Orange and green lights blink in the dormitory windows.  Colored leaves descend from the trees and whirl around in the crisp air.  Vampires, ghosts and witches roam the streets, begging for treats.

It could only be one time of year - Halloween.  Most people never contemplate why these are symbols of the holiday, or where its observance originated.

The first known people associated with Halloween were the Celtics of England, Ireland, and Scotland.  October 31 marked the midway point between their summer and winter seasons. It also signaled the beginning of their new year, which began on November 1.

During this time, the Celtics observed a festival called Samhain.  They believed that on this day, the souls of those who had died during the previous year began their journey to another world.  Fearing that the dead might come in contact with the living, the Celtics took embers from their fireplaces and lit bonfires in the center of town.  This was done to honor the deceased and guide them along their way.  The community also sacrificed animals and offered fruits and vegetables so the spirits would keep their distance.  The cold and darkness of winter and the presence of spirits are reasons why Halloween is connected with images of death and evil.

Christian missionaries in the sixth century sought to reform the pagan beliefs of the Celtic people.  They strategically centered all of their holy days around the native holidays, and named November 1 the Feast of All Saints.  This day honored all Christian saints, known and unknown and was meant to eventually replace the festival of Samhain.  The day was similarly called All Hallows, in which the word "hallow" means sanctified, or holy.

In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church tried to diminish the Celtics' beliefs in traditional gods by associating them with danger, evil and the Devil.  Those who still followed the Celtic religion were branded as witches and went into hiding.  The public still continued to celebrate All Hallow's Eve as a day of the supernatural.   They would set out gifts of food by their front doors to appease the spirits.   Eventually, people began to impersonate these creatures by dressing in costume and performing tricks in exchange for food and drink.  Today, this tradition continues as children trick-or-treat in similar ghoulish costumes.

Other Halloween customs were also derived from the old Celtic holiday.  The jack-o'-lantern once took the form of a carved turnip, the favored vegetable in Europe.   Legend states that a blacksmith named Jack made a pact with the Devil, giving his soul in return for mastery of his trade.  Then a saint named Peter came to Jack and offered him three wishes, hoping that he would choose wisely and save his soul.  Jack used the three wishes to trick the devil.  When his time on Earth was up, neither God nor the Devil would have anything to do with him.  So Jack scooped up some burning coal from the fires of Hell and placed them in the turnip that he was carrying.  He uses the lantern to light his way, and roams the Earth until his judgment day.

Witches were once a greatly feared bunch, for the public often believed the claims that they practiced magic.  The Western concept of witchcraft arrived through a Biblical reference, which read that witches' powers were granted by the Devil.  In the 10th century it was first recorded that witches flew about on broomsticks.  The term "witches' brew" came from the notion that witches were cannibals who feasted on potions made of human flesh and other offensive objects.

(Every month I try to sneak in a small educational section.)