When we hear of October, what usually comes first into our mind? what event do we usually remember every October? It's Halloween right? Halloween became one of the most popular holidays, it originated from the West and eventually, became popular also in Asian countries (and that includes the Philippines). I know that October 31 has passed already (but it's still Halloween in other countries though) but I could still see on TV some Halloween-themed shows and also in Facebook wherein many people are posting about Halloween, so its really important to discuss about it.
How did it become so popular? What are the origins of it? Is is it really worthy to be celebrated? Let as all know as we list down everything related to Halloween. Let us examine very carefully each element in Halloween and realize what Halloween is really about......
1. Halloween
Let us first define what Halloween is...
Halloween (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)- (a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening), also known byHallowe’en or All Hallow's Eve, is an annual holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night preceding All Saints Day. Much like Day of the Dead celebrations, the holiday has origins in Christianity, as well as festivals of harvest time and festivals honouring the dead, particularly old Celtic and Druid ones. Typical Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (also known as "guising"), attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, watching horror films, as well as praying and attending vigils or church services
So Halloween came from the term "All Hallow's eve" or "All Hallows' Evening" which means, it is a day before "All Hallow's day" or "All Saints day". It's supposed to be "Hallow" or "Holy" but how did it end up to be filled with trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, etc. which has nothing to do with being Holy?
"The origins of Halloween are Celtic in tradition and have to do with observing the end of summer sacrifices to gods in Druidic tradition. In what is now Britain and France, it was the beginning of the Celtic year, and they believed Samhain, the lord of death, sent evil spirits abroad to attack humans, who could escape only by assuming disguises and looking like evil spirits themselves. The waning of the sun and the approach of dark winter made the evil spirits rejoice and play nasty tricks. Believe it or not, most of our Halloween practices can be traced back to these old pagan rites and superstitions."
-Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
by Elliott Watson, CBN
So Halloween is of Celtic and Paganistic origin, it was a tradition of the Celts to offer sacrifices to gods during this time. They also believed that during this time, Samhain, the lord of death, sends evil spirits to attack humans and the Celts believed that they could escape these evil spirits if they could disguise themselves as one of the spirits (and that is also the origin of wearing scary costumes which we will discuss later).
Aren't you surprised that the Halloween you know is not as plain as you thought it is? Isn't it surprising to find out that it's all about spirits and wearing scary costumes just to fool them? Isn't it silly wearing scary costumes to drive away evil spirits? assuming that they will fall for it and they will leave you alone? It's what the early Celtics thought as a way of warding of these spirits.
Now, as Christians (and as the Philippines being a Christian nation), why are we celebrating this kind of festivity? here's an explanation:
"But what about today? Perhaps we can still learn from history. In the fourth century, Christians attempted to co-opt the holiday by celebrating the lives of faithful Christian saints the day before Halloween. This was a conscious attempt to provide an alternative and re-focus the day away from ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and other “haunted” experiences."
-Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
by Elliott Watson, CBN
Early Christians tried to change this tradition into a day wherein lives of faithful Christian saints are celebrated. It was an attempt to change Halloween from a horrific look into a more holy one, but eventually, it didn't succeed and ended up back to what it was...
It was traditionally believed that the souls of the departed wandered the earth until All Saints Day, and All Hallow's Eve provided one last chance for the dead to gain vengeance on their enemies before moving onto the next world. To avoid being recognised by a soul, Christians would wear masques and costumes to disguise themselves, following the lighted candles set by others to guide their travel for worship the next day. Today, this practice has been perpetuated through trick-or-treating.
-Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Now its back to spirits and wearing costumes again! this time, the belief is that souls are thought to wander on All Hallow's Eve (Halloween) and they have the chance to take vengeance against their enemies and this time, early Christians have to wear masques (masks) and costumes just not to be recognized by a wandering soul! then it was followed by lighting candles and trick-or-treating.
Don't you find it crazy and ironic? the early Christians who tried to change the face of Halloween ended up following the former pagan tradition of wearing scary costumes in order to scare off or not to be recognized by a soul! it's really weird isn't it? and yet, we continue to follow this kind of tradition just for the fun of it.....it's really getting worse!
Now let's take a look of what the Bible has to say. Let us look at these biblical truths:
- The world is composed of the seen and unseen, meaning there is the physical world of which is composed of things we can see, and the spiritual world filled with things we cannot see but we could feel its existence. Now, let's talk about the spiritual world, it is composed of goodness coming from God and evil coming from Satan. First of all, we must remember that God Himself is Spirit and as well as His angels. We may not be able to see God but we could feel His presence. Now if there are good spirits, there are evil spirits as well and they came from no other than Satan, these evil spirits are the ones trying to tempt and hurt us and they are spread everywhere here on earth and sadly, they are the ones being imitated in Halloween costumes, thinking that they will stay away if one will look like one of them.
- But we mustn't be afraid, for if we live in Christ, we have power to overcome these evil spirits. (1 John 4:4) We can rebuke these spirits through the name of Jesus our Lord. We need not to wear scary costumes to ward them off (actually, they are more likely to come than to stay away) God has given us the power through Jesus our Lord.
With these things in mind, we should not be fooled into following these kinds of practices and we should be convinced not to celebrate Halloween. Now that we know the truth, we should be free from celebrating this kind of holiday which is not from God
People like the Celts uses Halloween to worship Samhain (the lord of death) and acknowledge that during Halloween is the time that spirits come into the world. Followers of Wicca, the official religion of Witchcraft, considers Halloween as a sacred day for them:
"those who believe and follow the practices of witchcraft, Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the evil, devilish, dark side of the spiritual world."
-Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
by Elliott Watson, CBN
These people uses this season to worship and welcome the evil spirits which came from Satan.
Now as Christians, what should we do?
- First of all, we should not celebrate and be involved in these Halloween practices, we should no longer go out there and wear scary costumes. We should not associate ourselves with things like these.
- Secondly, we should use this day as a day to be aware that there are evil spirits around us but at the same time, we should acknowledge that God's power over them.
- Third, we should tell and inform everyone that about the truth about Halloween, so that they will no longer be deceived and they will no longer celebrate it.
- Lastly, we should always pray to God for protection against evil and read His word so that His truth will remain in us.
This is just the first part and next is about other symbols and practices related to Halloween. Feel free to comment if you want to clarify something or anything you want to suggest.
Thanks for reading and may you continue to live for God and obey what is written in His word.
God bless! :)
Credits:
-Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?
by Elliott Watson, CBN
-Halloween definition
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