Halloween is observed on the evening of October 31 in most areas of North America and in some areas of Western Europe. The holiday is symbolically associated with death and the supernatural. Halloween falls on the eve of All Saints’ Day, also known as Allhallows or Hallowmas, a holy day in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. Originally a pagan festival of the dead, All Saints’ Day was established by the Catholic Church in the 9th century to honor Christian saints.

Halloween is historically related to similar holidays celebrated in other countries. The Day of the Dead, for example is a Mexican holiday that coincides with All Souls’ Day and blends Roman Catholic and Native American traditions about the souls of the dead. On the Day of the Dead, Mexicans decorate their homes with playful imagery of animated human skeletons, leave offerings of food for wandering spirits, and tend the graves of their deceased relatives.

Observation of Halloween was banned in the United States until 1845.

"... on the eve of Samhain the people of the side (otherworld) left their domain and wandered in the world of man ... hideous and terrifying ritual at Samhain ... attacks by hostile supernatural powers and of sacrifices are indicative of this insecurity and the need for propitiation."

From this practice evolved on of the most remarkable aspects of Halloween; to quote Santino:

"Virtually all of our Halloween customs today can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Each of Halloween's many mysterious customs has a history, or at least a story, behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and the roaming from door-to-door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of Christianity when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Food and drink were left to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing as these dreadful creatures and performing antics in exchange for offerings of food and drink. This practice, called mumming, evolved into our present trick or treating. To this day, witches, ghosts, and skeleton figures of the dead are among the favorite disguises."

The practice of wearing masks and outfits to represent these evil creatures is universal in the human experience. From the Indians of America to China - in all the inhabited areas of the earth - traditions exist in which individuals who dress to represent a god or demon are imbued with supernatural powers and often given presents or beneficial treatment. There is a reason for this. Idols and masks of idols are representative of something. Corinthians 10:19-21 says,

"What say I then? that the idol is anything, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and the table of devils."

So the Bible tells us that idols represent demons, "demon" being the actual word used in the original Greek text. Offerings of food are offerings of food to demons; the trick or treating of today is reminiscent of that practice. In fact, trick or treating children often masquerade as demons. Food (candy) is given to these children under the guise of a "trick or a treat". It has become a recent phenomenon that adults participate in these activities, a strange shadow of what transpired 2,000 years earlier.

Lest we should become confused as to how the concept of romping spirits became intertwined with children, we must quote "Man, Myth, and Magic":

"The guisers went from house to house, singing and dancing. Their blood-curdling masks and grotesque costumes may have been meant to keep evil at bay or, more likely, were a visible representation of the ghosts and goblins that lurked in the night. The masks have now been transferred to the children who, in the United States, visit the neighbors for the food offerings which belonged to the dead - or play tricks akin to the legendary destructiveness of witches and imps abroad on this night."

This then is the story and significance behind trick or treating.

To this day, in many parts of Ireland, the 31st of October is known as Oidhche Shamhna, "Vigil of Saman".

Saman, the Druid lord of death is also known as  Saman, Shamhan, Samana, Shamhain or Samhain depending on your source. As Samhein evolved into Halloween, the pagan lord of death, who was depicted as a ghostly skeleton holding a sickle, became what the modern world calls "The Grim Reaper".

By the end of the 1st century ad, the Roman Empire had conquered most of the Celtic lands. In the process of incorporating the Celts into their empire, the Romans adapted and absorbed some Celtic traditions as part of their own pagan observances. In Britain, Romans blended local Samhain customs with their own pagan harvest festival honoring Pomona, goddess of fruit trees. Some scholars have suggested that the game of bobbing for apples derives from this Roman association of the holiday with fruit.

Pure Celtic influences lingered longer on the western fringes of Europe, especially in areas that were never brought firmly under Roman control, such as Ireland, Scotland, and the Brittany region of northwestern France. In these areas, Samhain was abandoned only when the local people converted to Christianity during the early Middle Ages, a period that lasted from the 5th to the 15th century.

Halloween became fixed in the popular imagination during the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance (14th to 17th century). In British folklore, small magical beings known as fairies became associated with Halloween mischief. The jack-o’-lantern, originally carved from a large turnip rather than a pumpkin, originated in medieval Scotland. Various methods of predicting the future, especially concerning matters of romance and marriage, were also prominent features of Halloween throughout the British Isles.

Between the 15th and 17th centuries, as more Celtics became Christian, native druid priests were labeled as witches and Europe was seized by a hysterical fear the such leading to the persecution of thousands of innocent women. Witches were thought to ride flying brooms and to assume the form of black cats. Midnight of October 31st was considered an extremely hazardous time, as witches were believed to be actively hexing people and communing with the devil. Sacrifices, both animal and human, to satan were not uncommon .

In the United States attitudes toward Halloween varied widely among the various European groups that settled in North America. New England was initially settled by English Puritans, members of a strict Protestant sect that rejected Halloween as a Catholic and pagan holiday. However, other British colonists successfully transplanted Halloween traditions in southern colonies such as Virginia and Maryland. Irish immigrants helped popularize Halloween traditions throughout the United States in the mid-19th century.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, young people often observed Halloween by perpetrating acts of vandalism, such as overturning sheds or breaking windows. In the 1930s, Halloween mischief gradually transformed into the modern ritual of trick-or-treating. Eventually, Halloween treats were plentiful while tricks became rare. Nonetheless, the tradition of Halloween pranks still survives. In some areas, October 30 (one day before Halloween) is called Mischief Night, and vandalism often reaches dangerous levels. In Detroit, Michigan, Mischief Night—known there as Devil’s Night—provided the occasion for waves of arson that sometimes destroyed whole city blocks during the 1970s and 1980s.

The activities of Halloween, the making of charms, divining the future, the practice of magic, and dealing with unclean spirits and demons are explicitly forbidden to mankind. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says,

"There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer (that is, 'one who seeks to interrogate the dead', according to Schofield). For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."

This is a very explicit commandment from the Our Lord. Thus, the ancient Celtic ritual of Halloween practiced today in America is pagan in origin and innately linked with the occult, about which the Bible has much to say and warn us against.

The evil world of the occult wages an ongoing assault against Christianity and the revival of witchcraft and the black arts is indicative of the end times. Satan knows the time of Christ's return is near, and he is mustering all of his forces to engage in a battle he has lost already. Let no one doubt that witchcraft and sorcery are very real. The number of occult-related murders has been on the increase in this country for more than a generation. Moreover, one of the most significant occult dates of all - the one favored for Black Mass - is Halloween, celebrated the last day of October in our nation. On college campuses and universities today, Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible is often a best-seller - in some cases, outselling the Bible itself.

Be very careful and very weary of what you or your children are subjected to during Halloween. Of what the mass media market as being "cool" and "in" for the sake of promoting the occult and making a profit.

Halloween is no joke and there is nothing cute about it.