Shedding Light on Halloween

Nearly everyone has been involved in some sort of discussion concerning Halloween. Should I let my children go? Should you be letting your children dress up? Should we ban the holiday because certain religions proclaim the whole thing to be of the devil?

Well, before we get into what Halloween means to us today…let’s look at what it once meant long, long ago…you know—the haunted and cursed origins of all that devil hub-bub.  *winks*

Once upon a time….in the beginning…far, far away….

Halloween –also known as All Souls’ Day, or Hallows’ Day (Church version) was believed to have been born from Samhain. This time would inspire many holidays to come.

In many ancient cultures, Halloween was something like Christmas. Children could go to sleep at night and wake up to find presents from relatives who had passed. It was a night when the veil between worlds (the living world and the dead) was the thinnest. It was a positive day of feasts and celebrations. It really had nothing to do with fear or the devil…well…not until certain religious men made it so.

The origins in reference to Samhain was an important day marked in our ancestor’s calendar. It was a day of harvest, marking the end of, and noting the beginning of the darker half of the year to come.

Now, when I say darker, I do not mean a time of demons and goblins ruling. I mean winter was coming–shorter days, longer nights. A time when the world wraps itself into another season–a season of sleep.

This sleep could also be viewed as death, yes, but not in a negative light. It meant that nature would die, only to be reborn anew come spring. In a way, season’s represented immortality–through death and rebirth. Not only did these seasons represent certain Gods and Goddesses, but they represented the cycle of man and woman…nature…the world.

Despite the symbolism, though, the time frame itself was of most importance. After all, as I said, winter was coming. And the one key ingredient which gave one person, one family, or an entire village the ability to survive winter– all came down to what kind of harvest they were blessed with. So the important phases of crops—when to plant, when to pick, when to gather would forever be marked on a calendar in one form or another.

Some time in history, though, a day of harvest became a day of the dead. And even though in many cultures, this remained to be a positive time, in others—it became filled with superstitions, fear and fright.

My own theory…when mankind entered the Dark Ages, we kind of went from enlightenment to ignorance. It was easy for those of power and position  to start rumors in order to bend village minds into whatever fashion they wanted.

Today, however, Halloween has nothing to do with harvests, relatives, the devil, or anything quite so serious. Halloween, in America at least, has nothing to do with anything other than imagination, the magic of dreaming, candy, and fun.

It is one night out of the year that children (and adults) can be anything no matter how fantastic that something may be. They can be a super hero, a witch, a video game character, a pop star, rock star, wrestler, football player, doctor, cowboy, fairy, vampire, ninja, and the list goes on and on and on and on. 

The rules of reality no longer apply. What is real, what is imagination—no longer exists. All things are possible.

It’s a night of fun, laughter, excitement.

Not once, have I  took my children trick or treating and seen another child sad or crying. Well, except for the children with sad faces pressed against the glass of their homes, whose parents wont allow them to go…

Whatever Halloween was, whatever it will become…today it is of our own making. Today it is about the kids, the young at heart no matter how old. Educate yourselves and then let your children have a night to remember!

Happy Halloween!