Halloween: The Devil's Trick or Just a Treat for Fun?

It is a controversy that has held many on opposite sides of deep-seated convictions for thousands of years. Why are people so passionate about this topic? For many it is a lack of understanding and for others it is ingrained ideology practiced without question. In order to create an informed opinion, one must first gain knowledge of the past, beliefs, religion and history.


You cannot argue a position effectively, if you don’t even know how to argue your own position convincingly. James Madison once said, "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” Being a parent, I want to make sure that every decision I make concerning my children is anchored in my convictions. The only way that I can anchor my convictions successfully is to know why I believe the way that I do.


One of the most controversial questions asked by many homeschooling parents’ during this time of year is…”Should I let my kids trick or treat?” Many parents that home school their children do so because of religious convictions. I sat with a group of other home schooling parents and the question was raised. I sat and listened as the positions for and against Halloween were addressed. Many valid points were given, but I didn’t really get a sense of conviction behind their differing views.


I think that most parents get too caught up in the controversy that they don’t realize that there can be a different perspective on the matter. In actuality Halloween, shortened from All-Hallow-Even is the eve celebration of “All Hallow’s Day” also known as All Saint’s Day. Back in the dark ages, many pagans were converted En Masse from their pagan religions to Christianity. The church had a hard time ridding these new converts of the pagan practices because they thought of them as hallowed traditions passed down from generation to generation. In order to keep their new converts from turning from their new convictions, the leaders of the church decided it was best to make some concessions that allowed tradition and conviction to marry.


The Church also considered this tactic as a way to absorb what was once pagan and immoral and put it in a new perspective. The Pre-Christian pagan festival known as Samhain, meaning “the end of summer” was transformed to reflect the Church’s vigil of revering all the saints. The Church sought to overlay Christian meaning behind what was once a pagan holiday.


If you are to look at Halloween as a pagan holiday or festivity, then you must look closely at the Christian’s other more religious holidays, Christmas and Easter. Both holidays were originally pagan holidays and celebrated as such. Upon the conversion of many of these pagans the Church practiced the ritual of changing these festivities into a celebration with a more religious slant to them. Christmas was originally was referred to as geol, the name of the pre-Christian solstice festival in which the word Yule is derived. Yule logs were lit to honor Thor, the god of thunder. The feasting would last as long as the yule log burned which was usually 12 days. The 12 “wild nights” were filled with eating, drinking, and partying.


The celebration of Christmas as created in order to entice the pagan Romans to convert to Christianity, without them having to feel that they were abandoning their traditional winter festivities. Many of our Christian traditions of today are considered to come from these winter festivals. Some Germanic tribes worshipped the Evergreen Tree. The Druids revered the Mistletoe. The Yule log was also used by the Druids to coax the sun back. Light was associated with wisdom even by the pagans.


Easter too, thought to be one of the holiest times of the year, began as a pagan festival celebrated by the Saxons to honor goddess Eastre. Missionaries came and converted the Saxons and the festival was altered to suit the new religion. So even the holiest of holidays has its roots in the pagan past. But what do we do with this information? Do we abdicate celebrating anything? Or do we realize that we look inside of ourselves and make a rational decision according to our own hearts and convictions.


Even in the Bible it states, “to him who it is sin, then it is sin”, but it also states that “to him who it is not sin, then it is not sin”. Isn’t it better to live a life without condemnation? I do not feel that we have to lead a life of don’ts. That is no kind of life.


The one thing I know to be true is that God did not mean for me to live under condemnation. He inspired the thoughts written in the Bible, it is man that makes that interpretation of what he intended. Man despite his attempts at being good and true and like God, is still a man with faults and his own view points on various subjects.


I see no harm in all of it. To me it is just another day and I try to live each day with the convictions that God has put in my own heart and not the one’s that man tries to set there. My children are just children once and I want them to experience life to its fullest. If that means donning a costume every once in a while then so be it. It is for no one else to judge but me.