I intended to write this article a couple of days ago, but hey, better late than never!
I've had mixed and unmixed feelings about the holiday labeled Halloween for years. I've never done much research on it until now though. Growing up in a strict conservative home with an abhorrence of holidays in general and Halloween in particular, I absorbed a distaste for this interesting celebration that I'm still trying to wash out of my mouth. I was told, and read articles to the effect of how it's a pagan, evil, devil's day that celebrates death and gore and ghosts, and certainly my neighbors' yard decorations lent credence to the tale! Demons and zombies and witches and ghosties and things that went bump in the night prevailed on all sides, and made shopping a nightmare especially with littles who noticed and were scared. We even declined going to what would have been a gloriously fun costume party with wonderful people we've known for years because it was labeled a "halloween party," and as Christians we wished not to partake in anything that smelled of the Dark Side. 2 Corinthians 6:17 says "Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you..."
I did not have to truly address the issue of Halloween until my girls became of age to go trick or treating. This year our Bella turned two, the perfect age to look cute and innocent and con all the neighbors into giving away all their candy. My husband and I still had mixed feelings on the subject, but she was innocent of any knowledge of evil and we were inclined to let the holiday be about sweets and meeting people and dressing up, and let go of our prejudices at least a little. Then a wise person said to me just beforehand,
"The holiday is either about what it is, or what it was. If you don't celebrate Halloween because of pagan origins, then neither should you celebrate Christmas because that holiday also is of pagan origin!"
That was when everything clicked together for me. Our Lord is a God of redemption, and I have learned to embrace Christmas as a joyful celebration of His birth, of love and peace and giving and sharing. Why not Halloween as well? Perhaps there are still pockets of witches here and there who sacrifice goats at midnight on October 31st, but in our society at large and generally it's all about fun and costumes and candy. Except for said witches, and nerds, people have forgotten about where it came from and are busy celebrating what it is today.
Then, this morning, I decided to actually do a bit of reading up on the origins of Halloween as we know it today. And guess what I discovered? After being taught all my life that it's an evil Devil's holiday, I actually found that it's a Christian holiday with no real ties to paganism, and any Satanish overtures are coincidental and actually mostly a commercialization push for selling scary shit in the stores for expensive prices, and as a way to indulge people's innate fascination for the gross and disgusting. Here is the beginning of Wikipedia's article on the subject:
"Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of All Hallows' Evening),[5] also known as Allhalloween,[6] All Hallows' Eve,[7] or All Saints' Eve,[8] is a celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It begins the three-day observance of Allhallowtide,[9] the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints(hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed.[10][11]
It is widely believed that many Halloween traditions originated from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain; that such festivals may have had pagan roots; and that Samhain itself was Christianized as Halloween by the early Church.[1][7][12][13][14][15] Some believe, however, that Halloween began solely as a Christian holiday, separate from ancient festivals like Samhain.[1][16][17][18][19]
Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories, and watching horror films. In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead, remain popular,[20][21][22] although elsewhere it is a more commercial and secular celebration.[23][24][25] Some Christians historically abstained from meat on All Hallows' Eve, a tradition reflected in the eating of certain vegetarian foods on this vigil day, including apples, potato pancakes, and soul cakes."
It makes perfect sense for me, as a Christian, to remember and honor the dead. My entire religion is
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| Princess Anna! |
Remember, the devil cannot create anything new. He can only corrupt what is pure and good. Every form of evil is a mere corruption of what was originally good in the eyes of God. Let's take back any vestige of Halloween that might be linked to evil, and redeem it for Christ. In everything we do and say, let's honor the Lord Jesus! I will dress up with zeal, participate in the joy of my children meeting the neighbors and receiving candy, and maybe incorporate something having to do with remembering family who have passed on.
Isabella had so much fun trick or treating. In fact, she enjoyed meeting people's pets more than the people themselves! Folks here would sit with their doors open and their glass storm doors closed, a bowl of candy in hand waiting for the trick or treaters. Bella would see a doggie or kitty peering through the glass, and would run squealing up the sidewalk. "Hi doggy! Hi kitty! How are you?" she would say. When the human of the household opened the door, her eyes would get big and she'd get very quiet. We got her to say "trick or treat!" once or twice, but mostly she'd silently accept the candy and be ready to go on to the next place. I think it was even more fun for the parents than for the kiddos. Our girls are so darn cute!!!
Peace.
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| Being silly |
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| Our first Halloween! |
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| Checking out the loot |
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