Once they had conquered the Celts, the Romans merged their own two autumn festivals with the Samhain celebration. Feralia, the Roman festival of the dead, and Pamona, the celebration of the goddess by the same name, combined with the celebration of Samhain into a new holiday, where the Roman influence dominated. The apple's presence in today's Halloween celebration stands as an example of that influence.
Fast forward to the Christians.
As the Celts adopted Christianity, the Samhain celebration became known as All Hallows Eve and added a second day, All Saints Day.
During All Saints Day, the Catholic Church paused to honor all Christian saints, especially those who did not have a particular day named for them.
But two days wasn't enough. The church, seeking to quell any opposition, added a third day, Nov. 2, to ensure Christians praised all those who had died. This was known as All Souls Day.
And, still, Halloween continued to change; All Hallows Eve became Hallows Eve and then, eventually, Halloween.
JACK'S LANTERN
The small girl carries a plastic, orange pumpkin filled with candy. Little does she know the pumpkin - a Jack O'Lantern - was intended as punishment for an ancient Englishman.
"Jack" was a scoundrel. When he died, he was unrepentant; he'd broken every commandment, and was far too miserly to be allowed into Heaven. But Jack was also excluded from Hell because he'd played too many tricks on the Devil.
So Jack had no place to go. He was forced to roam the Earth carrying a lantern until Judgment Day, when both Satan and the Almighty would decide just what was to be done with him.
At least that's how the legend goes.
Eventually, Jack's lantern would evolve into a gourd, which had been hollowed out and lit with a candle. From there, it became a pumpkin, and a century or so later, the pumpkin got a face. Today, the plastic Jack O'Lantern is still roaming the face of the earth, awaiting his fate.
During the time of Jack's legend, Scottish villagers grew concerned the world's ghosts and witches were holding some type of underworld convention to meet with Satan. The Scots worried things would get ugly should the bad guys hook up with Old Scratch.
So they decided to fight fire with fire - literally. To shoo away the spirits of the dead, the Scots paraded through their fields carrying torches and starting bonfires.
The Scots weren't that successful at ridding the world of evil. In fact, the only thing which outlasted the villagers was the tradition. The evil spirits just hung around until the next year.
TRICK OR TREAT
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