Brian Collins is the first scholar to fill The Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy. Photo courtesy of Brian Collins
Dr. Brian Collins was quoted in a Post story headlined “Before trick-or-treating, commercialization and block parties, Halloween was rooted in Celtic religion.”
Collins is the Drs. Ram and Sushila Gawande Chair in Indian Religion and Philosophy at Ohio University.
“People would leave gifts to the fairies so they wouldn’t mess with their livestock,” Brian Collins, an associate professor of classics and world religions, said.
Along with leaving gifts, Celts would sacrifice animals to the gods, Collins said.
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James Frazer was a key player in popularizing stories of Samhain, Collins said. In Frazer’s book The Golden Bough, he studied ancient cults and myths.
“He popularized the idea that Samhain was a feast for the dead,” Collins said.
Read more in the Post.
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