I grew up in the 90's and my parents allowed us to participate in Halloween but the rule was we could not dress up as anything "scary" or "evil." This included ghosts, witches, ghouls, the "devil" (obviously) and anything else that might be considered evil. I thought this was silly at the time and once tried to reason that I could be a "good witch" instead, but the answer was still no. Talking to other friends in my generation this seemed to be a pretty common rule amongst our parents, some even forbid participating in Halloween altogether. Fast forward a few years (ok like 10 years) and my younger sister is allowed to be Alex Russo from wizards of waverly place-complete with the wand! Point being this anti-Halloween sentiment seems to have faded and it is mostly embraced as a fun, nonsensical, holiday for the whole family. I finally got to be a witch when I was 23 and it still felt a little rebellious. By got to I mean I chose to since I was throwing my own Halloween party. As silly as I thought the "no scary things" rule was, it must have been ingrained into my subconscious any way because now I don't like seeing "scary" decorations or costumes and will probably have a similar rule for my own (future) children (good witches allowed of course).
But why do so many people think Halloween is evil?
Well I did some research on the origins of Halloween to find out.
Step One: Samhain
If we look back the earliest traces of Halloween are found in the Celtic festival of Samhain. November 1 marked the beginning of winter, which is often associated with death. It was believed that on October 31 the veil that separated the living from the dead became transparent and spirits could pass through back to the land of the living. Along with causing general mayhem it was also believed the thinning veil allowed for Druid Priests to make more accurate prophecies. The Celts would build bonfires to offer sacrifices and would wear costumes, which were generally animal skins.
Step Two: Feralia & Pomana
Once the Roman Empire invaded Celtic territory they ruled over them for nearly 400 years. During this time traditional roman celebrations were combined with Samhain. There was a day of honor for Pomona (goddess of fruit & trees) and the celebration of Feralia commemorated the passing of the dead.
Step Three: All Saints Day
Pope Gregory III took an existing Catholic feast (All Martyrs Day) and expanded it to include all saints and moved the observance of it from May to November 1. Thus All Saints Day was born. With the spread of Christianity into Celtic lands they similarly held an All Souls day on November 2. The Celts celebrated this day similarly to Samhain with bonfires and dressing in costume. Instead of dressing up as animals they now dressed up as saints, angels & demons the night before All Souls Day. This eventually became called All Hollows Eve which most us know became "Halloween."
Step Four: Halloween
Colonists held "play parties" where people would share ghost stories and try to tell each others fortunes. Because many of the first settlers were Protestant (and not Catholic) it was sparse in popularity. It wasn't until Irish immigrants arrived in mass (fleeing the potato famine) that Halloween became "main stream" in America.
So is Halloween evil?
In it's earliest days "Halloween" was steeped in superstition with fortune telling, mischievious spirits and offering sacrifices to gods. But by the 1800's there was already a push to eliminate these more "frightening" aspects from Halloween and by the 1900's it had succeeded. Vandalism was down and family friendly celebrations were up. Baby Boomers actually had a lot to do with transforming it into what we know today. In the 1950's Halloween was directly mainly at entertaining young children thus trick-or-treating took hold and is still practiced today.
I can confidently say that it is not evil to dress up like a princess (or whatever else you choose) and go trick-or-treating. But was it ever evil? Based on what I have found, I don't believe so. Even in it's earliest renditions people were not worshiping the devil, they were honoring dead loved ones or trying to appease spirits bent on destruction. Costumes were worn so as not to be seen by spirits passing through the veil, not to summon them. So why do people claim that it is evil, or was evil? I would attribute it to a lack of understanding. In today's world ghosts (or spirits) are almost always viewed as malevolent, whereas for the Celtics the spirits were family members and friends who has passed away. So on a surface level the word "spirit" to us today denotes evil when in past centuries that really wasn't the case. That is why it's important to know your history, so we do not make assumptions based on our own experiences and limited knowledge of a subject.
In my experience Halloween as been the opposite of evil. If you are convinced that it is the "Devil's holiday" I would challenge you to do some research and see if what you believe is based on historical fact. If you choose not to participate in Halloween for whatever reason, that is certainly a choice that you are allowed to make and I do not in any way to come across as saying that you can't make that choice. I just believe we should have solid foundations for all our beliefs.
Truth be told I love Halloween, or really any excuse to dress up in costume. I have really great memories of Halloween growing up...big bonfires for roasting hot dogs & making smore's, almost all of my cousins dressed up together and some of our friends too. It was never about the candy, it was about time spent together as a family. Even now I try to go home for Halloween when I can (it's also my aunt's birthday). This season is all about gathering together as family or friends. There are always opportunities to spend time with others. Trunk-or-Treating, usually hosted by churches or community centers, has gained in popularity over the last several years and I am very excited to debut our very first trunk this year!
Information gathered from History.com. This is not an exhaustive description of Halloween origins. You can view more details and descriptions by visiting the site.
