1. The Origins of Halloween

Halloween is thought to have originated around 4000 B.C., which means Halloween has been around for over 6,000 years as we know it today, borrow traditions from different festivals namely: the Roman feralia festival commemorating¹ for dead, the roman Pomona festival honoring the goddess of fruit and trees, the Celtic festival Samuin, meaning “summer's end”, which comprise the bulk of origins of Halloween traditions, the Catholic Hallowmas period of “All soul's Day” and All Saint's Day which was instigated² around 800 by a church to try to replace Samuin.

2. Color

Black and orange are the international colors of Halloween. Black, of course, is a sign of death, gloom and the foreboding night, which are all associated with Halloween. Orange is a traditional emblem³ of fortitude⁴, survival and power, which signify the harvest, and the colors of fall. Halloween is where death (winter) takes over from the life-giving fall harvest, hence the mixtures of black and orange come festival time.

3. Costumes

The custom of wearing costumes or masks comes from Celtic tradition of young men impersonating evil spirits, by dressing⁵ up in white costumes with blackened faces or masks in an attempt to placate⁶ these spirit.

4. Trick or Treat

Trick or Treating has a short history. In 19th century Scotland and Ireland, there is some records of children travelling door-to-door praying for souls or performing for money or cakes on All Hallows Eve. However, the tradition is a short step from the medieval practice of souling, in which beggars went door to door on October 31 to pray for souls in return for food. The food given was often a Soul Cake, which was a small round cake which represented a soul being freed from Purgatory⁷ when the cake was eaten. Today Trick or Treat means “gives us a treat or we'll pull a prank⁸ on you”.

5. Jack⁹ O'Lanterns

According to Irish legend, Jack O'Lanterns are named after a man named Jack. This crafty¹⁰ fellow fooled the devil on numerous occasions and, as a result, his soul was condemned¹¹ to hang about Earth for all eternity¹². Jack, barred from both heaven and hell, put the burning ember given to him by Beelzebub into the very first ”jack-o-lantern”, in order to ward¹³ off any more encounters with the Evil one.

6. Turnips¹⁴ Instead of Pumpkins¹⁵

The first Jack O'Lanterns were actually made from turnips by the Celts to ward off evil spirits during Samuin, The Celts would hollow out turnips then carve faces in them and place candles inside. The turnips were then either placed in the windows to keep evil spirits from encountering a home or carried around as lanterns. The tradition eventually melded with the North American tradition of carving¹⁶ pumpkins.