Trick or Treat?

It's that time of year again. Time for the ritual of Samhain, or All Hallow's Eve....what we call Halloween. If you do your research on the holiday and read about it , you can get a general overview of the history and the symbolism behind it. For instance, I learned that ancient Celtic pagans believed that on October 31st, the separation between the living and the dead dissolved, and that the dead could cause danger to the living, such as sickness or damage to crops. They would dress in ghoulish attire to try to scare off or placate the spirits they believed were endangering them, which is where we get our modern tradition of dressing in costume on Halloween. I also learned that many of the symbols now associated with the holiday are largely a result of propaganda, through movies made by American filmmakers and through novels such as Frankenstein and Dracula, and other works of Gothic and horror literature. However, there is no doubt that many current pagan and cult organizations (Neopagans) have adopted the day of Samhain (originally a Celtic festival dedicated to celebrating the dead, and the final harvest, and symbolized the beginning of the Celtic New Year) as the biggest holiday of their year. The name is the same but the rituals and celebrations vary widely among pagan religions. Wiccans celebrate Samhain as a way of paying respect to dead loved ones and to welcome them into their assembly on the night of festivity.

All that being said, most of us who celebrate, or celebrated as a child, know Halloween as the holiday where children dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for candy. It's the time for carving a pumpkin, coloring pictures of witches and ghosts, and getting cavities from too much sugar. The original meaning of the holiday has largely been lost. I don't write this to advocate that we remember the meaning and celebrate it. It is a pagan holiday and has been since the very beginning; what little Christian association it had occurred when Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the Christian feast of All Hallow's Day, or All Saints Day, from May 13 to November 1st, thus rendering October 31st All Hallow's Eve. The celebration that modern Americans engage in on Halloween stems directly from the pagan tradition, not the Christian one. I write this article to simply inform you, and myself as well, as I am doing Wikipedia-style research while writing. With knowledge comes power.

I also write to pose a question. Should we, as Christians, allow our children to go trick-or-treating? Why or why not? When the children are small and don't have the first clue what Halloween celebrates (and neither do many adults), is there any harm in allowing them to participate? Should we cave to the silent peer pressure around us, as we watch every other kid on our street dress up and go door-to-door on Halloween night, coming back with the motherload of Tootsie Rolls, Laffy Taffy, and fun-size Snickers bars? Or should we strictly abstain, and refuse to celebrate any aspect of Halloween at all? What about compromising? Would you refuse to let your kid color pictures of witches and watch "Halloween episodes" of their favorite children's tv shows, but still allow them to go trick-or-treating? I have opinions but I'm keeping them to myself at this point, in the interest of gathering yours. Armed with the Word of God and the knowledge gained by a little research into the holiday, what say you? I'll save my convictions for another blog post. Please feel free to offer your two or twenty cents.