The Irish tradition of Halloween on the 31st October is followed by the official All Saints' holiday on the 1st November. Halloween has become the second most popular decorative festival, after Christmas, in the United States.

Halloween was regarded, by many, as the Celtic New Year. A period when animals were traditionally killed and supplies stored up for the long cold winter ahead. This night was also known as the 'festival of the dead.' The night when the boundary between the living and dead becomes blurred. Some however, believed the dead causes problems for the living, such as sickness or crop damage.

It was originally known as All Hallows Day, the eve of All Saints' Day. The two holidays used to be celebrated on the one day. The name was then shortened to Halloween.

Symbols of Halloween:

The jack-o'-lantern has its origin in the Irish legend of a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer, named Stingy Jack. He fooled the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to wander the earth at night for ever. The only light Jack had was a candle which he placed inside a hollowed out turnip.

North America transferred the turnip into the larger and more easily available pumpkin. This was placed on the doorstep so as to ward off superstitions.

From nearly a century of film making we have been given the imagery of witches, crows, spiders, skeletons ghosts, owls, vultures, black cats, zombies, goblins, mummies and demons. All added to the Halloween paraphernalia.

Trick-n-Treat:

When you went outdoors is was prudent to wear a costume so as to blend in with all the 'spirits' of the night. This eventually evolved into trick-n-treat, where children, knocking on neighbour's doors would ask for sweets, nuts and fruit for the Halloween feast. The children had salt sprinkled in their hair to protect them against the evil spirits powers.

In England and Wales you would either receive a treat of food or money, or you would perform a trick. This often involved such things as removing the gate from its hinges and carrying it away to dump in a local pond. Unfortunately, this has led to antisocial behavior among older teenagers. In 2006 police surveillance of the festival had to be stepped up so as to keep law and order.

The Food:

Halloween comes at the close of the annual apple harvest, so apples also became a symbol of the festivities. Apples, rolled in sugar syrup and nuts, made candy apples, which were then handed out to the children.

In Ireland it is the time of the King Cake, or barmbrack, which is a light fruit cake baked in a ring in which coin and lucky charms are placed before baking. Anyone getting a ring from the cake will find their true love in the coming year.

UNICEF

UNCIEF started a program in 1950 where they distributed small boxes to schools, or through some chosen stores. UNICEF asked the trick-or-treat children to collect small change donations from the houses which they visited. It is believed the children have collected in the vicinity of $119 million for UNICEF. The program was unfortunately canceled in certain parts of the world, because of the concern for the safety of the children.

Television

The evening of October 31st is the traditional night to view horror, or ghost stories. Perhaps this year, Wall Street and the financial crisis has already provided enough horror movies.