By michael vivar
Halloween has become the third most popular holiday in the United States, behind Christmas and Thanksgiving. This year, Americans are expected to spend $12.2 billion celebrating the holiday.
The day and even the weeks leading up to it have become a time for kids to dress in costume and for adults to cut loose at parties. The history of Halloween, though, is long and storied.
Halloween originated around 2,000 years ago with the Celts who lived in what is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and parts of France.
They celebrated Samhain (pronounced, "soh-win") which marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the dark, cold winter.
The Celts believed this was a time when the veil between the living and spirit worlds was thinnest and malicious entities would destroy crops or cause general mischief.
The Roman Empire conquered much of the Celtic lands by 43 CE and had their own late-October holiday, Feralia, which honored the dead. They enmeshed this with Samhain.
By 609 CE, Catholicism had a firm grip on the former Roman domain and Pope Boniface IV established All Saints' Day on Nov 1 to revere Catholic saints.
The Catholic Church fully co-opted Feralia and Samhain in 1,000 CE by cementing Oct. 31 as a day to pray for the dead, All Hallows' Eve, which etymologically evolved to Halloween.
Later, the Protestant Reformation saw breakoff sects reject "Papism." For instance, Lutherans alternatively observed Reformation Day and Anglicans Guy Fawkes Day.
Early European settlers in America brought Halloween traditions with them. By the late 1800s, it turned into an anarchic evening of dangerous pranks and arson banned in many cities.
Since the 1920s, municipalities (and candy companies) individually then nationally created the non-denominational, family-friendly Halloween recognized today.