and the night before became All Hallows’ Evening, or ‘Hallowe’en’.