Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Is Halloween really Satan’s holiday? When I was a kid that’s what I was told. If you were raised in a conservative Christian church, maybe you were taught the same thing. On October 31, we walked around with a sense of dread all day, knowing that this one day out of the year belong to the devil. Terrible, evil things happened on Halloween, we were told. For a Christian to celebrate Halloween is tantamount to worshiping the devil, we were made to believe. This invites the question: Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, during the Satanic Panic years. I remember reading Mike Warnke’s book, The Satan Seller late at night, getting the creeps as if I were reading Stephen King. Of course, now we know that the author’s claims to be a Satanist high priest were all bunk. But at the time his was the loudest voice convincing millions of Evangelicals that Beelzebub himself walked the earth one night a year, feeding off the children and animals sacrificed to him by his followers. So, we were taught that celebrating Halloween should be the last thing Christians ought to do.

Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

For us, the answer was a clear “No.” Dressing like ET, Scooby-Doo, or Luke Skywalker was fine any other day of the year. But if little Greg dressed up on Halloween, he was celebrating the devil. In addition, we were warned that Satanists might kidnap us and sacrifice us to the Prince of Darkness. The lesson I took from this was that at least on Halloween, Satan was stronger than God and I needed to cower in fear.

Primary Source Material

When I was a senior in high school, I had a friend who dabbled in witchcraft. I wanted to understand the things she believed, but of course, I didn’t feel comfortable asking her. Neither did I want to put my soul at risk of getting possessed by a demon by reading witchcraft books. The best counsel for a young Evangelical at the time was for me to read carefully curated literature by Christian authors about the subject. This way, I would “guard my heart.”

Of course, we never thought about the fact that those Christian authors must have read witchcraft books to glean the information needed for their own biased works. So, if you can get a demon by reading witchcraft books, then the Christian works I studied must have been written by authors possessed by demons. This logic did not sink in for me until several years later.

It also didn’t occur to me until quite recently that Christian authors who specialized in the occult profited from warning you that you can get a demon by reading the primary source material. If they could make you afraid of reading any voice besides their own, they could secure a monopoly on your readership.

Eventually, I figured out that if you want to learn about car repair, you don’t pick up a fix-it book by a master chef. You read the writings of mechanics and engineers. The same is true with religion. If you want to learn the history of belief, you’ve got to read what is written by those who believe that thing.

So, before discussing Halloween’s history, remember that I am a Christian writer. I have read a great deal of primary source material and made friendships with numerous Pagans and witches. But the information you’re getting from me is second-hand. It would only be primary material if I were a Pagan myself. So, I encourage you to read the good primary source material, some of which I will include later in this article

The Wheel of the Year

Before Christianity came to Europe, people practiced indigenous European religions. As the Church took hold, it replaced with Christian festivals by borrowing from Pagans and “baptizing” their traditions. In Celtic lands, people celebrated eight major festivals, evenly distributed throughout the year. This is known as the Wheel of the Year. Picture a wheel with eight spokes, with each spoke representing a holiday. Two of these festivals are the spring and fall equinoxes, and two are the summer and winter solstices. These are called the “four quarters of the year.” The cross-quarters are the four halfway points between the quarters. So, if you follow the Wheel of the Year, there is a festival every six and a half weeks. Here is a list of the Celtic festivals, the astronomical significance, and the Christian or secular holidays that replaced the Pagan ones. Note that the dates vary slightly, as the Pagan year is based on astronomical cycles, not the Gregorian calendar.

• December 21 – Yule – Winter Equinox – Christmas (12/25)
• February 2 – Imbolc – St. Brigid’s Day/Candlemas
• March 21 – Ostara – Spring Solstice – Easter
• May 1 – Beltane – May Day/Feast Day of St. Joseph the Worker
• June 21 – Litha – Summer Solstice – Birth of John the Baptist (6/24)
• August 1 – Lughnasadh – Lammas (Loaf Mass)
• September 21 – Mabon – Fall Equinox – Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle
• November 1 – Samhain – All Saints/Soul’s Day

A Brief History of Halloween

Samhain (pronounced Sah-win) falls at the cross-quarter between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. Samhain is a celebration of the second harvest. It also marks the anticipation of winter. It is the time for hunting, slaughtering livestock, and preparing meat for winter. Sheaves of grain are gathered into barns. With all of this death, it stands to reason that the festival would be marked with symbols of death. As the leaves fall from the trees, it is a time to remember those dearly departed who have fallen from our lives. Some historians relate that Celts believed Samhain was a time when the veil between the living and the dead was the thinnest. It was a good time to contact the dead. It was also a time when the departed got in touch with the living, moving as ghosts in the darkness of night.

As I have said, Pagan authors do a much better job relating their own history than I would as a Christian. Rather than giving that history as seen through my own biases, I will simply refer you to the following websites. Thanks to the authors for such great content! I hope you’ll open these in new tabs, so you can continue with my article but read the primary material as well.

• “Samhain Past: History, Myth, & Mystery,” by Jason Mankey
• “A Halloween History,” by Jason Mankey
• “Reading About Samhain & Halloween,” by Jason Mankey
• “What Are the Pagan Rituals for Samhain?” by Kathleen Mulhern, Ph.D.

Halloween and Cultural Appropriation

The way we celebrate our holidays reflects the Greco-Roman value of cultural appropriation that began with the Greek emperor Alexander the Great. As he conquered, he wanted his subject peoples to assimilate into a melting pot. Some say he was the first to envision a one-world empire. So, he accepted the cultural festivals and religions of all the conquered people. But he shaped them to his own purpose. The Romans did the same. To a certain degree, the Roman Catholic Church followed that example.

