In order to understand halloween, it is important to understand the history of this fall holiday.  Halloween, which directly stems from Irish, Scottish, Welsh and British folk customs, was celebrated as the Druids autumn festival.  The Druids were an order of priests who worshiped nature.  They were accomplished magicians and wizards at the height of their influence some 200 years before the birth of Jesus.

The holiday was originally celebrated to honor Samhain, lord of the dead, on Oct 31 ( the end of summer).  The Druids believed that on this date, Samhain called all the wicked souls that had been condemned within the last year to live in animal bodies.  He was believe to have released them in the form of spirits, ghosts, fairies, witches and elves.

According to Druidic tradition, these souls of the dead roamed the city on Halloween night and returned to haunt the homes where they once lived. The only way occupants of the house could free themselves from being haunted was to lay out food and give shelter to the spirit during the night.  If they didn't the spirit would cast a spell on them.  That is where the phrase "trick or treat" comes from.

The jack-o-lantern was also apart of the belief system.  The carved pumpkin symbolized a damned soul named Jack.  According to the tale, Jack was not allowed into heaven or hell.  So he wandered around in the darkness with his lantern until Judgement Day.  Fearful people hollowed out turnips (and later pumpkins in the United States), carved and evil face on them, and lit a candle inside to scare him and other evil spirits.

The Druids had several outlandish beliefs that turned into tradition. For example they were afraid of black cats, because they believed when a person committed evil he would be turned into a cat.  Cats were thus considered evil.  to scare them away the Druids decorated their homes with witches, ghosts and the like, they also decorated with cornstalks, pumpkins and other goods.  In addition to being Halloween, Oct 31 was also the New year's eve of the Celts and Anglo-Saxons.  They celebrated with hugh bon fires to frighten evil spirits.

The Romans conquered of the Celts around 43 A.D. and ruled much of what is now the United Kingdom for about 400 hundred years.  During this period, two Roman autumn festivals were combined with the Celtic festival of Samhain.  One called Feralia, held in October to honor the dead, the other Pomona honoring the Roman goddess of the fruit trees. This is where the practice of bobbing for apples became associated with Halloween.

Some people have thought that Halloween's only significance was the evening before All Saints Day, a festival of the Catholic Church honoring all Christian saints.  A Mass set on All Saint's Day was called Allhallowmas.  The evening before became known as the eve of All Saints.  the Eve of All Hallows, All Hallow's Eve, or Hallow Even, which gave us the name Hallowe'en.

Although All Saint's Day contributed to the naming of Halloween, All Saints Day itself did not exist until 700 A.D. when it was instituted by Pope Boniface IV.

The combination of these customs eventually became the traditional celebration we call Halloween.

As Christians we should not celebrate Halloween as the world does, rather we should recognize October 31 as the day that the Lord has made - a day we rejoice  in (Psalm 118:24) and we need not be fearful, for God has not given us a spirit of fear (2Tim 1:7)

Parents teach your children to have faith in God.  Children can have just as much fun on a Halloween centered around the Word of God and family fellowship.  give the word of God not fairy tales.

•  Proverbs 4:7 (Amplified) says "The beginning of Wisdom is: get Wisdom (skillful and Godly wisdom)! [For skillful and godly Wisdom is the principal thing.] And with all you have gotten, get understanding (discernment, comprehension, and interpretation).