Here's a little bit of Halloween history, the custom of “tricking” began when, on the night before Halloween, some communities in the North of England observed Mischief Night. On this night, as during Halloween in contemporary times, children played tricks on adults, though not necessarily for being sent away without any candy.

Halloween became a part of the church calendar in England in the 9th century when Nov. 1 was fixed as All Saint’s Day, commonly called All-hallows. The evening before it was, of course, All Hallows Eve or Halloween.

The day after All Hallows was All Souls’ Day, during which English children would travel door to door singing and saying prayers for the dead in return for cakes or money.

However, in medieval England, instead of being known as trick-or-treating, this process was called “souling,” and instead of threatening harmless reprisals if the home did not offer them sweets, these children were offering a blessing to the home.

Since prayers for the dead were understood to shorten their time of suffering in purgatory (England was a Catholic country until Henry VIII changed that in the 16th century), these children would have been donating a tremendous service to people in their community.

People today have different responses to Halloween and all its trappings. Some are fearful of the pagan connotations, and connections with witchcraft.

We should however remember the origins of Halloween, Halloween is not a festival to be feared it is a time when we remember those people who have died and passed on, so whichever view you take we wish you Halloween Blessings