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.
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For our family, we've decided not to participate in the mass culture that has become "Halloween" in our era. Our reasons include the scripture that admonishes us to think on whatever is "pure, lovely and of good repute" of which there is very little in our current cultural celebration of Halloween. The American celebration of this holiday focuses actively on promoting fear and celebrating those things that scripture is clear we are to avoid (witchcraft.) I am NOT opposed to kids dressing up (I buy costumes for the dress up trunk at post halloween sales!) I'm NOT opposed to huge candy fests (I buy my kids LOADS of candy at the after halloween sales) I am NOT opposed to carving veggies into lanterns (we do this in either September or November with great joy) We simply choose not to associate ourselves, as Christians, with that which is very definitely not related to anything edifying or Christ like.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I could definitely participate in a dia de los muertos celebration with my Latin American friends... because a day to remember the dead and celebrate the lives of those we've loved and lost seems a very good thing... and those celebrations don't celebrate fear or elevate evil.
HOWEVER, my final note is this: GRACE in all things. I have friends who do let their kids trick or treat who are wonderful, godly Christian people. Halloween is our Grandpa's favorite holiday and he loves Jesus very much. We have to be careful, as Christian Mamas who want the very best for our kids, to have firm convictions for OUR families according to what the Holy Spirit leads us to, and we need to be even MORE CAREFUL not to hold the rest of the world to that standard. Especially on matters where Scripture doesn't spell it all out.
j
Well said Jenn and I agree with you, that grace is the take-home message on this kind of thing, for sure.
ReplyDeleteI think you have to take alot into consideration here...my parents were very strict with the NO HALLOWEEN rule. In fact, there beliefs trickled into Christmas because of it's origin:
ReplyDelete"No one knows what day Jesus Christ was born on. From the biblical description, most historians believe that his birth probably occurred in September, approximately six months after Passover. One thing they agree on is that it is very unlikely that Jesus was born in December, since the bible records shepherds tending their sheep in the fields on that night. This is quite unlikely to have happened during a cold Judean winter. So why do we celebrate Christ’s birthday as Christmas, on December the 25th?
The answer lies in the pagan origins of Christmas. In ancient Babylon, the feast of the Son of Isis (Goddess of Nature) was celebrated on December 25. Raucous partying, gluttonous eating and drinking, and gift-giving were traditions of this feast.
In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. In January, they observed the Kalends of January, which represented the triumph of life over death. This whole season was called Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun. The festival season was marked by much merrymaking. It is in ancient Rome that the tradition of the Mummers was born. The Mummers were groups of costumed singers and dancers who traveled from house to house entertaining their neighbors. From this, the Christmas tradition of caroling was born."
Maybe holidays are what you make them? Yes, we take the bad with history, and we make it good. We find opportunities to praise God for making the fall, and changing the leaves...I'll leave out my opinion of whether or not they should trick or treat because I had a childhood of missing out and I simply don't think it would be well-recieved.
Just make sure that saying No to the fun on Halloween leaves the right impression on your children...since that is all that they will remember about the holiday.
Anna you're absolutely right, in that most every holiday we celebrate contains symbols that are rooted in paganism, including Christmas, and Easter as well. (Easter was named for the pagan goddess Ishtar.) We do have to decide as individual families, what we are going to make of each holiday. I think that whatever decision is made, should be made thoughtfully and prayerfully. As our kids get older, Walter and I absolutely will explain to them why we choose to do or not do certain things, and base it on Scripture...right now they're too little to understand so we just have to say, "this is what we're going to do now." Explanations will come when they're old enough to receive them. Good points, though.
ReplyDelete