The Sky This Week, 2015 October 27 – November 3 — Naval Oceanography Portal

Since it occurs about mid-way between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, Halloween is known as a “cross-quarter day” that was celebrated widely in Europe before the influence of Christianity took hold. This early observance was known as Samhain and was celebrated as a harvest festival marking the boundary between the days of light and the nights of winter’s darkness. It was also thought to be a time when the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead drew closest, so a large part of the celebration included honoring ancestors and others who had passed into the underworld. When Christianity swept northern Europe the festival was incorporated into the feats of All Saints’ Day, which traditionally fell on November 1st. Carving a Jack O’ Lantern is a part of the tradition, imitating illuminated gourds and turnips lit to welcome the spirits of the dead to enter a home and partake of food and drink.

The Sky This Week, 2015 October 27 – November 3 — Naval Oceanography Portal