Halloween

[misspriss]

All my life of being protestant I never heard of reformation day. Apparently, it’s not big among southern baptists in my area! My old protestant church (family still goes there, it’s right across the street from my house) has a big festival, not halloween, not reformation, just a “fall festival” that happens to fall on halloween weekend.

 

[Sarcelle]

I haven’t posted in a while but I have some serious issues with these posts. Halloween is not an innocent feast. We are celebrating a day that Satanic cults are using for heretical actions, evil actions (sacrifices, denegration of the Eucharist). They are performing these acts BECAUSE it is Halloween, and we are giving tacit approval by going out and having parties. IMHO, I equate it to being OK with pro life people going to Planned Parenthood for pregnancy tests or other OBGyn issues. If this is OK then so is Halloween. Please help me see where I am wrong. Exoricists all over the country are warning Catholics not to celebrate it. In our Diocese, the only exorcist we have is having a Mass and Adoration for reparation of all the atrocities being committed on this day.

Halloween is actually All Hallows’ Eve which is the evening before All Saints Day which is a Catholic feast day. Nothing satanic about it. How others celebrate it should not deter us from observing it in a thoroughly Catholic way.

Some of the Catholic holy days such as St. Patrick’s Day, St. Valentines Day, Christmas and Easter have been co-opted and distorted by the popular culture. This should not deter us from observing it in a more Catholic manner. We should not cede any of our holy days to those all too willing to distort and pervert them.

 

[GreyWings]

I haven’t posted in a while but I have some serious issues with these posts. Halloween is not an innocent feast. We are celebrating a day that Satanic cults are using for heretical actions, evil actions (sacrifices, denegration of the Eucharist). They are performing these acts BECAUSE it is Halloween, and we are giving tacit approval by going out and having parties. IMHO, I equate it to being OK with pro life people going to Planned Parenthood for pregnancy tests or other OBGyn issues. If this is OK then so is Halloween. Please help me see where I am wrong. Exoricists all over the country are warning Catholics not to celebrate it. In our Diocese, the only exorcist we have is having a Mass and Adoration for reparation of all the atrocities being committed on this day.

EasterJoy and others are correct, Halloween is NOT Satanic. Wiki this stuff. The Druids were not even Satanic. Understand that Halloween, established by the Church, essentially replaced Samhain. Samhain pre-dated Christianity. Again, it was a time of transition, a time where the spirit world was present and it was also a time of harvest. Pumpkins were not in Ireland, so carved beets and turnips were used as protection from evil spirits. The “bad” things written about the Druids are biased because the Romans were biased. The Romans felt superior to every other culture and the Romans desecrated the tree where the Druids would worship.

Understand that things that pre-date Christ are present in our culture. Christmas trees, wedding rings, names of Months (July = Julius Caesar, August = Augustus), etc., these things are not evil. The scary stuff in Halloween is commercialized stuff.

Halloween is what you make of it. In Mexico, it is the Day of the Dead. You can go to mass on Halloween, then enjoy harvest foods, such as baked pumpkin seeds. There is nothing wrong with this just as there is nothing wrong with having a tree in your house on Christmas Day.

 

[Kit15]

Also while it is a good idea to do what you can to avoid the occult, I’m not so sure about putting the same effort into avoiding the macabre. After all many of our saints have died gruesome deaths and many pilgrimage sites house body parts of the saints. The heart of this saint or the head of that saint, the blood of that saint, or the whole incorrupt body of a saint that died over a century ago. Traveling relics if saints stopping at local parishes. Heck there’s a chapel built by monks in Portugal made out of human bones. I can’t think of a single protestant denomination that has the same fascination with dead bodies as we do. In fact, many Protestants are offended by our fascination with the dead.

With all these human remains about, I think we need to be careful not to throw the baby with the bath water lest we grow afraid of our own spiritual shadow.

 

[truetofaith]

You’re right…that’s the fun part of Halloween…it’s the adults that make it bad.

 

[Kelfa28]

You’re right…that’s the fun part of Halloween…it’s the adults that make it bad.

Which is why we go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood, go to our kid’s Catholic school for a halloween party and pick out age appropriate costumes that are fun and modest.

 

[liturgyluver]

I haven’t posted in a while but I have some serious issues with these posts. Halloween is not an innocent feast. We are celebrating a day that Satanic cults are using for heretical actions, evil actions (sacrifices, denegration of the Eucharist). They are performing these acts BECAUSE it is Halloween, and we are giving tacit approval by going out and having parties.

I would agree with your reservations about Halloween. I dislike the way that All Hallows has morphed into a very tacky and tasteless American event that seems to spreading its tentacles across the world.

A local priest posted the attached in our newsletter last week:

*All Hallows’ (or All Saints’) Eve is the beginning of a Christian Celebration which is, of course, very dear to us. What people usually mean when they say Halloween, of course, is the American folk custom of evoking dark forces on the 31st of October in a humorous, and, sometimes, not so humorous, spirit. They are thinking of so-called ‘trick or treating’ and all that sort of thing. In recent years, this custom has appeared in our own country and has appealed to children because of the opportunity to dress up and be given things. I must tell you that Halloween, like all celebrations of evil, is not innocent. Christians do not do Halloween. There is no such thing as an innocent evocation of evil. Christians do not dabble in the occult in any form.

