Our modern Halloween
photo by Troy B Thompson
Halloween is probably one of the most controversial holidays in the US today. That is largely due to various groups claiming it has ties to evil spirits. Despite my faith, and firm believe that there are spirits that inhabit this world, I really wish people would just let Halloween be. It’s a fun holiday that kids and adults can really enjoy getting and giving candy, dressing up in costume, and meeting neighbors.
But before I go on about what Halloween truly is now, let’s look at what it once was. Halloween’s most ancient roots lie in a fairly universal aspect of human society called the harvest festival. As the growing season came to a close, and the crops were harvested and prepared for storage, it was a time for celebrating the good harvest, and praying for a mild winter. This hope and anticipation at harvest time can be found in early agricultural societies around the globe.
The word Halloween is a contraction of All-hallow-even, as it is the eve of All Hallows’ Day or All Saints’ Day. Wikipedia points out that:
It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions,[2] until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints’ Day from May 13 to November 1. - Wikipedia
The Pagan traditions it mentions varied from country to country, but were all essentially, harvest festivals. Before Christianity swept Europe in the middle ages, Celtic tradition maintained that late October was a time when spirits could interact with the material world. When the Romans conquered the European islands, their holiday of Feralia was integrated into the pagan festivals. And as the Wikipedia quote points out, Christianity continued the focus on the spirit world and the dead at this time of year. That is a massive over-simplification of Halloween’s history, and I would recommend reading more deeply into the matter for a true history lesson. The point is, that is all in the past.
What we have left from those ancient celebrations are mostly just trappings: images of ghosts, wheat sheaves, bobbing for apples, masks and costumes, and pumpkins (an American addition). Today’s Halloween, as I see it, is about the fun of dressing up in costumes (and the creativity that goes with it); getting and giving candy and treats; and being with friends and neighbors. In short, it is about community.
And it’s an important community holiday. What other time of the year do we encourage, or at least tolerate our neighbors banging on our door at night? Neighborhoods are less and less connected in our modern world, and if at least once a year we have an opportunity to see one another, to knock at the door and ask for a handful of candy, then we hold on to some sense of belonging. It is a time where young adults throw parties, and parents collaborate to man the doors and escort the kids for traditional or in-mall Trick-Or-Treating.
I really want to see an end to these protests and boycotts of Halloween. I have no problem with churches holding their own events, I encourage it. But the protest that Halloween is about evil spirits is the only thing continuing the believe that Halloween is about evil spirits. Go through the costume aisle in your local store, and you’ll find many more SpiderMans, Princess Jasmines, and Transformers costumes than ghosts and ghouls. Especially for kids. Sure, there is still some loose association with monsters and the macabre, but no serious attempts to make Halloween about contacting evil spirits. The few reckless folks that DO make that association are likely interested in evil spirits all year long.
Let’s focus on the sense of community and fun of the holiday and not its ancient history. Happy Halloween to you and yours!
October 31st, 2007 at 9:27 am
I used to get frustrated that most of the kids coming through our neighborhood were from other areas and many from Mexico. I have decided, this year, to let that resentment go and use it as a reason to give thanks for all that we have been given as a family and as a neighborhood. We are the place that others wished they belonged and spend one night a year visiting to share in our bounty. Yes, it’s expensive - $45 in candy this year - but if it brings joy to some kids before the realize the true financial divide that exists in our culture and in our world, it’s worth it. Happy Halloween!
November 1st, 2007 at 9:10 am
We had 110 trick-or-treaters in our new neighborhood, and we realized that unlike our townhouse community, most of the kids were from our own neighborhood. Another strange custom here (which is how I remember it now that I’m back home in the Chicago suburbs), trick-or-treating STARTS right after school, 3:30 pm and goes only until 7 pm. In Maryland, kids didn’t start until after dark. Oh, and 99% of the kids said “Trick or treat!” and said “thank you”. Finally some parents are making headway.