Where Did Halloween Customs Come From? When All Saints Day and the pagan festivals were combined, the rituals and customs were also combined. Wearing costumes, ghosts, witches, carrying lighted ornaments to represent spirits, the whole trick-or-treat thing, harvest parties, etc. got combined over the centuries with what had been a somber event in the Christian calendar. Some of these rituals had been sacrifices to pagan gods before the pagans were Christianized. And there's the rub! Christians, who have no problem with the Christmas Tree or Easter Egg (pagan rituals), seem to draw the line when it comes to the Halloween pagan rituals and customs...particularly those involving the dead.

What Does It Have To Do With The Dead? Actually, All Saints Day and Halloween share the idea of honoring the dead...they just differ on the methods. Many of the pagan rituals include tributes to the dead. That's probably why ghost costumes and tombstones have become Halloween classics. I don't understand the discomfort many Christians have with the idea of spirits being everywhere, or of spiritual life beyond physical death...it's the cornerstone of Christianity as taught in the Bible. Why would we be so frightened of what's on the other side of death? Many are so afraid, they keep their children from participating in the fun of Halloween.