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…
thank you jamie! i’ll be linking to your post right away. good research on this.
Cindy,
Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie
Great post, Jamie. I have linked to it on my blog.
Thanks, Pernell, for the shout out. You should check out the post on the topic at Jason Clark’s blog.
Peace,
Jamie
Nice post Jamie. Have you ever done any reading on the ‘Day of the Dead’ in Latin America? Now that one is truly interesting, and has received detailed study by many anthropologistis (including one I was taught by).
We struggled with this when our kids were young. The main issue for me was not so much the origins (though that angle had significance) as the overwhelming focus on fear and death around Halloween in _today’s_ culture, and not wanting to buy into that (literally as well as metaphorically). It is truly about living faithfully, without judging others who choose a different way.
May God fill you with his peace as you minister in your neighborhood.
Dana
Thanks for your post, Jamie. Growing up in a Unitarian/liberal Christian household in a small East Texas (Baptist/Pentecostal) town, Halloween was all about school fairs, costumes, candy and decorating the windows with homemade decorations, i.e., more of a community celebration. No controversy that I ever new of.
Ken,
Día de los Muertos has always fascinated me, but have only briefly studied it. It is fascinating. I wonder why we in the end west have such issues with death? There is much to learn…
Peace,
Jamie
Dana,
I understand your concern about the emphasis on death and fear needing to be treated cautiously, but I wonder if Halloween doesn’t have great potential for us to undermine fear by making fun of it. It is a hard balance and, as you say, requires that be respect the choices of others who might not agree.
Peace,
Jamie
Jon,
I think too much can be made of things like Halloween, so you probably benefited from it not being center stage. In the end, we simply need to be aware and intentional about evaluating things in our lives, both those that are controversial and those that we often give little thought to. Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie
Jamie
thanks for stopping by and commenting at Jason Clark’s site – love your post and the challenging Qs you ask in the last para…
Warmly
Paul
Paul,
My pleasure. Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie
Hi Jamie – good read!
I don’t have many issues about the orgins of All Hallow’s Eve. My main problem is much like Dana’s – it’s what is has become. It’s all about the big scare; how gory can you make it. Another issue is how expensive it’s become – the costumes, the candy, the decorations (getting to be like Christmas
).
The school my kids go to doesn’t celebrate it – mostly because of the focus on scary and violent (they have a zero tolerance in regards to violence) and also because of the varying cultures which are in our neighbourhood. Instead it’s orange and black day with wacky hair thrown in. Which is fun to see too. Halloween is talked about at school, some special treats, and stories read, but nothing violent or gory.
Gosh this has turned into a long post. All to say we don’t do Halloween because of today’s climate not yesterday’s.
DAWN
DAWN,
I agree that it needs to be treated with sensitivity and wisdom. However, I wonder if I our cultural emphasis on these things is more telling than we realize. We live in a culture that is fuel by fear, economically, politically, socially, etc. To take time to expose fear can be healthy. Further, our obsession with gore, which is troubling, also makes me consider our highly sanitized North American lives. Ever been to a grocer in Europe? We have so sheltered ourselves from the fragility and reality of life that we find aspects of it frightening and entertaining.
As for not doing Halloween because of today’s climate, I understand and respect that, but I think even those reasons need more exploration. My previous paragraph represents a brief, incoherent attempt at that. Thanks!
Peace,
Jamie
After blogging my own personal Halloween rant, I have been reading others’ perspectives on this subject. I must say I enjoyed yours very much. Perhaps you would be interested in reading my own view as a Catholic (and fellow Manitoban)regarding Halloween…http://acatholicinsteinbach.blogspot.com/2006/11/its-hallow-een-people.html
Eve,
Thanks for the link. Great post. I went over and left a comment.
Peace,
Jamie
I am shocked. Normally you show more sense than that silly little comment of yours in the middle of this post:
<i>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.</i>
There is historical evidence of his impact on the placement of a number of Christian holidays. We have eight Sabatts. I can name all eight of your holidays that correspond to them and what the associations are. I assume your statement “there is no evidence” is meant to construe that you haven’t cared enough to look far enough to find it. (A distance that is not so great.)
I appreciate the overall theme, but does it really do any good to attempt to brush over the attempts of the church to fool pagans into worshipping “close enough”. In truth that is history so far gone that I tell fellow Pagans to drop it as fairly irrelevant to now. Yet here you try to create a warm fuzzy for your audience by glossing over the reality of the origins of such holidays as this? Maybe I should be telling them to spout these minor points from the rooftops.
Honestly both sides anger me with stuff like this. Pagans trying to manufacture history beyond their rights, and christians doing the same. The bible is yours. The stories in it are yours. The timing of your holidays, primarily ours. This is true. Yet if your faith is strong, why would it bother you? Why the pretense? Why not say, “there is something important to celebrate, so we brought it up on a day that the party was already on.”
Nobody in Gregory’s time was unaware of Samhain. Yule is not coincedental either. Nor is Eostre. Your Saint Valentine is honored around the time of the Pagan festival of love and fertility, Beltane. Also accidental?
I rarely comment on your posts because we hold differing positions, and you demonstrate that you know what you are talking about. How did this one slip by your editorial staff?
Wanderer,
I actually spent a week researching this issue, and while many holidays were intentionally co-opted by the Church, every sources that I found suggested that there is no evidence that Gregory was aware of the correspondence. That is why I said it was “likely” he didn’t know. These were not just Christian sources, though papal records examined by “secular” scholars came to this conclusion, but also mainstream sources.
If I have it incorrect, it was not for lack of research. Frankly, I had always assumed it was intentional, so included that point in my post out of interest. I would happily have you source your understanding here. However, instead you seem to attribute some kind of intentional disinformation campaign to give my readers “warm fuzzy” feelings.
Again, I never denied that other holidays were intentionally designed to fall on pagan holidays. In fact, when I teach Church history, I cover this topic. That fact does not bother an inkling. It would not bother me an inkling if Gregory WAS aware in this case. I mentioned it, not to comfort Christians or pass over any responsibility, but out of historic interest. Most of your comment suggests intentions and beliefs that I don’t even hold to.
I will assume the strong emotion you express in this post, leading to broad sweeping and unfair assumptions about what I was intending or suggesting, is out of genuine frustration with Christian revisionists who want white wash truth. Fair enough, but I would ask that you give me the benefit of the doubt. A comment or email sourcing where I got that one point wrong would have been enough for me to correct the post.
Peace,
Jamie
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