What Halloween Means to Me
 For Your Information Bloompetals lets kids of all ages carve virtual pumpkins like the ones I made at the top of thie article.
The Halloween Safety Guide
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Did you know that Halloween originated from an ancient festival celebrated by Celtic peoples more than 2,000 years ago? The Celts lived in the area that is now Great Britain, Ireland, and northern France. Their Samhain (meaning “summer’s end”) festival took place around November 1 and marked the start of the dark season of winter. It was a wonderful time of transition for the Celts, At Samhain, the walls between the natural world and the supernatural crumbled, permitting the dead to walk among the living and the færie to cast their spells over humanity, a time when the dead could divulge secrets of the future.
During the 9th Century, the Christian church created (though some would say “co-opted”) a festival on November 1, one that celebrated the lives of saints,—Christian ancestors who had lived especially holy lives in devotion to God. Dubbed “All Saints’ Day,” this new holy day (or “holiday”) was also known as “All Hallows’ Day” (Hallow being another word for holy folk. Often, holiday feasts lasted more than a single day, so the evening before the holiday became part of it. Hence, “Christmas Eve” accompanied Christmas Day, and All Saints’ Day was preceded by “All Hallows’ Eve,” which eventually became simply Hallowe’en.
By the time the church established All Saints’ Day on November 1, the people had become Christians. However, many of the Celtic customs survived from their pagan traditions. As a result, people incorporated the old pagan customs into their observances of the Christian holy day. For example, many would leave a lantern or candle burning in the window of the home, so that the dead could find their way home for the night to impart their secrets to the living. Others would leave food out for their ancestors, so that they would be nourished upon their arrival at the family hearth. My mother recalls a moment from her own childhood, when her family food on the hearth and table before going to bed. The belief persisted that the living and the dead can visit with one other at this season.
Halloween is celebrated in many different ways today, having borrowed from many different cultures elements of their distinctive values, beliefs, and customs. Particularly in the United States, the holiday has devolved from its spiritual significance, becoming largely a day of secular festivity and costumed parties. Children go around trick-or-treating, and it’s fun and games all around.
I can’t help but think we’ve lost some of the magic and the wonder our ancestors felt, the deep mystery of this seasonal change. The abundance of summer gives way to the cold dearth of winter. Vegetation dies and with it, the crops. Inland streams and rivers freeze solid. Many creatures slip into a deep sleep, mimicking in hibernation the finality of death. Even daylight is abbreviated, robbing us of precious sunlight. To the ancients, it must have seemed as if natural law was suspended each year. In their myths we are reminded that our existence is precarious, dependent upon delicate balances we would do well to honor.
Personally, I reflect at this time of year on my dependence upon God for what He gives. The seasonal change reminds me of His love and provision, and of how precarious my existence really is. Modernity tempts me to overlook Providence. Modern inventions provide creature comforts. Clever technology affords me protection from the elements and the very nature of want. Supply lines bring food to sustain us all winter long. We insulate our homes from the cold and adjust temperature and humidity to suit individual taste. Our ancestors would think us gods for the control we exert over our environment. But to think ourselves gods would demonstrate hubris and arrogance. We live under the mercy of God, and we would do well to remember that.
Don’t get me wrong—I like the comforts and conveniences of modern life. I just recognize that comfort is a sweet distraction from the perspective of our ancestors. The Celts understood that their existence was fragile, and this is reflected in their rituals and customs. The medieval Church understood that the celebration of life extended beyond this world into the afterlife, that we could connect with it in the here and now. I believe that we can all benefit from this perspective, to observe that we are creatures influenced mightily by prayer and magic, and that we can recapture the understanding that, despite our technology and prosperity, we continue to exist under the benevolent hand of the Almighty, and we are dependent upon his provision. |
Dom DeBellis
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Reader Comments (2)
Rather to me this non-holiday is a moment to mourn the loss of a faith that was "a lot closer to the ground" than the religion of the roman church, which was primarily a political body. Like 1st century Christianity before it (and a number of now "Pagan" religions), the roman church simply consumed it leaving it eviscerated and it's history defined by what the roman church recorded as "acceptable history".
One might wonder what would have happened historically if those non-political religions were not disbanded under the pressure of politics?
It is this kind of political organization that I resist when speaking of the church. And Roman Catholicism is not the only kind of organized Christianity I resist. I haven't "done church" for several years, principally because I want to obey Christ in "being the church" that he ordained upon the Earth. "Doing church" doesn't interest me, while "being Christ" to my fellow man drives me.
Rather, I hold to the first century church, that of the first apostles and, indeed, of Jesus Himself. There is virtually no structure in that model, save for the essentials. There is little extra-biblical doctrine at all being taught there. The New Testament was just coming together, in fact. The letters of Paul, looking back many years now, were the principal means of my own conversion; they guided me into truth using the principles of Greek rhetoric I had come to cherish, with the very philosophical tenets born out of pagan thought. The irony of this still makes me smile. God does indeed work in mysterious ways.
This being said, I still believe in the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and submit to His authority over me. I believe in the Word of God, the love of God, and the mercy of God. I have no use for the New Criticism (which is neither new nor critical), including the dreck being peddled by the Jesus Seminar and Dan Brown. These ideas were intellectually void 1800 years ago, and they're equally void today. Yes, there was an historical figure called Jesus of Nazareth, yes; He was God in the flesh and yes, He lived a sinless life, was executed by the Roman governor of Judea, and rose from the dead to conquer sin and death on behalf of all who trust in Him. The New Criticism folks think that's a fairy tale; I stake my eternity upon it.