BOO!

Halloween , or Allhallowide, is a yearly celebration on October 31st, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day, dedicated to remembering the dead. Within Allhallowtide, the traditional focus of All Hallows' Eve revolves around the theme of using "humor and ridicule" to confront the power of death.
-Wikipedia

My researches into this holiday, were brought on by my drive through the nearby subdivision, its lawns and walkways decorated with pumpkins, gravestones, spiders, ghouls, skeletons and monsters.

In that context, even our commercialized "Trick or Treat" tradition, complete with costumes and candy, makes more sense than our celebrations of either Christmas or Easter,) My favorite observance of Allhallowide is the Mexican Dia de los Muertos in which people build altars in their homes, and visit cemeteries to clean and decorate the graves of their loved ones. Although losing someone is a sad event, Dia de los Muertos is a colorful celebration of life and family and their memories of the departed.

There is also speculation that All Hallows' Eve was originally influenced by the Celtic harvest festivals with possible pagan connections to the Gaelic Samhain (Summer"s End), which would explain the pumpkins, if not the carved faces. Perhaps these "Jack o' Lanterns were actual lanterns carried by costumed trick or treaters (or whatever the Gaelic term was….)

Little did I know when I took a shortcut home from getting my hair cut, that I would actually find a semi-credible reason for the odd decorations, and learn something new about this ancient holiday.

Happy Halloween, everybody!