Halloween
	If you were a Celtic Druid priest fifteen-hundred years ago, today would be New Year’s Eve to you. The Celts were a pagan people who lived in northern and western Europe (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man, and Brittany (not Britain, but Brittany, on the coast of what is now France). In more ancient times the Celts controlled huge areas all over Europe.
	The Celtic new year began after the harvest was over, on what we would call November 1. Celts believed that the boundary between the realm of the living and that of the dead became blurred on the night before the new year, and the ghosts of the dead might cross the boundary and carry you back across into the realm of the dead. People wore animal hides and even animal heads to ward off those evil spirits.
	The Roman empire conquered the Celtic countries in the first century AD. During the 6th century, Pope Boniface IV declared November 1 to be “All Saints Day” to honor Catholic “saints” and martyrs. Of course the vast majority of Christians had fallen away into what we now know as the Roman Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church was pressuring the pagans (sometimes by force) to “convert” to Catholicism. To make that conversion easier, the Catholic Church adapted many pagan holidays. In this case, New Year’s Day became All Saints Day. This day was also called “All Hallowmas” (Hallow = saint; mas = celebrate Catholic mass). Therefore, the evening before All Hallowmas was called Hallow-e’en (the “e’en” meaning evening).
	The custom of ‘Trick-or-Treating’ probably came from the practice of “souling,” where people went from house to house begging for cakes, and promising to pray for the souls of the household’s deceased relatives (who, acc’d. to Catholic doctrine, might well be in Purgatory).
	What is a Christian to do with a pagan holiday that has been adapted by the Cathoic Church? Halloween isn’t the only one. Christmas is an adaptation of a pagan holiday celebrating the “rebirth” (as it were) of the sun god; and, of course, Easter is an adaptation of a holiday named for the pagan goddess Eostra. My recommendation is the same in all three cases. First, realize that the pagan origin of a holiday doesn’t mean that participating in it makes you a pagan. Few people even realize that it began in paganism. They just carve pumpkins, wear funny costumes, and have a good time. Of course anything can be taken to extremes. We don’t sing “happy birthday” to Jesus on December 25, though we might very well send greeting cards to each other and give and receive gifts. Likewise at Halloween, we ought not to do things that would glorify Satan (devil costumes, haunted houses glorifying murder and mayhem, etc.). We can & should have fun without resorting to behaviors that are out of harmony with Biblical teaching. Pau wrote in               1 Corinthians 10 re: the eating of meat that had been sacrificed to idols, and told the Corinthians to eat if they wished, & to abstain if they wished. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God (vv. 31, 32).
		--Joe Slater (Justin, TX)