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As we all know, Halloween is a holiday of spooky fun. It’s great for kids to express their creativity through costume and go door to door to get candy from neighbors.
However, there’s a belief that starkly contrasts the excitement of make-believe. Many people, especially those of the Christian faith, believe that Halloween is the day of the Devil. They believe it's a day where evil spirits and demons roam the Earth or that it’s the Devil’s birthday. Which begs the question: Is Halloween a trick, or is it a treat? |
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Here’s a little bit of backstory: Halloween (“hallow” meaning holy person and “-een” meaning eve) started with the ancient Celtic pagans and their holiday of Samhain (sow-en). The ancient Celtics based their calendar on a wheel of a year, splitting the year into two parts: light and dark. Samhain was a three-day fire festival marking the calendar transitioning into the latter half of the year and celebrating death and rebirth. The name of this holiday, Samhain, translates to “summer’s end” in Irish. It’s kind of like Daylight Savings or Summer/Winter Solstice.
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Samhain celebrated the deaths of recently passed loved ones, inviting their spirits to rejoin the living. People wore animal furs (costumes) to hide themselves from the unfriendlier spirits, like how kids today dress up. They also ate and carved out lanterns from hollowed-out gourds (related to what we now know as jack-o-lanterns) and sacrifices of crops and/or animals were made as an offering to these spirits. People had fun playing tricks and pranks, blaming the tricks on the spirits.
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When Romans invaded and conquered the Celtic lands in 43 CE, Celtic pagan practices were either suppressed or adapted. Christianity and Catholicism took over, reforming a lot of pagan holidays, including what’s now known as Christmas, and rewriting them to fit their religious narrative. They made this decision to make it easier for people to convert. Samhain evolved into All Saint’s Day (a.k.a. All Hallows’ Day).
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All Hallows’ Day was a day to celebrate Christian saints and martyrs. Offerings were instead made for the poorer population, not the spirits, while the games and tricks continued on. Another change to the holiday was that the spirits of the saints were blamed for the mischief as opposed to the mischievous spirits of Samhain. Entering the 16th and 17th century, All Hallows’ Eve began transforming into Halloween, becoming less celebrated.
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Halloween did have some history in the British Isles, but when colonies in America were formed, Halloween wasn’t something they liked much--or at all. The Protestant colonists didn’t celebrate any holidays of the Catholic church. Halloween was just too Catholic and too pagan, and they forbade any honoring of the holiday. In the 1800s, however, small elements of Halloween were included in some secular harvest related events, like apple bobbing. When more and more immigrants began to settle in the 19th century, more and more customs centered around Halloween came over. Children dressed in costumes and offered poetry, songs, and jokes in exchange for money or fruit; furthermore, they began playing pranks in their communities by the later parts of the 19th century. And so, in trying to get the children to stop playing pranks, trick or treating was created.
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20th century United States began the commercialization of Halloween, selling premade costumes for people of all ages. Candy manufacturers began investing in Halloween after World War II in the 1950s, and television helped Halloween grow into the mass market it is today. During Halloween season, movie theaters held scary movie festivals, and there were Halloween specials on TV in the 50s and 60s. In 2015, the National Retail Federation estimated that people would spend $6.8 billion on Halloween that year. Now, Halloween has evolved from just a seasonal celebration. Its commercial success most likely means that Halloween is here to stay.
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After watching some videos about Halloween, I have an entirely new view of it. There’s no way I would’ve known the rich history behind Halloween without actually seeking it out. I mean, what’s a pirate costume or a cartoon Halloween special going to tell me about its roots in Samhain? Halloween supports many industries and gives children a day of fun. Disregarding all the violence and vile pranks that happen on Halloween, I think I can confidently say that Halloween is the best treat of them all. Will you let the downside of Halloween trick you into not having fun?
