Halloween: A Redemptive History – UPDATED
With Halloween once again upon us, churches throughout America are buzzing with warnings and condemnations about the evils of the holiday. Surprisingly given my rural, conservative upbringing, this was largely a non-issue in our church. There was that one year in the early 80′s, in the height of Evangelicalism’s scare tactic era, when we had a Bible character costume party (one woman came in a suit covered in zippers- get it? Zipporah), but other than that, it was dressing up and scoring candy for us.
However, after years in ministry with youth, the question of Halloween continues coming up. I’d be a rich man if I had a dollar for every different “true origin” of Halloween story I’ve heard from pastors or other Christian leaders. Most of these theories contained a kernel of truth, but by some accounts, you would think Satan himself invented the whole thing.
As most of us know, the name Halloween derives its origins from All Hallowed Eve (or All Saints Eve), acknowledging it as the day (or evening) before All Saints Day. While some have suggested that Pope Gregory IV chose the day to intentionally correspond with the Celtic celebration of Samhain in an attempt to redeem the pagan holiday for Christian purposes, there is no evidence that he was even aware of the connection, making it likely to be pure coincidence. (UPDATE: While this point was cited in several of the source I researched over the week before I posted it here, I have been informed that this is untrue. I have been told that the Church was absolutely aware and it was an intentional choice. As the Church has clearly done this with other pagan holidays, it would not surprise me if this was true. My intention in noted it here was not to defend Christianity, but show a historic incidental that I was unaware of. My apologies to anyone offended by my stating it).
It is interesting that this emerging culture we now live is often referred to as a liminal time, as Samhain was sacred to Celts because it was the celebration of the end of one season (Summer) and the beginning of another (Autumn). A time between times. A time of liminality. This celebration was culminated on Samhain Night (or Oíche Shamhna), where the dead were said to revisit the mortal world, but where evil spirits are also about and need to be guarded against. While this emphasis on death might seem strange to us, when you consider they were entering Autumn, with dying leaves and fallow fields, this emphasis on death makes sense. In fact, while it was misguided in some respects, their spirituality that moved with the rhythm of Creation is far closer to traditional Judeo-Christian spirituality than the often sterile, rational religions of today.
Over time, in large part due to the influence of a Christianity that solidified its authority by demonizing anything that was contrary to their position, the emphasis on warding against evil overwhelmed the otherwise pastoral/agricultural emphasis of the holiday. The actual practices and beliefs surrounding these spiritualities are difficulty to pin down. What little historical and archaeological evidence that does exist is inconclusive. Add to that other influences, such a Christian propoganda, influence of traditional and romantic mythology/legends and (largely) the neo-paganism that irresponsibly and haphazardly recreated the spirituality.
However, the history of costume wearing in some way relates to the warding off of evil spirits. Whether it was donning animal skins for pagan rituals and sacrifices or mimicking the evil spirits by dressing like creatures to confuse them, the practice was inspired out of an deep commitment to disempower the evil in the world by mocking them through imitation. That in time it was children who would primarily dress up, the evil was further diminished by making our worst fears the playthings of children.
While the theology and practice of these belief are often misguided, reflecting the true powerlessness of people living at the mercy of deeply dangerous and spiritual world, it is less about “wanton paganism” and more about people seeking to live faithfully in a world according to their understanding. Of course the whole thing changed when Western consumerism got its hands on it, making it the 6th most profitable holiday in the US, but its core retains that redemptive edge.
In my neighbourhood, there will be no trick or treating. Just over a week ago a group of kids, ages 12 to 15, beat a women in our community to death, a random act of violence with no motive at all. This past Sunday, in another home in our neighbouhood, a man shot and killed another man and wounded a teen during a fight at a party. Added to the our “notorious” drug trade, prostitution and gang problems, parents have worse things to fear than ghosts and goblins.
Why do we get so worked up about the pagan origins of Halloween? Why is dressing like a ghost, vampire or zombie so much more spiritually offensive than the more rampant and blatant evils that face us every day? Perhaps, in this rare and communal ritual, we can learn something about overcoming evil- not through empassioned and aggressive assaults against the enemy, but through our shared celebration of a hope so strong, not even our worst imaginations are a threat. After all, greater is He that is in us…
