Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of “Samhain” – the celebration of the end of harvest season. Back then, the Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead got a little blurry and the dead would come back to life and wreak havoc among the living. One way to scare the dead? Wear costumes and masks.
Out of the $6.9 billion spent annually in the US alone, $2.08 billion are spent on Halloween candy. How many sweet treats can you buy with that money? Roughly 600 million pounds – which equals about 6 Titanic ships.
Trick-or-treating is really only for kids: Some cities in the US have even gone as far as banning kids over the age of 12 from trick-or-treating. In some places, teenagers who cheat and trick-or-treat can face a fine up to $1000. (7,000 calories worth of candy is surely not worth the fine!)
Halloween, a holiday observed on October 31 and noted for its pagan and religious roots and secular traditions. In much of Europe and most of North America, observance of Halloween is largely nonreligious, celebrated with parties, spooky costumes, jack-o’-lanterns, pumpkin carvings, and the giving of candy. But the holiday also marks the beginning of Allhallotide, a three-day Christian triduum dedicated to remembering the dead that begins with Halloween (October 31) and is followed by All Saints’ Day (November 1) and All Souls’ Day (November 2).
Halloween had its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. On the day corresponding to November 1 on contemporary calendars, the new year was believed to begin. That date was considered the beginning of the winter period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. During the Samhain festival the souls of those who had died were believed to return to visit their homes, and those who had died during the year were believed to journey to the otherworld. People set bonfires on hilltops for relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present. It was in those ways that beings such as witches, hobgoblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day. The period was also thought to be favourable for divination on matters such as marriage, health, and death. When the Romans conquered the Celts in the 1st century ce, they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest.