Should We Allow Our Kids to Celebrate Halloween?

[ResourcefulMommy]

When I wrote my article, "Why Do We Celebrate Halloween?", I never dreamed that it would begin a discussion, but it very quickly has. I would like to hear more about what you do in your family regarding Halloween. Do you celebrate? Do you avoid the holiday due to its Pagan origins? Does the origin of a holiday even matter?

[JackieWks]

Not sure I see a point in celebrating Halloween. What's to celebrate ?

Halloween is a time I dread & am GLAD when it is over with.

We live in the country & home school so we don't miss out on these type of so called celebrations.

[melissa @ the inspired room]

Personally, I am fine with my kids participating in dressing up in harmless costumes and eating candy on October 31. I am fine with people who don't agree, it is a personal heart choice. Christmas and Easter both started out as pagan holidays and I certainly don't have a problem celebrating those days just because of how some people may have used them. Lots of people celebrate Christmas even today who may not celebrate it like I do, but that for me doesn't keep me from enjoying the day and using it as a religious holiday.

I don't really associate a particular day as evil, evil can happen any time. In my mind, days are not not evil just because some people use them for such. While Halloween hasn't turned into a Christian holiday like the other holidays eventually did, for a lot of people it has turned into just a silly day to have fun with the kids. While there are still people using Halloween for evil, we don't celebrate that. At our house, we look at it that it is no more evil to wear costumes and eat candy on the 31st as it is to do so on November 1st. It is just innocent fun for our kids.

But I respect the difference of opinion, it is honorable to do what we think is right and take a stand on things or avoid them if we feel personally convicted by something. I respect people who make personal choices based on conviction of what they feel is right for their family.

[Lisa]

If you avoid Halloween purely because of its pagan origins, then you really have to avoid Easter and Christmas, too, since they were all originally based on pagan rituals. However, Easter and Christmas have much more pleasant associations for most people today. Some Christians are choosing a "Reformation Day" celebration as a more positive alternative to Halloween. I think whether we allow our kids to celebrate Halloween is a very personal choice and should be made based on each family's values. At one point when my children were young, I considered avoiding Halloween altogether because I don't like the darkness and horror of many of the costumes and associations. We decided instead, though, to use the opportunity to reach out to our neighbors. We had good candy for the kids and made hot apple cider to hand out to the adults. Soon, we were known as "the apple cider house" and people looked forward to the treat. It was a great time to connect with neighbors and friends.

Some people choose to attend fall festivals or "trunk or treat" events, which are a great way to avoid the scarier costumes. Still others choose to avoid the holiday altogether, and I don't think any children suffer too greatly from being denied the big sugar rush! Whatever avenue you choose, I think you should rely on your personal convictions rather than the opinions of others.

Lisa
www.wisdompursuit.com
Ancient Wisdom for Today's Families

[Frank]

Halloween i s an old European holiday (Celtic, I think) celebrating the Harvest.......I see no problem with celebrating it

[Noelle]

Your too funny that you thought this would not raise a discussion! But I think its a good discussion and also like many have said, all will have their own personal convictions. I began to question Halloween over (OMG) 19 years ago. I always celebrated as a kid, not brought up in a christian home. All of a sudden at 23 I was married and had a 9 year old son. Just the year before I had began my TRUE walk with the Lord. (saved since 14, but no leadership) I began to look at Halloween with new eyes and began researching. After all I researched about the history of halloween, I was beyond convicted by the Holy Spirit to not celebrate. People are comparing pagan traditions of Christmas, Easter etc with Halloween and when you really research them they are FAR from the same. And in the Occult World they will tell you the differences of how THEY celebrate that night. In the end- it can be so simple too-
God has NOT given us a spirit of FEAR. Halloween is set in fear.
I live in Orlando, Fl- with Universal Studio's Halloween Horrors nights all through Oct and also Bush GArdens version.
You dont want to see the billboards that my city has to see every 5 miles down almost every busy road that represent these events. This is just one- there are many. (click and make bigger)

People think its cute when their kids are young, dress them up funny, get candy, It is just so innocent...?
They will not always be young, it wont always be sweet.
There is NOTHING edifying about halloween.
I have an excellent relationship with my daughter and have never lied to her- no santa is not real in our house, no easter bunny, no tooth fairy. I have told her the history of all, she still got money under her pillow when she lost a tooth and even a pretty glitter trail that led to the note, from me, mommy~ the tooth fairy. We have all the family over and have egg hunts on Easter as celebrate the resurrection. She sat on Santas lap and took a picture, knowing he was just a guy, but also knowing the history of the real St Nick. and that it played no actual role in Christmas itself, the birth of Jesus.

