So why do we do what we do on Halloween Day, in Taiwan?

Halloween is an annual holiday observed on October 31, which commonly includes activities such as trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films.

Straddling the line between fall and winter, plenty and paucity, life and death, Halloween is a time of celebration and superstition. It is thought to have originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. In Mexico, Latin America, and Spain, All Souls' Day, the third day of the three-day Hallowmas observance, is the most important part of the celebration for many people. In Ireland and Canada, Halloween, which was once a frightening and superstitious time of year, is celebrated much as it is in the United States, with trick-or-treating, costume parties, and fun for all ages.   

  So why do we do what we do on Halloween Day, in Taiwan?

 Pumpkin Lanterns -There are hollowed out pumpkins with a face cut into one side.Now a days we curve out pumpkin. 

Fire - Fire was very important to the Celts as it was to all early people. The old days people lit bonfires, to scare away evil sprits. Today, we light candles in pumpkin lanterns and then put them outside our homes frighten away witches and ghosts.

Apple Bobbing -  When the Celts were absorbed by the Roman Empire, many rituals of Roman origin began. Among them was the worship of Pomona, goddess of the harvest, often portrayed sitting on a basket of fruits and flowers. Apples were the sacred fruit of the goddess, and many games of divination involving them entered the Samhain customs. 

 Dressing up - The tradition of dressing in costume for Hallowing has both European and Celtic roots. On halloween, when it was believed that ghosts cameback to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes.To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghost would mistake them for fellow sprits.

Trick or Treat - The custom of trick or treating probably has several origins. During Samhain, the Druids believed that the dead would play tricks on mankind and cause panic and destruction. They had to be appeased, so country folk would give the Druids food as they visited their homes.