I heard this week that Halloween has become one of the biggest holidays in America, second only to Christmas. What is the big deal about October 31 that gets everyone so hyped up? Sure, there’s a ton of candy, but there is more to this time of year than carving pumpkins and dressing up in costumes.
So what is Halloween all about?
I’m sure you’ve heard people call it “All Hallows Eve,” but do you understand why? All Hallows (aka All Saints’ Day or Hallowmas) is celebrated on November 1 (hence All Hallows Eve on October 31) in the western Catholic church as a day to remember, through prayer, those who are in heaven. The following day, All Souls’ Day dedicates that remembrance and prayer to those in purgatory. All Saints’ is also celebrated by some Protestant congregations in that they remember the Saints as well as anyone from their respective congregations that had passed away in the recent year.
The ancient Celts believed that during this day to mark the end of summer, known as Samhain, the barrier between our world and the afterlife became passable by spirits of the dead. Spirits of family members who had passed were welcomed, but masks were worn to keep evil spirits away. Candle lanterns made of turnips were used by Celts to ward off evil spirits and by medieval Catholics to pay respects to those in purgatory. Jack-o-lanterns are now made out of pumpkins.
The act of going door to door begging for candy stems from multiple traditions as well. In the Scottish custom of guising, children have to perform to get candy. As far back as the Middle Ages, Christmas wassailing involved dressing up and asking for treats at every house. In late medieval times, poor people would go house to house, offering to pray for people in purgatory on All Souls’ Day in exchange for food.
I don’t celebrate Samhain with Celtic pagans or pray for those who have passed away. I don’t mind letting my kids dress up in costume and go trick or treating because it’s a fun thing to do. I am not Catholic and don’t go to mass on All Saints’ Day, but I did go to a Reformed Presbyterian college where Reformation Day was a big deal.
October 31, 1517, is traditionally marked as the day that Martin Luther nailed his “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” (aka “The 95 Theses“) to the doors of the church of All Saints. The 95 Theses were quickly translated and distributed throughout Europe, becoming the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. Although I don’t show it very well, this is the reason I have anything to celebrate on October 31.
I have friends that don’t celebrate anything on October 31 because of the deep ties that exist to a pagan holiday. There are numerous churches that set out to “redeem Halloween” with harvest parties and other alternatives to the American Halloween. I wasn’t there, but my church hosted a huge harvest party called “Trunk-or-Treat” at an inner city school. Many Catholics go to mass for All Saints’ Day because is is a Holy Day of Obligation. I think most kids just want to hit as many places as possible to have the opportunity to get more candy than last year, which there still seems to be some left overs from.
Where do you stand on Halloween and what kinds of things do you do?
* Most of the data (however reliable it may be) can be found at Wikipedia.