Halloween, often associated with costumes and candy, originates in bygone traditions celebrating the end of the harvest season. In her Harvard course on the folklore of Gaelic Ireland, Associate Professor Natasha Sumner, PhD '15, explores the parallels between All Hallows Eve, the Irish holidays of Oíche Shamhna (pronounced EE-hyeh HOW-nuh) and Samhain (pronounced SAH-win), and associated traditions like carving pumpkins and turnips, apple-bobbing, “guising” for treats, divination games, and protecting oneself from supernatural beings. By exploring Gaelic culture, Sumner reveals how closely related–and also how different–our celebrations of Halloween are.
