Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Holidays?

(Actually, the Devil has NONE of the good holidays.)

Welcome, friends, to an annual practice of mine this time of year, every year:
Writing an article or blog post about how Halloween is actually a CHRISTIAN holiday!

So... here we go:

Most of the things we do on Halloween actually originate from within Christian practice! Let’s explore a little bit, and learn some history while we’re at it:

1. Isn’t October 31^st the ancient pagan festival of Samhain? Yes, but observing Samhain had actually died out by the time Pope Gregory III (d. 741) moved the feast of All Saints from May 13 to November 1. (Rumor has it this was done to avoid spring/summer fevers amongst pilgrims.) The evening prior to All Saints was “All Hallows’ Eve,” shortened to “Halloween.” (Celebrating Samhain has re-appeared amongst neo-pagans, but in terms of continuously being observed, it is not as old as All Hallows’ Eve!)

2. Why do we dress up in costumes? Costumes on All Souls Day (November 2^nd) showed up in French Catholic enactments of the “Dance of the Dead,” which were held to remind people of their mortality and need to repent (a la Ash Wednesday). These scenes were not only enacted live, but were painted on church and cathedral walls! Costumes crossed over to Halloween night amongst American Protestant Colonists, who liked the costumes but wanted some distance from the Catholic observance of All Souls Day.

3. Why do we trick or treat? On All Souls Day, the poor would go door to door and offer to pray for the deceased in return for little cakes that families baked to give away. Again, American Protestant Colonists like the treats, but didn’t like All Souls Day, because it was “too Catholic.”

That’s an overview of only three of our central Halloween practices, but I hope you can see how those things we do are all Christian in origin, with little or nothing to do with the devil or pagans!

Oh, that does remind me of one more Halloween item that I should address, though…

4.How did the devil get involved? As a follow-up to #2 above, I should point out that in the original “Dance of the Dead,” the devil was always in the lead, escorting the unrepentant dead to the grave, and, eventually, to hell. So, the devil WAS involved… but only as a further reminder to repentance and faithfulness!

Seriously, Christians (and everyone else, too), it’s perfectly OK to say:

                “Happy Halloween!”

But you should also try:

                “Happy All Saints Day!”

And:

                “Happy All Souls Day!”