What's So Scary About Halloween?

With Halloween just a few days away, the discussion of whether or not to observe the holiday is coming up again, at least in my Facebook news feed. :)  So I thought I'd post an essay that I wrote on the subject a few years ago, just eight short months after Facebook had been launched, and long before I had ever heard the term "social networking."  Enjoy...

What's So Scary About Halloween?

So here we are a few days before Halloween, and some of us will soon have another collection of fun memories of candy, kids in costume, and kitschy, spooky décor.  Others are just waiting anxiously for it to all be over, thankful that there will then be a whole year before we have to deal with the offensive day again.  But regardless of how one feels about Halloween, I think it is worthwhile to expose some of the history behind Halloween and other holiday observances so we can all avoid inadvertently making hypocrites of ourselves when we claim to abstain from Halloween due to its “pagan origins.”

Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, is the eve of All Saints' Day, which is celebrated on November 1.  All Saints' Day falls on the same day as the Celtic pagan holiday, Samhain, which has much in common with other pagan “Day of the Dead” festivals across various cultures.  This is no coincidence.  When the early Christian Church began to expand its influence into Eastern and Western Europe, it encountered the indigenous pagan tribes of the region and their polytheistic, nature-based pagan religions.  In an effort to placate the people and make those new pagan “converts” as comfortable as possible with their new religion, the early church instituted Christian holy observances on the same days as the traditional pagan holy days.  One of these new holidays was Halloween, but it was not the only one.

Did you ever wonder why we celebrate Christmas on December 25th?  It is because that was also the time of the pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice.  The Winter Solstice is the shortest day of the year, typically somewhere between December 21 and December 26, when the sun is farthest from the Northern Hemisphere due to the earth's tilt.  The day was celebrated among pagans as a turning point in the year, when the sun was renewed – or “born” – and grew between the Winter Solstice and the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year.  Early Christian leaders reasoned that it would be an easy transition for many pagans to go from celebrating the “birth of the sun” to the “birth of the Son.”

And what about Easter, perhaps the most sacred of Christian holy observances?  Well, Easter was originally the Vernal Equinox, or Spring Solstice.  As the newly reborn sun races across the sky, the days become longer, the air warmer, and once again, life begins to return to the land.  Twice a year, day and night become equal in length.  To the pagans of old these “equinoxes” (equinox means “equal night” in Latin) were markers reminding the people of when seeds would be planted and then harvested.  The first of these, the spring or Vernal equinox, occurs on or about March 21st.  The ancient goddess, Eostre, a Saxon deity who symbolized new life and fertility, was the key symbol of this celebration, which was known as Ostara.  You can see where we get the word “Easter.”  Legend has it that the goddess was saved by a bird whose wings had become frozen by the cold of winter.  This process turned the bird into a hare.  Yet this was no ordinary cottontail; this bunny could also lay eggs!  This is why we have the enduring symbols for Easter: the egg, for new life or beginnings, and the rabbit/hare for fertility.  The Vernal Equinox was often marked by drunken orgies.  While the new Christian version of the holiday lacked the orgies, the transition was easy because of the continued focus on the cycle of life, death, and rebirth as symbolized in Christ's ministry, death on a cross, and resurrection.

And that brings us back to Halloween and its pagan predecessor, Samhain, or the Day of the Dead.  For many pagan tribes, the Day of the Dead was a day (and night) on which all of the dead ancestors would rise from their graves to torment the living and hopefully drag them back to the netherworld.  Consequently, it was recommended that you stay inside your home and perhaps leave a spooky, glowing, carved turnip in front of your door to scare the spirits away.  If you did actually find yourself outside, it was best to have a big bonfire for protection, and also to disguise yourself as one of the dead in the hopes that they would mistake you for one of their own.  This, of course, is where we get the custom of dressing up in scary costumes and walking the neighborhood.

Of course the early Christian Church wanted nothing to do with all this fear and these malevolent spirits, but they did see value in acknowledging those who had left this world before us.  And they did not want to create unrest among the people by taking away their holiday.  So the Day of the Dead and Samhain became All Saint's Day during which we celebrate the lives, legacies, and sacrifices of those saints of the Faith that came before us, just as Memorial Day commemorates those who lost their lives in war.  But like the Easter bunny, some of the old customs held on, despite the new meaning of the holiday, and many pagans wanted to have their cake and eat it too.  They would celebrate All Saints' Day with their new Christian friends, but the night before (All Hallows Eve or “Halloween”) would find them enjoying the old pagan activities.

So we have a choice when it comes to Halloween: we can choose to draw attention to the holiday's ancient and somewhat unsavory origins that most people are not even aware of, or we can choose to have fun with our kids, candy, costumes, and carved pumpkins while taking a moment or two to say a prayer of thanks for the saints who came before us to whom we owe so much.  Our God is a God of renewal and rebirth.  He makes His living taking that which we mess up and turning it about for good.  He can take a sinful man or woman, redeem him/her by the blood of His Son, and then do mighty works through him/her for His Kingdom and His Glory.  He turns today's trials and temptation into tomorrow's testimony.  So why label a day (that the Lord has made) as belonging to the evil one when we could take it and claim it for God and have a fun family time in His Name and to His Glory?

Ultimately the decision to not observe or acknowledge Halloween is our prerogative, and it's a respectable choice.  Romans 12:2 calls us to “...not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”  Certainly no one could fault a family for choosing to abstain from any observance of Halloween in an effort to “not be conformed to this world.”  1 Peter 4:3 reminds us that as those with new life in Christ, we should live for God and not as we did before we knew Him: “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.”

Similarly, many believers choose not to listen to secular music, watch TV, or even dance, and I would not dream of condemning such choices.  I think we need more Christ followers who are willing to take a bold, uncompromising stand against a godless culture.  Others may not avoid secular music or TV entirely, but rather choose to be discriminating in these areas, seeking to fill their eyes, ears, hearts, and minds with “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute” (Phil 4:8).  This, too, is a valid and respectable approach, in my opinion, as is enjoying the harmless and even positive elements of Halloween with your family while skipping the revering of pagan deities and indulgence in orgies.

But I would caution those who choose not to observe Halloween in any way to reconsider basing that decision on the holiday’s pagan origins.  For if we do, we need to consider also not observing Christmas and Easter, lest we make hypocrites of ourselves.  Instead, perhaps explain to those who question your decision that Halloween has become a part of secular culture in which your family has chosen not to participate.  Maybe use such conversations as opportunities to share some Scripture, and speak of a God who loved and loves us so much that we desire to live only for Him, and not for the things of the world or our pagan past.

If you will be participating in any Halloween activities, my prayer is that you’ll have fun, be safe, and make Philippians 4:8 your guide.  I also pray that God would provide opportunities for you to share His love and grace with all the little ghosts, goblins, princesses, and super heroes you bump into in the process. ;)

Lee Mayhew

10/23/04