We are members of the community of faith and the household of salvation. We have turned to Christ. This is not a loyalty that we can set aside for any reason, even to delight little children. We are promised to Christ. Let’s keep our promises.*

Perhaps doing something like this is a far more worthwhile venture :

catholic-ew.org.uk/Home/News/2013/Night-of-Light/(language)/eng-GB

I also like this video about the historical context:

vimeo.com/75045602

 

[GreyWings]

I would agree with your reservations about Halloween. I dislike the way that All Hallows has morphed into a very tacky and tasteless American event that seems to spreading its tentacles across the world.

A local priest posted the attached in our newsletter last week:

*All Hallows’ (or All Saints’) Eve is the beginning of a Christian Celebration which is, of course, very dear to us. What people usually mean when they say Halloween, of course, is the American folk custom of evoking dark forces on the 31st of October in a humorous, and, sometimes, not so humorous, spirit. They are thinking of so-called ‘trick or treating’ and all that sort of thing. In recent years, this custom has appeared in our own country and has appealed to children because of the opportunity to dress up and be given things. I must tell you that Halloween, like all celebrations of evil, is not innocent. Christians do not do Halloween. There is no such thing as an innocent evocation of evil. Christians do not dabble in the occult in any form.

We are members of the community of faith and the household of salvation. We have turned to Christ. This is not a loyalty that we can set aside for any reason, even to delight little children. We are promised to Christ. Let’s keep our promises.*

Perhaps doing something like this is a far more worthwhile venture :

catholic-ew.org.uk/Home/News/2013/Night-of-Light/(language)/eng-GB

I also like this video about the historical context:

vimeo.com/75045602

Disagree with your priest because “Trick or Treating” stems from “Souling” which was a very Christian thing. And how many kids actually “trick” when asking for candy while dressed in a cute costume?

People are overthinking this stuff.

 

[liturgyluver]

Disagree with your priest because “Trick or Treating” stems from “Souling” which was a very Christian thing. And how many kids actually “trick” when asking for candy while dressed in a cute costume?

People are overthinking this stuff.

The emphasis is on “was”. Soul Cake was given to people who prayed for the dead, a completely different emphasis.

 

[white_sheep]

Making your children resent you and the Church is not the best way to convince them to be faithful Catholics. How am I supposed to explain to small children that since we are Catholics dressing up like a princess, Spiderman, a lion, or an elephant is evil? Or that going to the neighbor’s house to get candy is evil? They already dress up all the time, so I guess we have to stop with the devil worship in our house. Where’s the emoticon for rolling my eyes to infinity and beyond?

All these supposed enlightenments about Halloween are poppycock. It isn’t some evil devil worship day. It is the now secular holiday that is the remnants of a Catholic holiday as practiced in many different cultures incorporated with a small amount of random fall cultural traditions all assimilated together in the American melting pot.

It’s still just kids dressing up and getting candy and having fun. Anything past that is optional stuff you can choose to attend or not. What happens out in public is pretty innocent.

 

[white_sheep]

To further reiterate my first statement in that last post let me pose a question.

Is it really a good idea, and in keeping with my duty to instruct my children in the faith, to tell a 4 or 5 year old that they have to choose between Jesus and candy? How do you think that is going to play out?

 

[liturgyluver]

To further reiterate my first statement in that last post let me pose a question.

Is it really a good idea, and in keeping with my duty to instruct my children in the faith, to tell a 4 or 5 year old that they have to choose between Jesus and candy? How do you think that is going to play out?

What is candy? Oh sweets.

 

[Tarpeian_Rock]

This. In the final analysis, there are really 3 “Halloweens” - the kids’ trick-or-treating for candy; the adult parties which have become an excuse for ridiculously over-the-top costumes, drinking, workplace pressures to dress up, and lots of commercialized gore, “fright nights” at entertainment venues, etc.; and finally, the “Satanic” element - which frankly I think is over-hyped and largely a creation of the media. I’m not saying true Satanic “worship” doesn’t exist, but I just don’t see the evidence for wholesale Eucharistic desecration (stories of which I heard from the nuns in the 1950’s), child kidnapping, etc, that some would have us believe is around every corner. Sort of like those campaigns which encouraged kids to being their bags of candy to hospital Emergency Rooms to be x-rayed for razor blades, which went on for some years despite the absence of any evidence that this was any kind of problem. This is of course all based on an American perspective; as Halloween spreads to Europe, I can’t comment on what may be happening there.

 

[truetofaith]

Kids under the age of 12, usually go house to house trick or treating.

When I lived in the Bronx, N.Y…if you didn’t give the older kids candy or money, they would give your house or windows on your car an egging. The might even break your mail box or burn the mail in it.

