On 31st October we celebrate Halloween, whose roots are in the Celtic festivity of Samain.
LA SIDRA.- Human being calendars and activities have always been tied to year seasons and framed in cycles.
Thus, Samhain in Celtic (Samain in the Asturian language), was a festivity of transition which meant “the end of summer”, and in which both good and evil spirits appeared.
During these days people held banquets to celebrate the end of the harvest season in honour of goddess Pomona. This deity is associated to orchads blooming and gets her name from pomus or pomum, which meant “apple” in Latin.
That’s why nowadays in Asturias we still hold the traditional magüestos, celebrations in which chestnuts and sweet cider cannot be missing, to honour the dead.
So these days, in towns like Mieres or Pola de Lena, this ancient tradition is claimed under the motto “It’s not Halloween, it’s Samain”.
