Ancient Origins

• More than 2,000 years ago, the Celts in northern Europe celebrated the end of the harvest and set out candles to invite their dead friends and relatives to symbolically join them in the feast and celebration. The celebration was called "Samhain," which Nicholas Rogers, professor of history at York University and author of "Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night," translates as "summer's end." Other writers note that one of the Celtic gods was also called Samhain, a god who presided over the dead and who allowed the dead, on this one night, to return to visit the earth.
  
  

Christian History

• Since the beginning of Christianity, Christians have set aside a day to pray for the dead to assist them in moving from purgatory into heaven. Converts to Christianity retained portions of their earlier celebrations as well. Over time, a day to honor all Christian saints resulted, with the name for the day becoming Hallowtide, or time of the saints. Eventually, the day came to be called All Saints' Day. Many Christian holidays have a vigil or prayers the night before the holiday, and the night before All Saints' Day became All Hallow's Eve, eventually shortened to Halloween.
  
  

Jack-o-Lanterns

• In Ireland, the Celtic traditions merged with the Irish folklore tale of Jack, whose constant pranks denied him entry into Heaven and whose tricks he played on the devil backfired and denied him entry to Hell as well. As a result of his pranks, Jack was doomed to wander the earth, with his travels lit by a glowing ember. The Irish celebrated this folk tale in Ireland, but once they arrived in America, they used lit pumpkins to symbolize Jack's glowing ember.
  
  

Trick-or-Treating

• The one magical night when the dead return to earth, plus the legend of Jack and his lantern, are played out by children celebrating Halloween today wearing ghost and goblin costumes and threatening to play tricks. The ancient festivals and feasts have become translated into feasts of candy and treats. Scholar Rogers traces the modern-day revelries to an overall "night of inversion, when social norms are turned upside down."
  
  

Other Contemporary Celebrations

• As international lecturer Christan Hummel points out in her article in Wordpress, many cultures celebrate something like All Saints' Day or All Souls' Day, including Mexico, where the day is called Dia de la Muerta, or the day of the dead. Followers of the Wiccan religion, such as Starhawk, a pagan writer and activist writing in the "Washington Post," say Halloween reminds people of the natural cycle of birth and death and allows people to remember and honor friends and relatives who have died.