It’s the first of November and we are celebrating Samhain today with a programme of Celtic and Celtic-influenced music (and we’re not being too specific about which Celtic festivals it applies to!).
Samhain is a Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or “darker half” of the year. It is also the Irish language name for November. Celebrations begin on the evening of 31 October, since the Celtic day began and ended at sunset. This is about halfway between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals along with Imbolc, Bealtaine, and Lughnasa. Historically it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. A similar festival is held by the Brittonic Celtic people, called Calan Gaeaf in Wales. (Wikipedia)
Today you can also hear the October edition of “Where Have You Been?” (details at the link), which covers both the Autumnal and the Hallowe’en aspects of the month just gone, with a selection of suggested places to visit in Second Life, many of which will remain accessible for the next day or two. The show goes out at 12 noon and 4pm SLT/Pacific Time. Note that the hour has gone back in Europe and not in the US — as a result there is one hour less between US (Second Life) and EU times this week — so for example in the UK, we are only 7 hours ahead of SLT instead of eight. This confusing fact applies for the week ahead — Daylight Saving Time in North America ends on Sunday 5th.
We also have a new episode or two of “Engines of Our Ingenuity” from the University of Houston, every four hours from 4am SLT/Pacific.
Image: A Neo-Pagan celebrating Samhain — author unknown (Wikimedia)
The show is broadcast on Wednesdays and Saturdays, in this case November 
Today you can also hear the October edition of “
