Did you know that Halloween is one of the oldest holidays dating back to the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain? The Celts lived 2000 years ago in an area that we know today as Ireland and Northern France. The festival of Samhain (prounounced as Sa-win) symbolized the end of summer and the start of winter.

The Celtics worshiped nature and had many gods, the favorite of which was the sun god. The three-day celebration marked the ending of the "season of the sun" and the beginning of "the season of darkness and cold". The Druids believed that during the winter, the sun god was taken prisoner by Samhain, the Lord of the Dead and Prince of Darkness. At dusk on the last day of October, they would make their way to the dark oak forest which they considered sacred and build bonfires to drive the evil spirits away. When morning arrived, they would take home the embers from the bonfires which they believed would keep their homes safe.

Halloween also became associated with the Catholic feast All Saints Day. In the beginning, every saint was given his own special day, but as this number grew; late in the fourth century, the church selected one day to honor martyrs and St. John the Baptist. In the year 800, Gregory III designated November 1st as "All Souls Day" and everyone the night before would dress up as saints, angels and devils and celebrate with big bonfires and parades.

Today it's a day of parties, costumes, ghosts and trick or treating. It is believed to have been brought to the U.S. in the 1840s by Irish immigrants. At that time, trick or treating was done by adults rather than children and they would go around caroling from house to house receiving treats. The game of bobbing for apples was a marriage tradition in which the person who got the apple would be married later that year. The use of jack-o-lanterns which were believed would protect the house from evil spirits came from Scotland.

With safety having become a major concern in recent years, some families prefer to hold neighborhood parties in lieu of trick or treating.

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