By Alexis Nyland Today, Halloween has become a holiday focused on community and children’s activities such as trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, festive parties, and dressing up in costumes. The holiday evolved over centuries, incorporating Christian traditions, the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, and later modern practices from Irish and Scottish immigrants. The ancient Celtic festival of Samhain was celebrated on Nov. 1 and marked the end of summer and the harvest. The Celts believed that on Oct. 31, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, allowing ghosts of the dead to return. To ward off the evil spirits, Celts lit bonfires and wore costumes, often made of animal skins.  The tradition of trick-or-treating evolved from a medieval European custom called “souling,” where the poor would beg for soul cakes in exchange for prayers. It also grew out of the Irish custom of “guising,” where a