Halloween: The Devil's Holiday?

Halloween is known as one of the best holidays of the year as it is the one time a year one can go from house to house to receive free treats. Some dress up terrifying while others choose to express their nostalgic memories through costumes, however, is halloween actually the disguise for something more sinister?

Most don't know, but “Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain”, where the people would dress in costumes much like today to ward off the terrors that lurked in the night as said by history.com. They celebrated Halloween on the day that marked the end of the summer harvest as this was the time associated with death. Ghosts being their greatest fear during this time of year they chose to celebrate by lighting bonfires and gathering around to burn crops, with the addition of sacrificing animals to Celtic deities in order to protect themselves they add. Which is how other cultures in the past started to perceive Halloween as an indirect way of worshiping the devil.

Yet, our households are what truly play a big part in the specific ideologies we have towards this specific holiday. While I grew up in a Catholic household that favored the halloween customs and much more, I met christian students in school who wouldn't celebrate it at all. They would stay inside, pray, and have at home activities rather than going out to enjoy what I considered the Halloween spirit. Such as an old friend of mine, used to talk and talk about how we shouldn’t favor Halloween celebrations. “ We are just feeding into all the evil in the air. We think we're just celebrating for fun but others can take advantage of us for their rituals”. Her family strongly believed that Halloween was a holiday where just its mere speaking of it, could potentially manifest evil into the world, and a lot of families believe this as well. Unlike her, most of our peers now strongly believe this holiday has no other significant meaning to it, rather than a time of year for children and others to explore the tricks behind getting treats. “Halloween is just for fun, not just for kids but for everyone. Even if I dress up in the scariest costume I have, it doesn't mean I worship the devil”, Rafael Genchi says. Which is true, just because we are partaking in a holiday or action, does not necessarily tie us to a specific value.

Although Halloween is always going to be just a night of fun for me filled with innocent tricks and treats, what do you think? Is halloween really a disguise for something more menacing, and if it is, are you going to keep celebrating it?