 Halloween for many is one of the most joyous times of the year. It is firmly part of our cultural upbringing in the West and it allows us to vent our fears for one night only, like a purge. On this night we embrace all the things that may scare us at times and we laugh at these things in a way that makes us stronger. Being afraid is an adrenaline rush after all and on this night we comfort our fears in a fun kind of way. This shows us that the things we are afraid of aren't as scary in real time as they are in our mind as they manifest in our thoughts. The origins of Halloween seem to date to the Celtic Festival of the Dead, but it is associated with even older Egyptian traditions of the transmigration of the human soul and its reincarnation after death. These traditions of the Egyptian source are removed many times in the Celtic traditions, but nonetheless Halloween as we know it today didn't begin around 2000 years ago. It simply reemerged into the Celtic traditions from older traditions and this is summed up by the Roman poet Lucanus who in the first century AD wrote the following. While you ye druids when the war was done, to mysteries strange and hateful rites returned, to you alone, to is given the heavenly gods to know or not to know, secluded groves your dwelling place, the forest far remote. If what we sing be true the shades of men seek not the dismal homes of death spell kingdoms, but the breath of life, still rules these bodies and other aged life on this hand and that and death between. Happy the peoples neath the northern star, in this their false belief, for them no fear of that which frights all others, they with hands and hearts undaunted rush upon the foe and scorn to spare the life that shall return. Halloween is among the oldest traditions in the world as it touches on essential element of the human condition, the relationship between the living and the dead. Every recorded civilization has created some form of ritual observance, focused on what happens to people when they die, where they go and how the living should best honor those who have passed or respond to the dead who seem unwilling or unable to move on. Very little is known of the rituals of ancient festival of the dead because the church Christianized it as with many pagan festivals and what information is available comes from Irish monks who recorded the pre-Christian history of their people as well as other Christian scribes denigrating pagan rites. It seems however that the observance included stocking up supplies for the winter, slaughtering cattle and disposing of the bones in bone fires which in time came to be known as bonfires. There were gatherings of communities for feasting and drinking while this was going on, but there was also the awareness of the thin time of the year and the possibility of other worldly visitors showing up at the party. Departed loved ones were expected and welcomed and the practice of setting our favorite foods for the dead may have originated in this sense as early as 2000 years ago, but many other kinds of spirits some which never had human form could also appear. Elves, fairy, the we folk spirits and the dark energies were just as likely to pay a visit as those one who longed to see again one last time. Further there was a very good chance that the spirit of a person of one who may have wronged would also make an appearance in order to deceive the spirits people darken their faces with ashes from the bonfire and this developed into wearing mask. A living person would recognize the spirit of a loved one and can then reveal themselves but otherwise remain safe from the unwanted attention of the dark forces. The Christianization of pagan symbols, temples, festivals, legends and religious iconography is well established and applies to the Siwa festival as well as many others. Pope Boniface IV had set 13 May as all Saints' Day, all Halloween's Day, a feast day to celebrate those Saints who do not have a day of their own. In the 7th century CE when he consecrated the great pagan temple of the Pantheon in Rome to Saint Mary and Christian martyrs, but in the 8th century Pope Gregory III moved the date of the feast to 1st November. The motivation of this move is still debated. Some scholars claim it was done intentionally to Christianize Siwa by turning it into all Hallows' Eve which is most likely true as the move follows an established Christian paradigm of redeeming all things pagan in an effort to ease the conversion process of a given population. In the 17th century Guy Fawkes Day added a new component to the development of Halloween. On 5 November 1605 a group of dissident Catholics tried to assassinate the Protestant King James I of Britain in an attempt known as the Gunpowder Plot. The attempt failed and one of the group, Guy Fawkes, was caught with the explosives beneath the House of Lords and although he had co-conspirators his name attached itself famously to the plot. The night before Guy Fawkes Day bonfires were lit and unpopular figures often the Pope were hanged in effigy while people drank feasted and lit all fireworks. Children and the poor would go house to house often wearing masks pushing an effigy of Guy Fawkes in a wheelbarrow and begging for money or treats. When mass migration began in the 18th and 19th centuries to America these traditions were brought with them most notably the displacement of the Irish between 1845 and 1849 during the potato famine. The Irish largely Catholic continued to observe all Hallows' Eve all Saints' Day and all Souls' Day along with the practice of souling but these festivals by now were infused with folk traditions such as the jack-o'-lantern. The jack-o'-lantern is associated with the Irish folk tale of stinging Jack a clever drunk and con man who fooled the devil into banning him from hell but because of his sinful life could not enter heaven after his death he roamed the world carrying a small lantern made of a turnip with a red hot ember from hell inside to light his way. So there you have it guys a little bit of Halloween history and how it evolved in more modern times but as we say these do day back much further into history. We hope you do enjoy this festive period and we will of course be back just shortly with more content for you guys but what do you guys make of this anyway? Comments below and happy Halloween!