And you know what... today at 15, she will tell you herself how glad she is that we did things the way we did. And she is not asking to go to Halloween Horror nights like all my sisters kids are now. (All my sisters are Christians too, just not w/the same conviction of me when it comes to Halloween and Harry Potter, Or Vampire Books!)
She sees truth and how if your only doing halloween to have fun or dress up cute- you are missing the way bigger picture.

I am probably going to get slapped by some for this post, But I will say that I respect each persons decision to celebrate or not. My sisters and some of my friends who are All strong women of God do not have this same conviction, I have never judged them. Same for the whole Harry Potter/ Twighlight Books (Vampires).

Its all about being truly informed, praying and listening for what God leads. And if He leads, than obey. If He doesn't~ who's to judge!

Ok, there is my .01 worth!
Blessings! Noelle

[Shelli Akers]

Halloween to me is all about the candy. My kids have always worn simple costumes, nothing at all elaborate. It's just a fun day to celebrate and Alfred Hitchcock movies are my limit on scary. We're not into the gore and super fright stuff.

I understand why some moms and dads would steer clear, it can get pretty extreme sometimes. I'm just hoping my daughter gets plenty of chocolate! Our oldest has outgrown the holiday so the sweets aren't quite as bountiful as they used to be.

For all who celebrate it though, Happy Halloween!

[Marla]

Hi! I haven't read your article, but thought that some might like to read Wikipedia's definition of Halloween, it's history and modern customs. Seems that all the ghoulish stuff is a more recent tradition caused by the film industry. Also, I wouldn't necessarily associate the word Pagan with evil. The definition of Pagan is from the Latin word paganus, and means "country dweller, rustic. So the Celtic Pagans (a lot of our ancestors) were the farmers and country folks of their time. They had yet been exposed to Christianity. They were celebrating the Harvest Season.

I don't care for the scary haunted houses - just another money making scheme of businessmen messing with kids' minds. But I wouldn't blame these places or any of the scary stuff on modern day Pagans. Most of those businessmen are Christians, trying to make a living, trying to feed their family and pay the bills. Scary stories and images have been a part of society and passed on through centuries. I wonder what it is that causes people to be intrigued by this? Fear of death or the unknown? It's like poking at a sore tooth to feel the rush and then subsiding of pain - a validation of being alive? Whatever it is, I think you can find similar things like it in all societies, and they all have their traditions and practices that have grown from their histories.

I like Lisa's idea of bringing community together with her sharing of candy and cider. When community and communication goes out of the formula, then this other stuff creeps in. My kids are now teens and wanting to go to the big scary haunted houses. (ResourcefulMommy - I'd love a link to your article! Thanks!)........... Anyway, here is what Wikipedia says:

History

Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (Irish pronunciation: [ˈsˠaunʲ]; from the Old Irish samain).[1] The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture, and is sometimes [2] regarded as the "Celtic New Year".[3] Traditionally, the festival was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and slaughter livestock for winter stores. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, now known as Halloween, the boundary between the alive and the deceased dissolved, and the dead become dangerous for the living by causing problems such as sickness or damaged crops. The festivals would frequently involve bonfires, into which bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Costumes and masks were also worn at the festivals in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them.[4][5]

History of name

The term Halloween is shortened from All Hallows' Even (both "even" and "eve" are abbreviations of "evening", but "Halloween" gets its "n" from "even") as it is the eve of "All Hallows' Day",[6] which is now also known as All Saints' Day. It was a day of religious festivities in various northern European Pagan traditions,[3] until Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints' Day from May 13 (which had itself been the date of a pagan holiday, the Feast of the Lemures) to November 1. In the ninth century, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although All Saints' Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were, at that time, celebrated on the same day. Liturgically, the Church traditionally celebrated that day as the Vigil of All Saints, and, until 1970, a day of fasting as well. Like other vigils, it was celebrated on the previous day if it fell on a Sunday, although secular celebrations of the holiday remained on the 31st. The Vigil was suppressed in 1955, but was later restored in the post-Vatican II calendar.

