Naturally, the living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, a villager would extinguish even the most little spark of fire in his house, making it a cold and undesirable pace.They would then dress up in some sort of ghoulish costumes and noisily parade around the neighborhood, creating as mush sound as possible in order to frighten away spirits. The practices also changed over time to become more sophisticated and more ritualized.As belief in spirit possession wanted, and a Catholic influence began to soak into the Celtic people, the name of the holiday changed, and the practice of dress up like, ghosts, and witches took on a more social role.The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840’s by Irish immigrants fleeing their country due to a potato famine affecting their native soil.A ninth-century European custom called souling was to sow the custom of trick-or-treating into the other Halloween traditions.On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for spare bits of hard cookies called “soul cakes”.Getting many soul cakes was a way to bring about a smooth afterlife. So, although Halloween is a modern tradition, it has solid roots in ancient traditions.
