Erin Lindsay traces the history of Halloween back to the Irish Celts, with the ancient celebration of Samhain
Surrounded by pumpkins patches and spice lattes, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Halloween night is a very American affair — but the festival of Samhain stretches much farther back.
Samhain is considered to be the earliest known root of what we now call Halloween. It was celebrated as a turning point in the year, as it was the mid-point between the summer and winter solstices, and the time when the seasons changed. As a time of changing over, many believed that time stood still on this night and that the natural order of the world was thrown off. It was a time when the boundaries between the world of the living and of the dead were thought to be at their thinnest.
The tradition of dressing up in a costume and trick-or-treating stems from people dressing up as the souls of the dead to go out and recite songs or verses in exchange for food, and offerings for the spirits. Some historians also think that people dressed up in costume to confuse evil spirits to keep them away.
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