Being raised in a religious family, the celebration of Halloween was a hot topic starting around late August and it continued on to the inevitable day of Oct 31., when my mom was bombarded by overly religious family members proclaiming that we were worshipping the devil for simply being dressed in costume.
The misrepresentation of Halloween by traditionalist religions throughout history has led to a misunderstanding of what this holiday was created for and should not be viewed as a day honoring satanic worship.
Originating as Samhain, part of a pagan religious practice from an ancient Celtic spiritual festival, the celebration is from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 and is meant to usher in the darker half of the year representing the winter season.
It was also believed to be the one day of the year where the barrier between worlds was lifted, and ancient Celts would prepare offerings to fairies to leave outside their villages and fields.
By the 19th century, Irish immigrants had brought this pagan festival over with them to America and the festival of Samhain became “All Hallows Eve” or “Halloween”, as it is most known today.
Today’s kids go trick-or-treating for candy but this tradition started out as Irish and Scottish practices which take place at night and lead up to the start of Samhain. Even pranks were considered part of the tradition and were often blamed on fairies.
Halloween may now just be a holiday where children are allowed to dress up in costume for candy and occasionally win prizes, but to others this holiday represents more than a day of fun and is actually viewed as a sinful holiday honoring the occult.
A Christian denomination called the United Church of God wrote an article about Halloween, discussing how the Bible reveals evil spirits associated with Satan (the devil) and are held responsible for the sorrow placed onto the human race.
The article also makes mention of bible verses which warn human beings to stay away from practices that are connected to evil spirits or any occult practices, connecting it to the celebration of Halloween.
Even though mainstream celebrations of Halloween are far from the traditional practices of its intended purpose, the symbolism of witches, ghosts and Ouija boards are too closely connected for some religious individuals to accept.
I often ask myself how other religions such as Wicca and Voodoo get dragged into imagery surrounding devil worship and demonic activity even though they originated from beliefs which have long existed similarly to Christianity and Catholicism.
This is largely due to the appropriation coming from within conventional religions that rebrand this holiday and other practices as something entirely malevolent to suit their own religious narratives.
The appropriation of Halloween into conventional religions is certainly not the first time nontraditional practices have been demonized, and is part of a larger problem surrounding the “othering” of non-Christian practices and beliefs in America.
Specifically, the historical attempt to convert Native Americans over to colonial religions for their “betterment” and encouraging them to stop practicing their own traditions to strip them of their own culture.
According to the 2020 census of American Religions, seven out of 10 (70%) Americans identified as Christian which includes more than four in 10 people who identified themselves as white Christians.
These statistics give insight into which religion is most praticed in America but most importantly, provide us with the reasoning behind why it has been so easy for Christians to take over nonconforming religions as they outnumber them greatly in our country.
Samhain started out as a traditional practice honoring the bridge between worlds and ended up as a holiday for children and horror enthusiasts, so if we are to partake in this holiday now known as “Halloween” then we should do so knowing the original context surrounding it’s celebration⸺without adding our own religious beliefs to its history.