We all love and celebrate Halloween, but how did it come to be? Halloween’s origins date back to an ancient Celtic festival. Samhain (sow-in) was a day that marked the end of summer and the beginning of the harvest and cold winter season. This darker, cooler time of year was often associated with human death. Because of this, Samhain was deemed the day when the border between the worlds of those living and dead became unclear. In short, on this day, the ghosts of the dead would return and be among the living. As the 9th century came around, Christianity had entered most Celtic territories and consequently blended with their now ancient cultures. November 2nd, as elected by the church, became All Souls’ Day, a day set aside to honor the dead. From experts’ understanding today, this holiday was an attempt to cover up the Celtic holiday of Samhain with a more Christian-friendly and church-sanctioned holiday. November 1st, what was formally Samhain, became known as All-Hallows Eve and eventually Halloween. Now, we celebrate Halloween on October 31st in costumes and with candy!