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Halloween
The eve of All Saints, now a children's festival of costume and sweets, with older beliefs about spirits, witches and love divination under it.
About Halloween
Halloween comes from the eve of All Hallows, and many of its customs have mixed Christian and older folk roots. Children in Scotland and Ireland went guising in disguise and were given food, which later became trick-or-treating in North America. Carved lanterns began as turnips and were swapped for pumpkins by Irish and Scottish emigrants in the United States. Masks and costumes were once said to hide the wearer from wandering spirits, and a number of games, such as apple bobbing, were originally ways of asking who would marry whom. Today it is largely a commercial and secular event, with a growing share of adults taking part, while some Christians object to it and Pagans mark it separately as Samhain.
Entries tied to it
Also part of it, and being written: Jack-o'-lantern (From turnip to pumpkin.), Trick-or-treating (Guising and the door-to-door custom.), Apple bobbing (A game with a past as love divination.), Soul cake (Food given for prayers for the dead.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Halloween" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.