2 .
Many practising Christians look somewhat askance at the annual high-jinks on Hallowe'en, with its queasy mixture of Gothic shock imagery and grasping, intrusive commercial opportunism. What link is there originally between this 'festival' and Christian belief, practices or traditional observation?
'Hallowe'en' is a simple linguistic corruption of 'Hello': a reminder to greet one's neighbours as the autumn evenings draw in
Hallowe'en derives from the 'halo' (an emblematic ring of light around the head of saints, and similar, in traditional depictions such as classic oil paintings and stained-glass windows), because this date is the evening before ~ or 'Eve of' ~ All Saints' Day
The Saints themselves are 'hallowed' (i.e. blessed and/or made special), and this is the night before the day when we celebrate them collectively
The origin is a deliberate mispronunciation of 'hell', where un-saintly people need reminding that they may be bound to go forever after their death unless they mend their ways with the turn of the new month (November)