Happy Halloween!

Halloween started out as the ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. During this time, the ghosts of the dead were thought to be mingling with the living as they traveled to the otherworld. Food was sacrificed and bonfires were made to honor the dead (as well as ward them away), and the Celts wore costumes of animal heads and furs. The spent time in the streets, roaming about and making noise to scare the spirits away. Fairies supposedly roamed the land during Samhain, going door to door asking beggars for food. Those that gave the fairies food were rewarded instead of punished.

On All Souls Day, the poor would go door to door asking for food, praying for their dead relatives in return. The Church promoted this practice because it took place of the Pagan tradition of leaving cakes and wine out for the spirits of the dead. The poor received soul cakes, the modern-day equivalence of the treats received when trick-or-treating. 

The Roman Catholic church deemed Samhain a pagan holiday because of its connection to the supernatural. In an attempt to get rid of Samhain, Pope Boniface IV made November 1st All Saint's Day. This day was also known as All Hallows, or Hallowmas. Since Samhain was celebrated the night before, it became known as All Hallow's Eve, later shortened to Halloween.

There is logic involved in trick-or-treating. The phrase itself is logical...if you don't give me a treat, I will play a trick on you. Nowadays nobody does the "trick" portion of trick-or-treat, but there is the occasional group of rowdy teenagers that will smash pumpkins in the middle of the night.