Symbols

The carved pumpkin, lit by a candle inside, is one of Halloween's most prominent symbols in America, and is commonly called a jack-o'-lantern. Originating in Europe, these lanterns were first carved from a turnip or rutabaga. Believing that the head was the most powerful part of the body containing the spirit and the knowledge, the Celts used the "head" of the vegetable to frighten off any superstitions.[7] The name jack-o'-lantern can be traced back to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, [8] a greedy, gambling, hard-drinking old farmer. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and trapped him by carving a cross into the tree trunk. In revenge, the devil placed a curse on Jack, condemning him to forever wander the earth at night with the only light he had: a candle inside of a hollowed turnip. The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America,[9] where pumpkins were readily available and much larger, making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their home's doorstep after dark. In America the tradition of carving pumpkins is known to have preceded the Great Famine period of Irish immigration. The carved pumpkin was originally associated with harvest time in general in America and did not become specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.

The imagery surrounding Halloween is largely an amalgamation of the Halloween season itself, nearly a century of work from American filmmakers and graphic artists,[10] and a rather commercialized take on the dark and mysterious. Halloween imagery tends to involve death, magic, or mythical monsters. Traditional characters include ghosts, ghouls, witches, owls, crows, vultures, pumpkin-men, black cats, spiders, goblins, zombies, mummies, skeletons, and demons.[11]

Particularly in America, symbolism is inspired by classic horror films, which contain fictional figures like Frankenstein's monster and The Mummy. Elements of the autumn season, such as pumpkins and scarecrows, are also prevalent. Homes are often decorated with these types of symbols around Halloween.

[JackieWks]

There is Biblical scripture to celebrate Easter & Christmas.

There is none to celebrate halloween. Although there is plenty of scripture to avoid witches.

My problem is with the word celebrate. What is there to celebrate about halloween ?

Participate is the word I would prefer.

[::Sylvia::]

We don't celebrate Halloween in our home either. I did as a child and then as adults, I along with my parents, learned of it's true origins after a very scary incident involving several cults in the area we used to live. So for those of you who think that there is nothing satanic about it, you're wrong. (sorry :)) Satanists still keep this day for what is was originally intended. I understand most families celebrate the fun or dressing up and collecting candy but for my family, I don't want to cover up something ungodly with something fun. I suggest everyone watch the Christian documentary entitled Trick or Treat? to see what really still goes on that night.

As far as Easter and Christmas are concerned, in my church (Orthodox Church) we don't celebrate "Easter" we celebrate Pascha-which is the Christian passover. Just as the Jews celebrate Passover as their freedom from Egypt, we celebrate Pascha as our freedom from sin through Christ's Resurrection. Many people know that the Orthodox do not celebrate Easter on the same day as the Western church. The reason for this is we celebrate it on the true day, which never falls before the Jewish passover. We don't celebrate with chicks or eggs in representation of the goddess Ester; we do those things in the spring to celebrate God's creation of them. For Christmas, we begin fasting 40 days beforehand (Nov. 15) to prepare us for the coming of Christ. My children do not believe in Santa, they believe in St. Nicholas, who really did deliver gifts to the poor. On the eve of St. Nicholas they put their shoes in front of the door to be filled with treats, as St. Nicholas did. They do receive ONE gift on Christmas morning in remembrance of the greatest gift ever given to mankind. The gift of baby Jesus-we have a little "birthday" cake for him and open gifts. We also hang a stocking with his name on it and they write (or have us write) the one thing they are most thankful for and place it inside.

Anyway, my point is so many people are afraid to cut out secular, and oftentimes un-Christian, traditions in fear of their child missing out on something but there are SO MANY beautiful traditions that are real and really mean something that in the long run I think will leave a much more lasting impression on the children. I'm so blessed to be a part of a church that has 2,000 years of uninterrupted tradition and that is what I want my children to remember as they grow. I don't mind that they won't have memories of dressing up for candy.

Sorry for the novella ladies! :)

[DevilishSouthernBelle]

I am probably in the minority here, but I LOVE Halloween, and always have. I didn't have a problem at all letting my children celebrate it when they were younger. It was never a religious thing for us, so maybe that is why there was never a conflict or problem. But I am very open-minded when it comes to different religions and customs anyway, so it's not like this would ever have been a problem. I think it's all just about personal preference; if it makes someone uncomfortable for any reason, then they shouldn't celebrate it.

[DevilishSouthernBelle]

Same to you!

[Catherine, a Texan in Ohio!!!]

Love Halloweeen, Love Fall, Love Decorating, cute not scary....LOVE CANDY!