Halloween

Halloween is a holiday celebrated throughout the world on October 31. The tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts and Aos Si spirits. Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. Soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween.

Origins
2,000 years ago, the Celts celebrated Samhain in Ireland, United Kingdom and Northern France. The holiday marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter. Celts believed that during the fall equinox, the realms between the living and the dead became blurred. On Samhain, the ghost of the dead returned along with other spiritual entities. These changes provided the Celtic Druids with abundant otherworldly energy to predict the future and conduct rituals.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins. Candle lit gourds called "Jack O Lanterns" were originally carved from turnips and rutabaga to ward off Aos Si. Centuries later after the introduction of Christianity, they would be used to symbolically represent souls trapped in purgatory.