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The ancient Irish get far too much credit for Halloween

  • Written by Lisa Bitel, Dean’s Professor of Religion & Professor of History, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
The ancient Irish get far too much credit for HalloweenThe Celtic festival of Samhain celebrates a time of year when the division between Earth and the otherworld collapses, allowing spirits to pass through.Matt Cardy/Getty Images

This time of year, I often run across articles proclaiming Halloweena modern form of the pagan Irish holiday of Samhain – pronounced SAW-en. But as a historian of...

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