Some kids have different ideas for Halloween fun!

 

[EasterJoy]

This. In the final analysis, there are really 3 “Halloweens” - the kids’ trick-or-treating for candy; the adult parties which have become an excuse for ridiculously over-the-top costumes, drinking, workplace pressures to dress up, and lots of commercialized gore, “fright nights” at entertainment venues, etc.; and finally, the “Satanic” element - which frankly I think is over-hyped and largely a creation of the media. I’m not saying true Satanic “worship” doesn’t exist, but I just don’t see the evidence for wholesale Eucharistic desecration (stories of which I heard from the nuns in the 1950’s), child kidnapping, etc, that some would have us believe is around every corner. Sort of like those campaigns which encouraged kids to being their bags of candy to hospital Emergency Rooms to be x-rayed for razor blades, which went on for some years despite the absence of any evidence that this was any kind of problem. This is of course all based on an American perspective; as Halloween spreads to Europe, I can’t comment on what may be happening there.

The fourth are nature-religion observances, such as Wicca’s Samhain. By their telling, Halloween as it is observed by children probably arose out of parades that were held in observance of All Soul’s Day. As one Wiccan put it, “I love Halloween, but it’s a secular holiday. The religious holiday I celebrate isn’t the same thing at all. And that’s okay.”

As for the Protestants who are hyper-vigilant about Halloween, remember that some who fall into that demographic are suspicious of anything with a physical ritual attached, since this makes it “papist” which by definition puts it squarely in the realm of the deceptively-innocent-looking-but-clearly-demonic. Let’s not let our secret fear of other denominations being “more Christian” than we are let us get sucked into that false scrupulosity.

 

[GreyWings]

The emphasis is on “was”. Soul Cake was given to people who prayed for the dead, a completely different emphasis.

Soul cake is still cake, and cake is a sweet.

And many people do pray for the dead, such as the Day of the Dead on Halloween as observed in the Latin community. I pray for the dead, too, on Halloween.

The fourth are nature-religion observances, such as Wicca’s Samhain. By their telling, Halloween as it is observed by children probably arose out of parades that were held in observance of All Soul’s Day. As one Wiccan put it, “I love Halloween, but it’s a secular holiday. The religious holiday I celebrate isn’t the same thing at all. And that’s okay.”

As for the Protestants who are hyper-vigilant about Halloween, remember that some who fall into that demographic are suspicious of anything with a physical ritual attached, since this makes it “papist” which by definition puts it squarely in the realm of the deceptively-innocent-looking-but-clearly-demonic.

Right. And Wiccans do not believe in a devil. They’re pagan, but they’re not devil worshipers.

As another poster mentioned above, Halloween is also a night of fun for adults. In my area tonight there’s an 80’s dance night where you dress up as an 80’s icon and dance to 80’s music. I think that would be awesome, dancing to Thriller and Cyndi Lauper. But that’s just me.

For adults, it’s a celebratory escapism, sort of like Mardi Gras. But you don’t have to take it to extremes. You can go and dance the moonwalk while dressed up and have fun and not even drink.

 

[EasterJoy]

Soul cake is still cake, and cake is a sweet.

And many people do pray for the dead, such as the Day of the Dead on Halloween as observed in the Latin community. I pray for the dead, too, on Halloween.

Right. And Wiccans do not believe in a devil. They’re pagan, but they’re not devil worshipers.

As another poster mentioned above, Halloween is also a night of fun for adults. In my area tonight there’s an 80’s dance night where you dress up as an 80’s icon and dance to 80’s music. I think that would be awesome, dancing to Thriller and Cyndi Lauper. But that’s just me.

For adults, it’s a celebratory escapism, sort of like Mardi Gras. But you don’t have to take it to extremes. You can go and dance the moonwalk while dressed up and have fun and not even drink.

Exactly!

 

[Paganus]

I’m coming at this from the perspective of a former evangelical protestant - who viewed Halloween with extreme suspicion and shut down any mention of it or celebration of it in our family and so on. Our church was equally anti. But now I’m moving towards Catholicism I’m wondering what the Catholic position is on celebrating it - particularly as one of the objections to it from my evangelical days was the ‘Papist’ elements of it. I’m wondering what’s appropriate for my kids to join in with. Any advice?

If you don’t like it, don’t do it. Halloween is completely optional.

I grew up in a rural area but the Eve of All Saints Day was a great time to gather as a community and we had haunted houses, cake walks, costume contests and trick-or-treating from classroom to classroom at our local public school. Those celebrations are forbidden now by secular authorities, but I still find it a great occasion to gather with friends, dress in costumes, share a meal and take all our kids trick-or-treating to the homes that elect to participate.

 

[pensmama87]

Well, so far the only harm I’ve experienced is thinking Reese’s Pieces count as part of breakfast…

 

[white_sheep]

Ok, I am ready for all of the day after stories from those who warned us about the evils of Halloween. Just how bad was it in your neighborhood?