Roots and Warts of Halloween

What is Halloween?

As a Catholic, my automatic response to non-Catholics would be something along the lines of "Well, it's the vigil for All Souls Day and All Saints Day." And as far as that goes, I would be right. But you still wouldn't get the fullness of the meaning of this holiday. Pagans and wiccans would have you believe that we Christians "usurped" the holiday in an effort to "force" Christianity on the people. It actually began as a new year festival. Hundreds of years before Christ was born, Samhain was a major Celtic harvest festival, celebrated on October 31, marking the end of summer, and the beginning of their new year on November 1.

During Samhain, the Irish Celts believed that the veil separating the living from the dead was at its thinnest. Disembodied spirits of those who had died the previous year came back on that night to look for the living bodies of their near and dear (some believed old enemies were the targets) to possess, in order to resume their "lives". So, in an effort to dissuade these ghosts, villagers dressed up in ghoulish costumes, paraded around villages, lit huge bonfires, and were as destructive as possible in order to scare away the spirits, both to make the possession of their loved ones seem most unappealing and to render themselves "unrecognizable" by their beloved departed.

Druids were originally carefully selected villagers who sought to make the possessions a nil subject by sacrificing animals and, according to some historians, humans in an effort at appeasement to these departed souls. These practices were hollow repetitions of practices of civilizations long gone, though, and not original with the druids at all. Who were they sacrificing to, precisely? Rejection of both the necessity of sacrificing to the village idiot who'd had the misfortune to die that year, as well as the Hebraic God (or mere lack of knowledge of Him) meant they had to dream up their own. So they did, relying once again upon stories of the long ago in order to flesh out their various and sundry gods and goddesses. Delusions of grandeur and self-importance always being the primary cause of evil amongst men, occultists and witches used this night to practice fortune-telling and divination. When the Romans conquered the Celts, they added their own touches to the Samhain festival, such as making centerpieces out of apples and nuts for Pomona, the Roman goddess of the orchards. The Romans also bobbed for apples and drank cider—traditions which may sound familiar to you.

Generalized belief in spirits began to wane, but many Samhain traditions continued. Children play-acted the part of evil spirits to be appeased, asking for food or treats from house to house. These treats and food were collected for the village feast and bonfire, and donators were said to be blessed in the coming year, while naysayers received threats of bad luck. Since the earliest Christians were Jewish, they naturally transferred their previous rituals which revolved around the One God to the new practice of worshipping God made Man. Praying for the dead and offering sacrifices had long been the practice of Jews who believed in the afterlife. The penultimate sacrifice had now been made - but there was still the praying for the dead to be done. The faithful were firm in their prayers for the Saints, but they were just as firm in their annual celebrations of all the souls of the departed. In 835, Pope Gregory IV gave in to the common festival by moving the popular feast of All Saints Day from May 13 to November 1st, and All Souls Day was celebrated on November 2nd. The evening before All Saint's Day was called "All Hallows Eve," which was shortened through common usage to Hallowe'en.

During the potato famine, many Irish immigrants brought their traditions to America. An Irish folktale says that a man named Jack tricked the devil up into a tree and then carved a cross into the bark, trapping him. Jack made a deal with the devil, saying that if he never tempted him again, he would let him down. After Jack died, God wouldn't let him into heaven because of his drunken ways and the devil wouldn't let him into hell. However, the devil gave Jack a single ember to light his way through the darkness of eternity, which Jack placed inside a hollowed-out turnip. In America, pumpkins outnumbered turnips and so they became "Jack's lantern."

Stories of ghosts first became associated with Halloween in Ireland. It was said that if someone had died the previous year and you were still holding a grudge against that person, he or she would appear to you on the evening before All Saints. You'd be so startled you'd run to do whatever would make your forgiveness complete. Not a bad reminder any time of the year!

Skeletons and skulls are naturally symbols at Halloween because of All Souls Day, "the Day of the Dead," as some countries call it. It doesn't hurt us to think about death once a year. We're all going to die someday. Skeletons and skulls remind us of this. Figures of devils and witches can also remind us of the ever-present temptation to be like God.

Halloween is not "of the devil," as some fundamentalists say. Many denominations don't teach about the communion of saints, so naturally they don't celebrate All Saints Day or All Souls Day. All they have left of Halloween is pre-Christian superstition about the dead.

So, what are you going to do this Halloween? Me, I'm going help the kiddies choose their costumes. They usually pick something they're most scared of - good idea, I think. Get elbow to elbow with a ghoul costume, so you can learn that inside every "ghoul" is a very real soul. Get next to a "witch", and learn that they are mere mortals, too. Cavort with "skeletons" and learn not to fear mere bodily death, but the greater death that only God can mete - that of refusing you admittance to the fullness of the Heavenly Communion.

On All Saints Day, I will attend Mass and be an active part of the Communion of Saints which I usually back-burner all year long. On All Souls Day, I will again attend Mass and pray for the souls of my near and dear who may still not have achieved that perfection which will let them enjoy the fullness of God's Presence. I will also beseech the Saints and those purified Dead to intercede on my behalf and on the behalf of my loved ones on earth - much in the same way I petitioned friends and neighbors from coast to coast for their prayers on behalf of my son before he died, and on behalf of my Daddy when his heart failed back in the summer.