solemnity or as games. The more mystically inclined may also see this as a time for deeply communing with their deities, especially those seen as being particularly linked with this festival. Wicca Wiccans celebrate a variation of Samhain as one of their yearly Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. It is deemed by most Wiccans to be the most important of the four "greater Sabbats.” Samhain is seen by some Wiccans as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have died, and it often involves paying respect to ancestors, family members, elders of the faith, friends, pets and other loved ones who have died. In some rituals the spirits of the dead are invited to attend the festivities. It is seen as a festival of darkness, which is balanced at the opposite point of the wheel by the spring festival of Beltane, which Wiccans celebrate as a festival of light and fertility. Wiccans believe that at Samhain the veil between this world and the afterlife is at its thinnest point of the whole year, making it easier to communicate with those who have left this world. See also Holidays Bealtaine Imbolc Lammas Lughnasadh Calendars Celtic calendar Irish calendar Welsh Holidays Early Irish literature Serglige Con Culainn Togail Bruidne Dá Derga Cath Maige Tuired Mesca Ulad Tochmarc Étaíne Christianisation of saints and feasts Samhain in popular culture Diwali Kali Puja References Secondary sources Campbell, John Gregorson. The Gaelic Otherworld, edited by Ronald Black. (1900, 1902, 2005). Birlinn Ltd. pp. 559–62. Danaher, Kevin. "Irish Folk Tradition and the Celtic Calendar." In The Celtic Consciousness, ed. Robert O'Driscoll. New York: Braziller, 1981. pp. 217–42. . On specific customs and rituals. Ross, Anne "Material Culture, Myth and Folk Memory". In The Celtic Consciousness, ed. Robert O'Driscoll. New York: Braziller, 1981. 197–216. . Vendryes, J. Lexique Étymologique de l'Irlandais Ancien. 1959. Further reading Carmichael, Alexander (1992). Carmina Gadelica. Lindisfarne Press Danaher, Kevin (1972) The Year in Ireland. Dublin: Mercier Evans-Wentz, W. Y. (1966, 1990) The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries. New York: Citadel MacKillop, James (1998). Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. Oxford University Press McNeill, F. Marian (1959) The Silver Bough, Vol. 1–4. Glasgow: William MacLellan Gaelic culture Autumn festivals Celtic mythology Celtic music festivals Cross-quarter days Halloween Holidays in Scotland Irish mythology May observances Modern pagan holidays November observances Observances honoring the dead October observances Scottish mythology