Halloween 2023: A brief history of customs and rituals
Halloween is a holiday celebrated on 31 October. The custom stems from the ancient Celtic feast of Samhain, which was held on 1 November.
The Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the line between the worlds of the living and the worlds of the dead became blurred.
This day signifies the end of summer and the harvest, as well as the start of the dark, frigid winter, a season traditionally connected with human death.
"Play parties," which were public activities meant to celebrate the harvest, were among the first celebrations. Neighbours would tell each other ghost stories, fortunes, and dance and sing.
During the potato famine of the 1840s, a surge of Irish immigrants brought the festival to America.
To avoid being detected by evil spirits on All Hallows Eve, the Celtics would leave their homes at night wearing scary masks, so the ghosts would not mistake them for fellow spirits.
Trick or treating began in the second half of the 1930s. Americans borrowed from Irish and English traditions by going door to door in costume, asking for food or money.
The first Jack O'Lanterns were made from turnips. Later, when Irish immigrants arrived in America, they discovered pumpkins to be the new face of Halloween.
Halloween is the second highest grossing commercial holiday after Christmas.