Halloween has been around for centuries and celebrated by many without understanding its roots.

TRADITIONS:

When I was growing up Halloween was full of parties, sweets and being allowed to run around outside after dark with my friends collecting even more sweets. The week prior, my mother would take me pumpkin shopping and we would scoop out the seeds, roast them in the oven or on top of the stove and eat them while watching "Its the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." We carved out a gholish facial expression on our pumpkin, put a small votive candle inside and set him out on the stoop to keep watch.

I usually donned a store bought costume on October 31. At school we would have a party then later that evening I would venture out after dark with the other neighborhood children carrying plastic jack-o-lanterns or large paper bags with halloween designs and ring the doorbells of neighbors screaming "Trick or Treat!" Sometimes we would get boxes of raisins or home baked cookies until other kids ran past excitedly yelling "Go to that house. They have Snickers!" Everyone would race to the neighbor's door with hands outstretched and bags stuck out greedily.

Back then Halloween meant a three month candy eating frenzy during a good year and a couple of weeks of it in a bad year. I would eat as much candy as mom would allow that night after we finished checking it for needles and other potentially dangeous items that might have been inserted by some lunatic. Anything that was opened or not prepacked was to be thrown away. It was always a battle. Then I would take my loot to school to compare with my classmates and swap goodies.

By the time I turned 12 or 13 I decided that trick or treating was for little kids and besides it had grown more dangerous with each passing year. I began staying home to give out candy to the trick or treaters. That was the same period that I attended Christian academy where Halloween was condemned as a pagan ritual, "It's a creation of the devil" we were told. As I got older I began to understand more about Halloween but I still have reservations about venturing out on this most "unholy" of nights.

THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL:

Halloween as it turns out is the eve of All Saints and All Souls Day that either fall on November 1 or November 2. These are holy days (the root of the word holiday) observed primarily by Catholics. The word hallow means holy after all, as in The Lord's Prayer "Hallow be thy name." The condensed version of the word is halo which is ring of light surrounding a person or a light source (usually the sun or moon). This light is sometimes known as someone's aura.

In New Orleans All Saints Day is celebrated November 1 and our deceased ancestors are honored and remembered with prayers and candle lighting ceremonies. In Mexico they celebrate All Souls Day or the Day of the Dead by donning costumes, parading and partying to celebrate their deceased souls. Costumes and masks are used in many cultures during ceremonial rituals relating to reconnecting with the spirit world.

Pumpkins, the European version of the winter squash, symbolize abundance and the fall harvest that is typically celebrated in October. Most religions use candles to light the paths of the deceased souls. Sweets are likely symbolic of giving food offerings to the spirits. The trick or treating possibly evolved from that and symbolizes the volatile nature of spirits who if they are not properly satiated can quickly turn from doing good and bestowing blessings to creating havoc, trickery and evil.

Halloween has been around for centuries and has been celebrated by us for most of our lives without understanding the roots of it. My costume wearing days are long retired and the kids in my neighborhood don't venture out trick or treating anymore. Now parents take their kids to shopping malls or neighborhood stores to collect candy. Halloween parties are sponsored by churches and recreation centers. Times have certainly changed.