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Halloween, celebrated on 31st October, is not known as a pagan holiday anymore in recent times. But the history and traditions of Halloween are dated back to the primeval Celtic holiday of Samhain. According to the Celtic tradition, people who used to celebrate Halloween were dressed up in animal costumes. It was the remarkable tradition which marked the end of summer and it announced the onset of winter.
The old pagan tradition was gleefully adopted by the Christians later when they came together to celebrate the fascinating festival, All Souls Day on 2nd November.  However, the traditions of wearing animal like costumes were dropped and they had adopted a better custom of wearing costumes of saints, devils, angels and fairies. They used to wear these kinds of costumes because they wanted to pay tributes to the spirits on All Souls Day.
The ancient Celtic tradition was very common and dominant. The norm of Trick-or-Treating has its roots in Celtic custom and tradition as well. Samhain, celebrated on 1st of November, was treated as a day which was considered as a day to honor the deceased men and women. It was believed that the souls of the people who died in the past year were transitioned to the spirit world from this word on Samhain. Celts had assisted their deceased ancestors on their voyage by offering foods for long journey to the other world. Over the years, celebrants of Samhain are following the custom of wearing dresses like spirits. They used to exchange eatables and perform various tricks. This important and foremost tradition was known as mumming which had inspired the popular custom, trick-or-treating. |
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