Most people think of Halloween today as simply a day when children
dress up in costumes and go from home to home to “trick or treat” and
collect enough candy to make any parent cringe. Halloween was much more
significant in ancient times, however. October 31st was a very important day to
the ancient Celts of Ireland, Scotland and Great Britain. No kidding around in
costumes and trick or treat bags; Halloween was much more serious to the
non-Christian Cults a thousand years ago.
Halloween
remains a popular day in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Ireland, the UK,
Australia, and New Zealand. Children get to dress up in their favorite costumes
and ring doorbells throughout their neighborhood to collect as much candy as
possible. In the United States' Halloween is the second most popular holiday
(after Christmas) for decorating and reaps a huge financial bounty of retail
selling of frightening costumes to children and adults alike, decorations and
candy. But for eons, the history of Halloween encompased ancient beliefs about
the world – both living and dead.
Understanding the history of
Halloween can perhaps help you decide what to let your children take part in,
and what to keep your children away from. Also, knowing the origin of Halloween
and its history can also help Christians view the adult, youth, and child
activities associated with Halloween celebrations in the light of Christ's
truth.
What Is The
History of Halloween?
Halloween originated among the Irish Celts,
Scots and Anglo-Saxons in Britain long before the Christian era. Originally
called Samhain, it was a time when they believed the division between the
worlds of the living and the dead became very thin and when ghosts and spirits
were free to wander as they wished. The name “Halloween” is a shorter
form for the Gaelic name All-hallow-evening. Pope Boniface IV instituted All
Saints' Day in the 7th century as a time to honor saints and martyrs, replacing
the pagan festival of the dead. In 834, Gregory III moved All Saint's Day to
Nov. 1, thus making Oct. 31 All Hallows' Eve ('hallow' means
'saint').
On the night of Samhain, it was believed spirits of the
restless dead and mischievous spirits would freely roam about with humans and
during this one night spirits were able to make contact with the physical world
as their magic was at its height. The Celts believed that by allowing the dead
to have access to the world on this one evening, they would be satisfied to
return to the land of the dead. The Celtic people would put out food offerings
to appease the spirits who might inflict suffering and violence on them and
Celtic priests would offer sacrifices, animal and human, to the gods for the
purpose of chasing away the evil, frightening spirits. They built fires where
they gave sacrifices to the Celtic deities to ensure protection from the dead
spirits. Samhain was also a time when it was customary for the pagans to use
the occult practice of divination to determine the weather for the coming year,
the crop expectations, and even who in the community would marry whom and in
what order.
When Rome took over their land, the Samhain was integrated
with two other Roman festivals: Feralia and a festival to honor Pomona, the
Roman goddess of fruit and trees. By the time Christianity come on the scene,
Halloween had already taken root from the pagan beliefs and was integrated into
Christian practices. As the Europeans found their way to the New World, they
brought with them their traditions which soon evolved to fit their new
country.
Many customs still observed today come from these ancient
beliefs. For example, the elaborately carved jack-o-lantern is said to have
been named after the Irish story of a greedy, hard-drinking gambling man,
Stingy Jack, who tricked the Devil into climbing a tree and trapped him there
by carving a crude cross into the trunk of the tree. In revenge for being stuck
in the tree, the Devil cursed Jack and made him walk the earth at night for
eternity. The jack-o-lantern of today is carved with a scary face to keep Jack
and other spirits from entering their homes.
A problem for the Celtic
people was... if the souls of dead loved ones could return that night, so could
anything else, human or not, nice or not-so-nice. So, to protect themselves on
such an occasion, these superstitious people would masquerade as one of the
demonic hoard, wearing masks and other disguises and blackening the face with
soot to hopefully blend in unnoticed among them. This is the source of modern
day Halloween costumes portraying devils, imps, ogres, and other demonic
creatures.
Should Christians
Celebrate Halloween?
For Christians, the origins, history, and
current practices of Halloween has its root in Satan, the author of deception.
He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. [John 8:44]
While some might say that Halloween is now only a fun children's
holiday, it should be noted how much the modern day American practices and
modern day witchcraft have in common with the ancient beliefs of the Celtic
people. Contrary to some beliefs, the historic Samhain was not a time for
witches and the worship Satan. Samhain was the end of the crop season and the
official beginning of autumn. The ancient Celts celebrated a successful crop
season on Samhain, giving thanks for the bounty of the harvested crops. The
satanic celebrations now observed on Halloween is a more recent invention of
more contemporary Satanists who have focused more on this season as a time when
the dead can easily communicate with the living therefore making divinations
and sacrifices more attainable. Modern day Halloween has thus become a mixture
of ancient beliefs, occult practices and a highly commercialized children's
holiday.
While some people consider celebrating Halloween to be a sin,
others simply feel that Halloween quite simply shouldn’t be a holiday at
all! A few Southern states have been known to ban trick-or-treating on
Halloween, especially when it happens to fall on a Sunday. Halloween parties
are renamed “fall festivals” and children replaced scary costumes
with costumes of Bible figures, historical figures, or no costume at all.
Considering that Satan is the father of lies, it can be understood how
many are confused and deceived about this holiday. Like
Christmas and
Easter,
both Christian celebrations, the true origins of Halloween, a non-Christian
celebration, are eons old and some of the true meanings of the traditions of
these celebrations have been distorted over time. In recent times, Christmas
appears to be more about presents, parades and feasts than about celebrating
the birth of Jesus Christ. Traditions surrounding Halloween have followed the
same fate. All too often we think of Halloween merely as a time of dressing up
in costumes in going trick or treating around the neighborhood. In antiquity,
the traditions of Halloween were of enormous significance throughout Scotland,
Ireland and Britain.
Apart from the religious controversy surrounding Halloween, many families have also been struggling with even normally well-behaved children who are driven by unseen forces to destructive behavior. Vandalism and wanton disregard for the property of others is common on Halloween night. Police officials everywhere report a great increase in such activities on Halloween. Worse yet are the horrifying accounts of poisoned candy and fruits booby-trapped with razor blades and needles. Such threats are so real that many hospitals offer free X-rays of Halloween treats in order to prevent children from being harmed. Who but Satan could inspire such monstrous actions on this so-called harmless children's holiday?
