Guest blogger - Raven Taylor The leaves are turning orange. Suddenly the air is filled with the smell of woodsmoke as the first fires of the year are lit. Shop window displays are full of pumpkins, witches and skeletons. It can only mean one thing- the witching season is here and halloween is just around the corner. Halloween, or Samhain as it was known in the old days, is an ancient festival, dating back hundreds of years. It was traditionally the Celtic new year, and it is said it is the time when the veil between our world and that of the spirits is at its thinnest. It was the last of the three harvest festivals celebrated by old cultures, a time when the last of the animals were slaughtered and their meat stored for winter, and any remaining livestock were brought in from the fields. It was a time when dark nights started to creep in, driving people indoors to huddle around their fires, and with more time spent inside with the night pressing in, it was only nat...