31st October: Halloween – Trick or Treats

On October 31st, Halloween brings out the ghouls and goblins, creatures, and strange folk. They come creeping about the neighborhood seeking favors over trickery.

People of all ages look forward to Halloween traditions. While dressing up and baking, we carve up glowing pumpkins. Children breathing life into storybook characters, practicing their trick or treat. In twos and threes, they traipse through the neighborhood, collecting their bounty in pillow sacks. A ghost, a pirate, a robot or Dorothy, and Toto. No matter their age, they come to the door. They knock or ring. Here and there, a screech or a boo!

The crisp air and autumn colors set the mood. Seasonings fill our senses with a taste of autumn. We set forth on an adventure and finish with a warm apple cider around a flickering fire.

The observance dates back to an ancient pagan harvest festival marking the end of summer and beckoning the beginning of winter. Seasons overlapped during Samhain (pronounced sah-win), and revelers believed the worlds of the living and the dead crossed. To interact with the spirits, the living would wear costumes and light, bright bonfires to help protect them.

History

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.

This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

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