So why do we celebrate Halloween, where did it come from? It was first celebrated in Western Europe before the birth of Christ as a pagan celebration of the celtic new year which began on November 1st. It was not called Halloween then. The spirits of those who had died the previous year were believed to come back looking for a body to inhabit so it could come back to life. Naturally the people did not want to have their bodies possessed so they dressed up in scary costumes, built bonfires and ran around on October 31st trying to scare the spirits away.

Hundreds of years later, when Christianity came into the area, the pagan practices slowly changed and combined with the Christian celebration of "All Hallows Day" or "All Saints Day." The evening before was called "All Hallows Evening," producing the contraction "Hallow e'en." Trick or treating probably came from the practice of souling where Christians would beg for little soul cakes and in exchange would pray for those who had died the previous year, thereby helping them get into heaven quicker.

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