Halloween is the time of year for candy, haunted houses, costumes, and scary stories. But why do we celebrate Halloween? Was it a holiday created by corporate companies to sell candy and costumes? Actually no. Halloween originates from the Celtic festival Samhain. Samhain is a pagan festival celebrated on October 31-November 1st. It was created to celebrate the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter. The Celts believed that on October 31st the barrier that separates the physical and spiritual world lifts and allows the dead to walk amongst the living. The Celts believed that these spirits could damage their crops and cause trouble. They also believed that the spirits helped the Celtic priests, predict the future. So to celebrate Samhain they would wear outrageous costumes to ward off spirits, build bonfires, and sacrifice animals and crops to deities.

In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III declared November 1st as All Saints Day. All Saints Day and Samhain began to blend and share some of the same traditions. November 1st became a day to commemorate saints, and the day before became known as All Hallows Eve which eventually became known as Halloween. The blending of All Saints Day and Samhain caused the celebrations to become much more widespread due to the immense Christian influence on the world at this time. Halloween began to come to America in colonial times. Some New England colonies did not celebrate because of their rigid puritan beliefs but southern colonies celebrated and continued to enjoy and expand the holiday. In the 19th century, America received an influx of Irish immigrants and their presence furthered the spread of Halloween. Halloween continued to expand and  become a widely celebrated holiday. Even though Halloween has adapted through many different periods and cultures, many traditions have remained the same. Wearing costumes, trick or treating, playing pranks, carving jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, scary stories, and many more can all be traced back to the original festival of Samhain. So while many believe that Halloween was merely created by cooperation’s for financial gain that could not be further from the truth. Halloween is a holiday with rich history, tradition, and origins that trace back to as early as the eighth century.