If you grew up or spent part of your young adulthood in evangelical churches or groups, you likely got a lot of scary messages about Hallowe’en: stories of witches walking the store aisles cursing the candy, or claims that any observance of Halloween would open your soul up to demons.
I grew up Baptist, but this was a battle my pastors chose not to fight. I remember hearing, though, about Hell Houses. Instead of a haunted house, a church would set up a room like they imagined the fires of hell to scare children into accepting Jesus.
The fear of Hallowe’en is about more than just the ghosts and costumes. It comes from misguided beliefs about the demonic and witchcraft and the potential influence of both. And because it revolves around children, the potential for hysteria (I use that word deliberately) is further heightened. The Satanic Panic, for example, in the 70s-80s, revolved around thousands of stories from around the country of children being abused and even sacrificed and cannibalized by so-called satanic cults. All of this has been flatly disproven.
As we do here at Harbor, I am going to talk a little about what Hallowe’en really is and leave it up to you to decide if it is something you want to explore further. There are thousands of websites that will tell you the history and meanings of this season. I am going to tell you what I know from years of learning—and, also, years of trick-or-treating.
A collection of holidays: As with many holidays we celebrate today, Hallowe’en comes from different cultural celebrations and traditions in the northern hemisphere that centre around the harvest and the darkening of days. The name comes from “All Hallows’ Even,” or the evening before All Hallows’ or All Saints’ Day (November 1) which is followed by All Souls’ Day on November 2. It is also connected to Samhain, an Irish and Scottish holiday marking the end of the agricultural season (cue pumpkins) and the beginning of the dark half of the year (Fall solstice).
Trick-or-treating is mostly North American: When I spent a fall semester in England, I was stunned to learn that children there don’t go trick-or-treating (although I have learned this is changing)! There are traditional costume parties and neighbourhood events. People dress up in costume for a lot of reasons, either to welcome the ghosts or to scare them away, or simply to have fun.
It is linked to the supernatural, but so is the Bible: In Hebrews 12:1, the writer refers to being “surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses,” referring to the heroes of the faith who have passed on. This is who we honour on All Saints’ Day in my tradition, as well as our ancestors and relations we have loved and lost. This season is linked to greater connection with other realms beyond our earthly existence. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul refers to a man who was “caught up into the third heaven,” and “I don’t know whether it was in the body or out of the body. God knows.”
It is a time we hold the dead close: Traditions that honour the dead are about drawing close to our dead loved ones through time-honoured rituals. They are not about inviting ghosts or demons to wreak havoc. They are a way of honouring the dead and bringing out in ourselves what was the best in them.
Whether marking Hallowe’en is new for you as you build up your faith again or is something you have always celebrated, I invite you to consider how your celebration, no matter how big or small, connects you to the rhythms of the seasons and makes you mindful of those who have died.
I’d love to hear more about how you celebrate Hallowe’en, or how Hallowe’en has changed for you over the years. Feel free to drop me a line.
