|
| ||||
|
|
|
|
| |
Halloween: Innocent or Sinister?
Today, many are confused on the subject of Halloween, especially Christians. should we celebrate or participate? Is it ethically or spiritually healthy? Consider the following verses from Holy Scripture:
1 Thessalonians 5:22- "Abstain from all appearance of evil."
Ephesians 5:8- "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light..."
Ephesians 5:11- "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."
To the Christian whose allegiance belongs to Christ cannot be neutral or silent with respect to the "works of darkness." He/or she must be ever ready to expose, rebuke, and speak against wickedness in all forms.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF HALLOWEEN?
In 835 A.D, Pope Gregory IV designated November 1st as All Saints Day or All Hallow's Day (the term Hallow refers to saints). The day before this, October 31, was known as All Hallow's Evening. So how did we get the condensed term "Halloween"? Look at the phrase "All Hallow's Evening." If we drop the word "all," the "s" on Hallow's and the "v" and "ing" on evening, the result spells Halloween.
Long before the church gave this name to the evening before All Saints Day (which is a celebration in remembrance of saints and martyred saints), it had been celebrated in various ways in many places around the world. It is generally agreed that, in church history, Halloween took the place of a special day celebrated by the ancient Druids, who were the learned or priestly class of the Celtic religion. The Celts were the first Aryan people who came from Asia to settle in Europe. In fact, we can see certain similarities between Druidism and the religion of India: "Celtic religion, presided over by the Druids (the priestly order) presents beliefs in various nature deities and certain ceremonies and practices that are similar to those in Indian religion." As in Hinduism, the Druids also believed in reincarnation, specifically the transmigration of souls.
Those celtic people lived in northern France and in the British Isles. (More recently, European immigrants, particularly the Irish, introduced Halloween to America). They engaged in occult arts, worshiped nature (pantheism), and gave it supernatural, animistic qualities. Certain trees or plants, such as oaks and mistletoe, were given great spiritual significance. (according to Celtic authority Lewis Spence, the original meaning of the term "druid" implies a priest of the oak-cult.)
The Celts worshiped the Sun God (Belenus) especially on Beltane, May 1st, and they worshiped another god, apparently the Lord of Death or the Lord of the Dead, on Samhain, October 31. Beltane ("Fire of Bel") was the time of the Summer festival while Samhain was the time of the Winter festival. Human sacrifices were offered at both festivals. The Celts believed they were descendants from the god Dis, a tradition handed down from the druids. Dis was the Roman name for the god of the dead.
The Celts and their Druid priests began their New Year on November 1st, which marked the beginning of the Winter. They apparently believed October 31, the night before their New Year and the last day of the old year, the Lord of Death gathered the souls of the evil dead who had been condemned to enter bodies of animals (or transmigration of souls). The souls of the dead were reincarnated as humans. The Druids also believed that the punishment of the evil dead could be lightened by sacrifices, prayers and gifts to the Lord of Death. Druid worshipers attempted to placate and appease the Lord of Death because of his power over the souls of the dead, whether these souls were good or evil. For those who had died during the proceeding 12 months, Samhain allowed their spirits to return to earth to their former places of habitation for a few hours to associate once again with their families. Thus, the Celts believed that on their New Year's Eve (our Halloween) ghosts, evil spirits, and, some say, witches roamed about. In order to honor the Sun God (Belenus), and to frighten away evil spirits who allegedly feared fire, large bonfires were lit on hilltops.
For several days before New Year's Eve, young boys would travel the neighborhood begging material for the great bonfires. The fires were believed to not only banish evil spirits but to rejuvenate the sun.
On this night, evil or frustrated ghosts were also supposed to play tricks on humans and to cause supernatural manifestations. As part of the celebration, people donned grotesque masks and danced around the great bonfires often pretending they were being pursued by evil spirits. And while these bonfires were lit to scare away evil spirits, food was put out to make the ghosts or souls of the good dead that Samhain had released feel welcome and at home. Because Samhain marked the beginning of the new year, an interest in divination and fortune-telling became an important part of this holiday.
Of course, the Samhain celebration was not unique. Many festivals worldwide celebrate a time when the dead return to mingle with the living. The Hindus have their night of Holi. The Iroquois Indians celebrate a Feast of the Dead every 12 years, when all those who have died during the 12 years are honored with prayers. A national holiday in Mexico, the Day od the Dead, begins November 2 and lasts several days. In this gruesome festival, death becomes a kind of neighborly figure, appearing on candy, jewelry, toys, bread, cakes, and so on. This is the time when the souls of the dead return and when the living are to honor them: for example, doors are decorated with flowers to welcome Angelitos, the souls of dead children.
