The Origin of Halloween and Trick or Treating

How did Halloween come into being? And when did we start dressing up and going trick and treating anyhow?

Today I Found Out's newest YouTube clip explains it all:

The practice of wearing costumes or masks during this sort of end of Autumn celebration probably comes from a Celtic New Year’s Samhain tradition.

During Samhain, young men impersonated evil spirits by dressing up in white costumes with blackened faces or masks. It was believed that during the transition from one year to the next, the realms of the living and the dead would overlap, allowing the dead as well as evil spirits to roam the Earth. By dressing up as spirits, hopefully the real evil spirits would leave you alone, rather than rip out your entrails or otherwise harass you.

Watch the clip or go to Today I Found Out on the Origin of Halloween and Trick or Treating - Thanks Daven!