I love Halloween, eating all that candy you get from trick-or-treating, and dressing up in costumes are two of my favorite activities.
I love Halloween too, How did it start as tradition of dressing up and collecting candy?
Well most believe the traditions started as ancient Celtic harvest festivals, which may have had pagan roots. I think the trick-or-treating was probably popularized by candy companies if I had to guess.
Seems like Pagans have some hand in our holidays even today
Definitely, there is dispute, though. Some people think that Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday separate from any sort of Pagan background.
But why the costumes and dressing up, to ward off evil spirits?
Halloween
Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of Hallows' Even or Hallows' Evening), also known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a celebration observed in several countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.
It is widely believed that
many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain; that such festivals may have had pagan roots; and that Samhain itself was Christianized as Halloween by the early Church. Some believe, however, that Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, separate from ancient festivals like Samhain.
Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks