For many years I have trick or treated and watched my nephews and nieces trick or treat and wondered were the Holiday came from. So I went looking and found some very interesting things. Some of what I found was very interesting and other things were more frightening since they were real.
Halloween is the modern day name the festival of All Hallows Eve. This festival was started by a people known as Celts. Parts of the Celtic people immigrated to the area that is now Great Britain. These people had a culture that honored their dead this celebration was called "Sam Hain". This celebration was celebrated at the same time as the native people of the British Isles celebrated the farming of good crops. SO in order to have a good harvest next year and to word off evil spirits the priests of the Celtic people made sacrifices of Harvested grain and animals. The Priests of the Celts who made the sacrifices and said the prayers were called Druids. .
The Christians which came to Briton with the Romans could not stop the celebration so they move their day of celebrating of "All Saints" from spring to fall. The Catholics made the day official with the making of "All Souls Day". During "All Souls Day" the poor would go from door to door and say "trick or treat" in order to receive a small cake, over time the poor disappeared and the children of the village took over. Since the people who celebrated the All Hallows Eve were the offspring of the Celts, they took it with them when they came to America. The Children of the Celtic people were the Scottish and Irish immigrants. So this is how Halloween came to America. .
The Celts had a special group of people who were called Druids. The Druids were the healers and priests of the Celtic people. They were also the history keepers, story tellers, and the peace makers. An apprentice was taught by a druid and had to learn for 20 yrs or more. The Druids learned how to use nature in ways that made them seem like magic.