Many experts believe the druids were the first to observe Halloween. Dating back to 700 B.C., they celebrated the festival of Samhain (the end of the harvest and a time to honor the dead) on November 1. In the ensuing years, the night before became known as the Eve of All Hallows, a.k.a. Hallow Even, a.k.a. Hallow e'en.

Samhain. All Hallows. All Hallow’s Eve. Hallow E’en. Halloween. The most magical night of the year. Exactly opposite Beltane on the wheel of the year, Halloween is Beltane’s dark twin. A night of glowing jack-o’-lanterns, bobbing for apples, tricks or treats, and dressing in costume. A night of ghost stories and séances, tarot card readings and scrying with mirrors. A night of power, when the veil that separates our world from the Otherworld is at its thinnest. A “spirit night”, as they say in Wales.


All Hallow’s Eve is the eve of All Hallow’s Day (November 1). And for once, even popular tradition remembers that the eve is more important than the day itself, the traditional celebration focusing on October 31, beginning at sundown. And this seems only fitting for the great Celtic New Year’s festival. Not that the holiday was Celtic only. In fact, it is startling how many ancient and unconnected cultures (the Egyptians and pre-Spanish Mexicans, for example) celebrated this as a festival of the dead. But the majority of our modern traditions can be traced to the British Isles.

Halloween Hysteria: Trick or Treating
Trick-or-treating, the practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for goodies, is largely an American adaptation of European masquerades and the late medieval Christian practice of "souling," when poor folk would go door to door, receiving food in return for promises of prayers for the dead.* This was just one of many occasions for going door to door in a time when entertainments were in short supply. Dressing in scary costumes is another holdover from medieval times, when religious processions demonstrated to a largely illiterate population what fate awaited sinners thnrough the use of garish costumed demons and devils.
There is no evidence whatsover that Druids had any similar practice, and the notion that "the Irish Druids on the eve of Samhain burned their victims in the holy fire" is entirely fantastical. A Druid Samhain was probably most similar to Mexico's "Day of the Dead," and celebrated the descent of the god of light (Lugh) into the underworld. Another popular deity is reputed to have done the very same thing on a weekend in Jerusalem...

In early, Puritan America, Halloween was little more than gatherings of superstitious villagers. The general reluctance of folks to go outdoors gave many opportunities to vandals and pranksters, and another Halloween tradition was born. By the nineteenth century, Halloween was adopted more or less as an excuse for a party. By the end of the Great Depression, 'trick or treating' had evolved into a nightmare for shopkeepers, with vandals wreaking havoc on property, and many towns imposed curfews, which often just made things worse. Things eventually settled down as the economy improved, however, and Halloween became a popular time for adult fancy dress parties. During the war years, these parties were considered extravagant, and Halloween became the holiday we know today, a children's holiday with kids begging for treats door to door inj imitation of old fashioned tricks and treats. The 'trick' in trick or treat is a reference to the old vandals' cry.

*It was widely believed that such prayers lessened the term of punishment for souls in Purgatory, so trading a bit of cake to get Grandma to Heaven was a bit of a no-brainer

Halloween started with ancient celtic tribes in Ireland and Scotland, something to do with the lord of the dead

Hehehe...I call them "Bible Humpers".

All of the stuff about Hallowe'en posted by several others here on the forum are absolutely correct.

I still love how some Bible Humpers call "the Devil" by the name "Lucifer",not knowing that the original meaning of Lucifer is "Bringer of Light".

There are a lot of weird Christians out there. Most are just normal folks, but there is a fringe group that points everything at the Devil. I've heard of people who don't take medicine, dance or watch TV, for fear that the Devil will get them.

Ok, I went to a Privet school from Kindergarten, up to second grade. It was already October, and all of the kids were talking about where they would go trick -o- treating. My teachers flipped out. Since our school was a Christian school, everything was the Devil to them. They told all of the kids, that Halloween was the Devil's birthday, and that we should not even celebrate Halloween. The next day, our Principal gave this huge speech about how people will try to make us Devil worshipers and that, witches, demons, goblins, and ghosts are not real. Where do they get this stuff? Halloween is not about the devil. It's just a night that kids go trick -o- treating, and go get candy. Anyway, I was wondering what other people thought about this. I left that school in second grade. Big surprise.
Taylor

Halloween is a kids holiday. Although the original intentions MIGHT have been devil worship, its not the kids go praying the devil while trick-o-treatin, am i right?

Halloween is a kids holiday. Although the original intentions MIGHT have been devil worship, its not the kids go praying the devil while trick-o-treatin, am i right?

They told all of the kids, that Halloween was the Devil's birthday, and that we should not even celebrate Halloween.

because they didn't have enough candy

in this rate, I get the feeling the extremist Christians would have mark the return of Christ as an antichrist or satan himself. so I get the feeling them extremist people would kill Christ off again.
now that's really f**ked up!

Everyone listen,Halloween, or The Hallowed Evening was a Celtic Druid Holiday/celebration. It was later adopted by Wiccans and Occultist and even later by Satanists. Trick-or-Treat is on the same night, BUT it is just kids dressing up as someone else (usually not someone scary) knocking on doors or ringing the door bell to get candy. The only children who shouldn't like trick or treat are parents concerned about their children getting cavities.

Yeh mk, we get it. You are preaching to the converted here. But what I was saying was that from a Christian viewpoint, it is of the Devil/Satanic. Think of it this way: imagine kids going around the neighbourhood on September 11 every year with toy bombs/explosives strapped to their bodies. Would most Americans find that offensive to their belief system? You bet! They wouldn't understand why someone would do this.

BTW - why do American posters here think that the Druids are the basis for all ancient beliefs and symbology in Britian? The Druids arrived in Britain with the Celts, and so are predated by 'native' pagan beliefs and religions by a few thousand years.