For the most part, our modern Halloween appears to initially be traced to the practices of the ancient Druids at their Winter festival on October 31.
ARE THE CUSTOMS OF HALLOWEEN RELATED TO PAGAN BELIEFS?
Since Halloween itself originated with paganism, it is not surprising that its customs are related to pagan belief.
Halloween symbols, customs and practices undoubtedly have had a variety of influences upon them historically. In early American history, Halloween was not practiced nor is it primarily an English or Protestant holiday. Initially, it was only practiced in small Irish Catholic settlements until thousands of Irishmen migrated here during the great potato famine and brought their customs with them. (Ireland is the only place in the world where Halloween is actually a national holiday.) Coincidentally, the rise in popularity of Halloween in America coincides roughly with the national spiritist revival that began in 1848.
Among the modern customs and practices of Halloween, here are a few:
1. The Jack-o'-latern.
The carved pumpkin may have originated with the witches' use of a skull with a candle in it to light the way to coven meetings. But among the Irish, who, as noted, caused the popularization of Halloween in America, the legend of "Irish Jack" explains the jack-o'-latern. The legend goes: There was a stingy drunk named Jack who tricked the devil into climbing an apple tree for an apple but then cut the sign of a cross into the trunk of the tree preventing the devil from coming down. Jack forced the devil to swear he would never come after Jack's soul. The devil reluctantly agreed. Jack eventually died but was turned away at the gates of heaven because of his drunkeness and life of selfishness. He was next sent to the devil who also rejected him, keeping his promise. Since Jack had no place to go, he was condemned to wander the earth. As he was leaving hell, (he happened to be eating a turnip), the devil threw a live coal at him. He put the coal inside the turnip and has since forever been roaming the earth with his "jack-o'-latern" in search of a place of rest. Eventually, pumpkins replaced turnips since it was much easier to symbolize the devil's coal inside the pumpkin.
2. Trick-or-Treat and Halloween Costumes.
The idea of trick-or-treating is further related to the ghosts of the dead in pagan, and even Catholic history. For example, among the ancient Druids, "The ghosts that were thought to throng about houses of the living were greeted with a banquet-laden table. At the end of the feast, masked and costumed villagers representing the souls of the dead paraded to the outskirts of town leading the ghosts away." as noted, Halloween was a night where mischiveous and evil spirits roamed freely. as in modern poltergeist lore, mischiveous spirits could play tricks on the living- so it was advantageous to "hide" from them by wearing costumes. Masks and costumes were worn to either scare away the ghosts or keep from recognized by them: "In Ireland especially, people thought that ghosts and spirits roamed after dark on Halloween. They lit candles or lanterns to keep the spirits away, and if they had to go outside, they wore costumes and masks to frighten the spirits or to keep from being recognized by these unearthly beings."
There are several other possibilities for the origin of this pastime. One of which is that Halloween costumes is taken from the Celtic druid idea that ceremonial participants should wear animal heads and animal skins to acquire the strength of the beast they portrayed (shamanism and other forms of animism).
As for the "trick" custom of Halloween, this is related to the idea that ghosts and witches created mischief on this particular night. For example, if the living did not provide food or "treats" for the spirits, then they would "trick" the living. People feared that terrible things might happen to them if they did not honor the spirits. The Druids also believed that failure to worship their gods would bring dire consequences: If the gods were not treated properly in ritual, they would seek revenge.
3. Fruits and nuts.
Halloween involves fruit centerpieces, apples and nuts. Three of the sacred fruits of the Celts were acorns, apples and nuts, especially the hazelnut, considered a god, and the acorn, sacred from its association to the oak. Hazel nuts were also used in romance divination. Fruits and nuts also seem to be related to the Roman Harvest Feast of Pomona. Some Halloween food had objects placed inside as a means of fortune-telling.
4. Bobbing for apples.
Bobbing for apples came from the old practice of divining the future. It became an aspect of romance divination for discovering your future mate.
5. Telling ghost stories.
Because Halloween was a night where dead souls were believed to be everywhere, and good, mischievous and evil spirits roamed freely, the custom of telling ghost stories on Halloween originated as a natural consequences of such beliefs.
Halloween has other negative aspects besides a pagan background rooted in witchcraft and its emphasis on the devil and darkness. Some vandals are more interested in playing tricks than getting treats. Parents worry that some demented criminal will distribute poisoned candy or goodies containing pins and razor blades. There's also the danger that motorists won't see costumed kids walking on dark streets.
| Site Tools |
|
|
