Did you know that Halloween came about because of the movements of the earth and sun? Four cross quarter days lie midway between the solstices and the equinoxes. The ancient Celts celebrated them as religious holidays. February 1, Imbolc, marked the beginning of lambing season.
May 1, Beltane, marked the beginning of summer. August 1, Lughnasa, marked the beginning of the wheat harvest, and the evening of October 31, Samhain, marked the end of the harvest and beginning of winter.
People believed that the boundaries between our world and the Otherworld thinned, and the souls of the dead visited their homes. Many of our Halloween activities, like wearing costumes and carving vegetables, derive from this ancient festival occurring on a cross quarter day.