the true, non-American origins of Halloween
- Written by Pamela O'Neill, Sir Warwick Fairfax Lecturer in Celtic Studies, University of Sydney
Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty ImagesWe all know how commercial Halloween has become, with expensive dress-ups, trick-or-treat “candy” and fake cobwebs (please don’t – they kill birds!).
But if you’ve ever dismissed Halloween as an American invention, you might want to rethink that.
For at least the past couple of millennia,...





