The meaning of Halloween

This week I watched a video about the History of Halloween, that’s why I decided to read and to understand more about this traditional celebration in the United States. In the article “History of Halloween” by Benjamin Radford, it’s clear the meaning of the Halloween. In the past, there was a pre-Christian Celtic festival in November/01 called Samhain, which means "summer's end". "There was a belief that it was a day when spirits of the dead would cross over into the other world," Santino told Live Science. Such moments of transition in the year have always been thought to be special and supernatural, he added. The connection between Halloween and Samhain has never been proven, many scholars believe that because All Saints' Day (or All Hallows' Mass, celebrated Nov. 1) and Samhain, are so close together on the calendar, they influenced each other and later combined into the celebration now called Halloween. Also, the tradition of dressing in costumes and trick-or-treating may go back to the practice of "mumming" and "guising", in which people would disguise themselves and go door-to-door, asking for food. However, Halloween was as much a time for festivities and games as it was for playing tricks or asking for treats. Apples are associated with Halloween, both as a treat and in the game of bobbing for apples, a game that since the colonial era in America was used for fortune-telling. Besides, there are others rituals in the history and several places involved, so the history can be told of different ways. In conclusion, I'm very exciting to participate to the true Halloween, because in my home country Brazil, it isn't common this celebration. That's why I bought a costume of Alice in Wonderland, and my friends and I would like going door-to-door to play trick-or-treating, and so we will celebrate together.

References: <http://www.livescience.com/40596-history-of-halloween.html>