v Our modern celebration of Halloween comes from the ancient Celtic fire festival called "Samhain" (pronounced "sow-in", with "sow" rhyming with cow). Samhain was a joyful harvest festival that marked the death of the old year and the beginning of a new one. The day itself was a time for paying homage to the sun god Baal who had provided the people with the ripened grain for use in the upcoming winter. Charms and spells were said to have more power on the eve of Samhain.

Celts (pron. Kehlts) lived in Europe from North of the Alps to the Baltic Sea (the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France) from 1000BC to 450AD. They were a pastoral people as opposed to an agricultural people. The end of summer was significant to them because it meant the time of year when the structure of their lives changed radically. The cattle were brought down from the summer pastures in the hills and the people were gathered into the houses for the long winter nights of story-telling and handicrafts.

The Celts believed when people died, they went to a land of eternal youth and happiness called Tir nan Og. There was no "heaven and hell," which the Christian church later brought into the land. The dead were sometimes believed to be dwelling with the Fairy Folk, who lived in the numerous mounds or sidhe (pron. "shee") that dotted the Irish and Scottish countryside. Samhain was the new year to the Celts. In the Celtic belief system, turning points, such as the time between one day and the next, the meeting of sea and shore, or the turning of one year into the next were seen as magickal times. The turning of the year was the most potent of these times. This was the time when the "veil between the worlds" was at its thinnest, and the living could communicate with their beloved dead in Tir nan Og.

The Celts did not have demons and devils in their belief system. The fairies, however, were often considered hostile and dangerous to humans because they were seen as being resentful of men taking over their lands. On this night, they would sometimes trick humans into becoming lost in the fairy mounds, where they would be trapped forever. After the coming of the Christians to the Celtic lands, certain people saw the fairies as those angels who had sided neither with God nor with Lucifer in their dispute, and thus, were condemned to walk the earth until judgment day. In addition to the fairies, many humans were out on this night, causing mischief. Since this night belonged neither to one year or the other, Celtic folk believed that chaos reigned and the people would engage in "horseplay and practical jokes". This served also as a final outlet for high spirits before the gloom of winter set in.

During the evening, many people would imitate the fairies and go house to house begging for treats. Failure to supply treats usually resulted in jokes being visited on the owner of the house. Since the fairies were out on this night, an offering of food or milk was often left for them on the steps of the house, so the homeowner could gain the blessings of the "good folk" for the coming year. Many households would also leave out a "dumb supper" for the spirits of the departed. Folks who were out in the night imitating the fairies would sometimes carry turnips carved to represent faces—the origin of our modern Jack-o-lantern.

The tradition of dressing in costume for Halloween has both European and Celtic roots. Hundreds of years ago, winter was an uncertain and frightening time. Food supplies often ran low and, for the many people afraid of the dark, the short days of winter were full of constant worry. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.

v Halloween travels to the US: When the potato crop in Ireland failed, many Irish people, descendents of the Celts, immigrated to America, bringing with them their folk practices. The American tradition of "trick-or-treat" probably dates back to the early All Souls’ Day parades in England: poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family’s dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighborhood and be given ale,  food, and money.

v Today, Americans spend $2.5 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s 2nd largest commercial holiday.