Extra places were set at the table and food set out for any who had died that year. Yet today, modern witches extend such invitations. In Celtic and Norse tales, many kings and heroes meet their death on Samhain, often by burning or drowning. In Wiccan lore, the earth nods a sad farewell to the god at the time of the last harvest, knowing he will once again be reborn of the goddess and the cycle will continue. In Egypt, people mourn the death of Osiris as the Nile's water level drops.
Chaos reigns, normal order steps aside, and all manner of strange things occur.
In the British Isles, the source of most modern tradition, the rise of the Church led to growing suspicion of the pagan ways of country dwellers. Fairy tales have exploited the stereotyped image of the old hag riding the broomstick for centuries. According to the legend, Jack was a man who could enter neither heaven nor hell and was condemned to wander through the night with only a candle in a turnip for light. There was, as a result, an ancient custom of lighting candles for the dead to follow as they walk the earth. This association with spirits may, in turn, have led to the tradition of carving scary faces on the lanterns.