Hallowe'en-Not my scene.
Hallowe'en isn't celebrated here in Australia, and for that I'm actually thankful. I miss seeing the kids dress up (they look so cute!), carving pumpkins is great fun...and who doesn't love trick-or-treating? But I find I actually struggle with the history of the celebration.
From what I can understand, it started around the same time Jesus came 2000 years ago...
The Celts celebrated the New Year on November 1st, marking the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. (this info received from this link)
Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
Now, I understand we don't do these things today - but is it okay to "be okay" with this type of celebration as a follower of Jesus? Should I just turn a blind eye? Is letting kids dress up "really" opening up yourself to the devil? What are your thoughts?
Comments
i've also found hallowe'en night to be the only night of the year that anyone in our 'hood is excited about having strangers knock on there door to say hi and the 2 years we went out with Soph to neighbours when she was really little i met more people than any other time, and i liked that.
i do also find people here think it's the best night to be drunk, stupid, loud, and totally insensitive to kids and families. don't like that.
the best advice we got on this (i was allowed to TorT wade wasn't and he is till suffering candy withdrawl) was from Don N., who told us they always took the approach that the Bible is really clear about fear, and that we're not to do anything to cause fear in anyone. So this year was the first year Soph was old enough to talk about how our family do will do things that are silly and fun, but not anything scary, because the bible says "fear not." She was wondering afterwards when a friend dropped off a bag of somewhat questionable decorations if they owned a bible - a good lead-in for her next chat?
thanks for the topic. miss you.
i like the thoughts that come out of your head.
ralphie
Personally, I don't have a problem with letting my kids dress up. They play dress up every other day of the year, it would be silly to tell them they can't on that one day. The private school in our area has gone so far to say no dressing up on Oct 31...but it's okay to dress up on Oct 30. They do exactly the same things our school does - costume parades, movies, and treats. How is that any different?
For us, it's what your focus is, the same as at Christmas and Easter. And actually, we use it as a catalyst to talk about how Jesus will overcome Satan in the last days. Evil has no power over us! :)
Awesome post, Angela!
Obviously people need to decide for themselves what their view of this holiday is and if and how they will celebrate it. It seems that even those who let their kids participate in it have had to take the time to think a lot about it before making their decision. The thing I find about it that's strange is that it seems the reason most people have to justify celebrating it is that they don't want their kids to be seen as different or miss out on anything. I know for me personally if I had to try and justify it being OK then it probably wouldn't be OK. Sure it might be easier to justify it and go with the crowed, but for me I just don't see it being worth that. I think I could only be OK with it if I thought it was a good thing, not just something that's not "that bad". Of course I don't know what it's like to grow up in a culture that celebrates halloween and maybe it's not that big of a deal. But I sure do appreciate the fact that it was never an issue for me to have to decide if it was OK or not, all that candy couldn't possibly have been good for me.