Before Christianity, the Celts celebrated Samhain (500 BCE), lighting 🔥 bonfires to ward off spirits. The veil between worlds thinned, inviting divination and disguises (Hutton, 1996).
The Church reshaped Samhain into ✝ All Hallows’ Eve. Pope Gregory III set All Saints’ Day on November 1, with 🕯️ vigils and prayers for souls (Butler, 2008).
Souling (prayers for cakes) and ⛪ Masses blended with 🎃 guising and 🔥 turnip lanterns. Bonfires persisted as Christian light and pagan protection (Hutton, 1996).
Protestants rejected Halloween as “popish,” but Catholics kept ✝ Allhallowtide. Secular 👻 mischief and 🔥 divination games grew in Britain (Rogers, 2002).
Irish immigrants brought Halloween to America, birthing 💀 trick-or-treating and 🎃 pumpkin carving. Commercialization exploded with 🔥 candy and horror films (Skal, 2002).
Today, ✝ Christian Masses coexist with 🎃 costume parties and 🔥 haunted attractions. Mexico’s Día de los Muertos blends ⛪ Catholic and indigenous traditions (Brandes, 2006).