The key point here is that there is a Christian story behind Halloween for God’s people to discover again – TO TELL IT – because Halloween is genuinely the celebration of the Saints who brought the LIGHT which dispelled that DARKNESS!

Here is some background to our current scenario in Aotearoa – New Zealand.

• This festival is being revived for commercial reasons.
• But we are not powerless. If we act, we can shape the way it develops within our culture. This can be an opportunity, bringing light in contrast to the ‘dark messenger’ it will otherwise be at the hands of those seeking profit.

The below summary of the history of Halloween is written with thanks to history.com, Wikipedia and the skimming of various topical articles via google.

The festival of Samhain – its beginning point

Halloween’s earliest roots are in the ancient Celtic (English/Irish) festival of Samhain – which is a Gaelic word pronounced “SAH-win”.

• This was a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer.
• This included lighting bonfires and wearing costumes to ward off ghosts.
• As a pagan festival, it also included various animal sacrifices – likely including human ones at times – as was customary to the fearful practices of the primitive pagan religious practices of many of our ancestors. Crops were also amongst the things sacrificed. They believed evil spirits roamed and controlled the world – including both the fruitfulness of crops in summer and their preservation for eating through the dark of winter.
  • It is well known that the Celts built an effigy of a man with wood – locking people inside who were then burnt as offerings to the god of death. To join two pieces of information together – this occurred during Samhain.
  • Interestingly, it is said to have been the arrival of the Romans in 55 BC that signalled the start of the end of Druid culture in the UK. Julius Caesar had commented about the ancient Brits that in times of danger, “unless the life of a man be offered, the mind of immortal gods will not favour them.”
    (See footnotes). I.e. human sacrifice was common amongst them. The indication is that the practice then faded – later being fully eradicated with the coming of Christianity.
• At times it was a 3 day festival, while at others it might cover the full month of November.

Why ward off ghosts?

Winter was the dark part of the year and also a risky season. Living in an agricultural season, and with no welfare state, you needed your stored crops to last the winter. Food supplies could be damaged, stolen or rot.  They needed to have appeased the evil spirits who might harm them. Hence the sacrifices to appease the gods – including crops, animals and humans.

It was also assumed evil spirits came out at this time between the harvest and winter. This was the time during which the spirits might even walk on earth. So Druid priests would take the opportunity to try to connect with the evil spirits, to discern their intentions for the winter and to know the future. Masks were a part of the ‘dehumanising’ of a person, inviting the spirits to inhabit them, to gain from their strength or knowledge.

But LIGHT then came to their culture, dispelling this darkness, superstition and fear.

The beginning of Halloween

The gospel came to the Celts likely in the first Century. It was a part of then Roman Empire. The earliest stories of its spread have not survived, however by around AD 200 Tertullian wrote the Adversus Judaeos, in which he included Britain in a list of places reached by Christianity. Around the same time, the Greek theologian Origen also wrote that Christianity had reached Britain. Soon after, around AD 249 to 259, under the Emperors Decius and Valerian, the persecution of Christians intensified. Aaron and Julius were two Romano-British martyrs who may have been martyred at this time. (See footnote).

Saint Patrick’s work in Ireland dates to approx. the 5^th Century. The gospel had earlier come to England – and there is small indications that practices like human sacrificing had been decreasing since the Romans arrived. As the gospel was embraced, fearful superstitions and violent associated practices were put aside. This repeated the same patterns that have followed everywhere Christianity has spread.

The festival therefore lost its meaning – but not its existence.  It’s exactly like how the festival of Christmas continues as a time for families to gather amongst non-Christians in our society. Even without a belief in its superstitions, Samhain was a part of the calendar and culture.

Pope Gregory 3^rd (AD 690-741) therefore established All-Hallows day. This is also known as ‘All Saints Day’. It was dated to 1^st November to give new meaning to the darker Samhain – celebrating the Saints of history who had dispelled the darkness rather than the emissaries of darkness themselves! The festival took on new meaning.

The night before (31st October) became known as ‘All Hallows Eve’ – from which we get the name ‘Halloween’.

And it remained for about 1100 years.

The ‘scary’ dynamic of the festival prior to Halloween revived

The Puritans who travelled and founded America as a nation had no interest in Halloween. However, something happened in Ireland that changed this in America.

In the mid-1900s there was a Potato famine in Ireland from 1845 until 1852. At the point of starvation, many Irish sold their possessions and boarded ships to emigrate to America. Arriving in the port cities, those cities became a cultural melting pot within which traditions changed and were developed. As they sought to re-define who they now were Samhain came – though named Halloween. ‘Halloween’ bonfires were changed in to jack-o-lanterns (faces in pumpkins). ‘Trick or treating’ – where children went home to home asking for lollies, started.

(‘Trick or treating’ has a possible but unconfirmed origin in a cultural practice in which the poor would go door to door to pray for the souls of a family’s dead in exchange for food to eat).

By early 20^th Century, Halloween was a feature of  American culture – endorsed and promoted principally by the businesses who created the myriad of costumes and other extras involved. It has become one of the most profitable holidays on the calendar.

Halloween – an irrelevance to NZ if not for possible profits

Here in NZ, Halloween has had nothing to do with us – other than as ‘All Saints Day’ for traditional denominations who celebrated the occasion.

But then our businesses realised that it could be turned into an opportunity.  Halloween has been promoted primarily due to commercial interests. There is no governmental purpose in it. There is no cultural or religious purpose. It’s about money!

The challenge is that cultural perspectives are shaped by what people see and hear. With only about 10 years of commercial promotion, the ‘spooky’ side of Halloween is already taking root as a cultural phenomenon.

This reminds us as Christians of how easily public culture can be augmented. We are not powerless if we are united in common sensible action – and this is a GOOD pursuit if it is in accordance with our nation’s history and historic Christian values.

How might we as Christians now respond?

A Christian response

I see two responses. The first is to recognise that we are wise to have nothing whatsoever to do with entertainment built out of a celebration of skeletons, death and demons. Celebrating and making fun of evil is not good; it is not wise; it is also not in the interests of our children’s wellbeing or mental health. This is simple matter.

But secondly, light dispels darkness. This is what the true ‘Halloween’ (as contrasted with the prior Samhain) is about. There is a message of hope that is overlooked when we celebrate the darkness. Christ defeated the grave! The ‘death certificate’ for evil has already been written and signed by Jesus in the spiritual realm. It is only a matter of time!

We are therefore wise to avoid grumping – because no good will come of that. Instead, we remember that culture is shaped by what people see and hear, because this shapes their perceptions.

The only true and right response is to ENGAGE in the same manner the profit-seeking businesses are – but with a positive message. What we do can likewise shape the culture and thinking that develops.