Halloween originated from an ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. It took place on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic year. Samhain was the god of the dead, and the festival bearing his name was a festival for the dead. Celts believed Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their homes for this evening.
During the festival of Samhain, the Druids (the priests and teachers of the Celts) ordered the people to extinguish their hearth fires. A huge new year bonfire would be made. Animals and crops were sacrificed in this bonfire and predictions were made for the new year by reading the remains of the sacrifices. During the celebration the people wore costumes made of animal heads and skins. Each family would relight their hearth fires from this bonfire after the three-day festival.
The Celts came to believe that witches, warlocks, and ghosts roamed the earth and skies on this night. The bonfires for the festival were used to ward off these spirits. Because of the presence of these spirits, it was believed this was the best night for fortune telling concerning marriage, luck, wealth, and death.
In the mid-eighth century, Pope Gregory III made All Saint's Day (a day in which Catholics celebrate all who have entered Heaven) a holy day and moved it to November 1st, the day after Samhain. It is believed by some that this was done to accommodate the Celtic converts as they continued to enjoy their pagan festival. Elements of the festival of Samhain were incorporated into the holiday of All Hallows' Eve, the night preceding All Saints' (Hallows') Day. In Ireland, part of this festival was a parade with the people wearing costumes or robes while going throughout the town begging for food. In England, the poor begged for food in return for promising to say prayers for the dead.
Settlers from these Celtic regions brought these customs with them when they came to America. However, because of the strict religious beliefs of other settlers, Halloween celebrations were slow to catch on in popularity. As the beliefs and customs of incoming settlers meshed with those of the native Indians, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge.
In time, the fall harvest would be celebrated with public events in which neighbors would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. These festivities were not observed in all areas. In the second half of the nineteenth century, America began to be flooded with a new wave of immigrants, including millions from Ireland escaping the Potato Famine. These immigrants helped to popularize the celebration of Halloween nationally. Borrowing from European traditions, Americans would dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money. This practice eventually became today's "trick-or-treating."
In the late nineteenth century, a move was put forth to make Halloween a holiday that focused upon community and neighborhood get-togethers. Celebrations began to focus on games, foods of the season, festive costumes, and parties for children. Parents were encouraged to remove things that were frightening and grotesque from these celebrations. As a result of these efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones and became a secular holiday.
By the 1950's (the time of the baby boom), Halloween had become a holiday that was directed mainly at the young, and the practice of trick-or-treating was revived. Trick-or-treating was a way for an entire community to share in the Halloween celebration; providing small treats for neighborhood children to prevent tricks from being played on them.
Because it has obvious roots in pagan customs, it is sometimes asked if Christians should take part in modern Halloween celebrations.
If one will take the time and effort to do the research, he will find that many things we do today have their roots in pagan beliefs and celebrations. Modern Christmas and Easter celebrations have pagan origins that are much older than the time of Christ. The days of the week are named after Greek gods. It would be hypocritical to condemn others for trick-or-treating while your family put up a Christmas tree and hunted colored eggs. The pagan origins of such things are so far removed from our current culture that they are often not considered as one partakes in the celebration.
Christians have the right to observe secular holidays or choose not to observe such days. In fact, Paul says each is to make up his own mind regarding this matter and not judge others for making a different choice. "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind" (Rom. 14:5).