Halloween is approaching, and it is arguably one of the best celebrations in the country. Most children dressed up as a fairy, pirate, ghost, or their favorite character each year, and then forced their parents or older siblings to take them trick-or-treating every Halloween. But why do so many people dress up and celebrate Halloween every October 31?
It all begins with Samhain, a pagan tradition of the Celtic peoples in the ancient European northwest that consisted of a harvest festival on November 1.
On the eve of Samhain, the Celts believed that the spirits of the dead walked among the Earth along with other demons. One day before Samhain, October 31, the Celts wore costumes to confuse the dead; this prevented these demons and spirits from possessing them or taking their souls.
According to National Geographic, the Celts who dressed up on the eve of Samhain went around to different houses doing silly things in exchange for food and drink, hence what is now known as “trick or treating.”
Everything changed when the Roman Empire took over the Celtic peoples this changed their traditions; this is how the Eve of Samhain changed its name to what translates to “All Hallow’s Eve” in English, which then changed again to the modern Halloween.
Halloween came to the United States with the arrival of Europeans to America as they introduced their customs to the colonies.
Jack-o-Lanterns began to be used when Halloween came to the U.S. due to a legend that tells of a man named Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack was said to have repeatedly trapped the Devil and only let him go on the condition that Jack would never go to Hell. When Jack died, he learned that Heaven did not want his soul from him either, so he was forced to wander the Earth as a ghost for eternity; the Devil gave Jack a burning lump of coal in a carved-out turnip to light his way.
Since approximately 1920, Halloween has been massively celebrated as a community tradition across the U.S.