As the church expanded into pagan lands, it knew that the best way to convince people to adopt Christianity was to appropriate Pagan customs and traditions. But they adapted indigenous beliefs to fit the agenda of the Church. Defeated gods and goddesses were relegated to the rank of pixies, leprechauns, banshees, and the like. Alternatively, some old gods became saints. The goddess Bride became St. Brigit, for example. You can trace the customs of virtually any Christian celebration back to its pagan origins.

Since Samhain was a time to remember the dead, the Church invented All Saint’s Day to replace it on November 1. All Hallow’s Eve was the night before All Saint’s Day. This became shortened to Hallow E’en or Halloween. Catholic and Pagan practices mingled, combined with the influences of capitalism and Hollywood, to produce a holiday that looks nothing like its pagan or Catholic ancestors.

If you want to answer the question of whether Christians should celebrate Halloween, first you must ask yourself what you think of cultural appropriation. If you see it as a way of stealing from other cultures and destroying that which makes them distinctive, that might lead you to one conclusion. If it is a way of borrowing that which is good from other cultures and highlighting those things, it might lead you to another conclusion. The intent of this article is not to answer that question. However, the topic can’t be properly addressed without calling the appropriation what it is.

Satan’s Holiday?

If the Church appropriated Samhain and changed it for its own purposes, so did Satanism. Unfortunately, many Christians mistake Paganism for Satanism and claim that Halloween is the devil’s holiday. But Christians must understand that Satanists are not the same as Pagans or modern witches. Satanism has borrowed from Paganism in some of its symbolism (the Pentegram, for example). But it has also borrowed heavily from Christianity (use of St. Peter’s Cross). Satanists aren’t witches any more than they are Christians. Just because you borrow from a tradition, that doesn’t make you a follower of their beliefs.

Certainly, some Satanists have appropriated Samhain as their own, just as the Church did. But Halloween isn’t originally a Satanist holiday. Satanism was invented as a rebellious response to the Church, more than it was an outgrowth of Paganism. Some Satanists adapted Halloween to their own purposes. Christians talk about Satanists sacrificing children on Halloween. Yet Satanism as an institution rejects this accusation. While disturbed individuals from every religious tradition have been guilty of atrocities throughout the ages, you can’t judge a religion or that religion’s holidays based on fringe elements. On the whole, Christian accusations about child and animal sacrifice taking place on Halloween are greatly exaggerated, and many are complete fiction.

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Now that we know the Pagan history of the holiday, and its questionable relationship to Christian holidays, the question remains. Should Christians celebrate Halloween? First, I’ll point out that since the Church arrived in Celtic lands, it adopted and baptized the Celtic focus on death at this time of year. The practice of remembering departed Saints (if you’re Catholic) and saints (if you’re Protestant) is very Christian, indeed. But, independent from All Saint’s Day and even All Hallow’s Eve, should Christians celebrate the modern version of Halloween?

Because of Halloween’s focus on death, movie producers have made a killing off of killing. Halloween is a time for horror movies. Just go to your local Spirit Halloween store and you can see an entire industry that has capitalized upon death and violence. Sure, it’s a fun time for clowns, superheroes, and sexy nurses. But it’s also a time to style ourselves after zombies, murderers, and corpses For this reason, some Christians say that Jesus-followers should not celebrate Halloween.

So, Christians might wonder if there is anything redeemable about Halloween. Should Christians celebrate it? Please, keep reading.

The Sociological Value of Halloween

As a sociology student, I learned that holidays often function as societal pressure valves. Our Western culture has two of them, at about equal distance from each other in the year. The first is April Fool’s Day/Mardi Gras, and the second is Halloween. Both are times for breaking the rules, for acting the fool, for behaving in a way that no respectable person ordinarily does. On April Fool’s Day, can break the rules as well. You can prank your boss or lie to your children and spouse if it’s all in good fun. At Mardi gras, you can show your breasts in exchange for beads. You can get drunk as much as you want because it’s a holiday.

Maybe this is the real purpose of masks, both at Halloween and Mardi Gras. A person in a mask can misbehave with impunity. At Halloween, you can toilet paper the tree in front of your neighbor’s house, bash their mailbox, and play tricks if you don’t get treats. With a mask or a costume, you can play a character entirely different from who you are in real life. By being someone else, you are free to break the rules.

Moralists might disagree, but sociologists know it’s important to have times when it’s acceptable to break the rules. These times function as a pressure valve for society. Twice a year, in Spring and Fall, our holidays give us the opportunity to let off a little steam. Wearing a mask, you can be who you want and do what you want. As long as it doesn’t get too crazy, of course, and it’s all in good fun. So, for its function as a societal pressure valve, Halloween is a great thing.

Participating in Devil Worship?

Fundamentalists say that any Christian who celebrates Halloween is really participating in devil worship. First, this argument confuses the fact that Halloween is Pagan in origin, and that its Satanist connotation came later—well after Christianity adopted it. Second, even if you grant that the occasional animal or human sacrifice takes place on Halloween, this is done by people with mental health issues who are using Satanism as an excuse for their violence. In fact, according to “Holidays and Homicide” on Math ∩ Programming:

“New Year’s Day is by far the most violent day of the year, followed by Christmas Day….None of the following holidays are significantly more dangerous than the average day: Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Halloween, Veteran’s Day, and New Year’s Eve (before midnight).”

So, if you nullify a day based on the violence of some, you’ve got to cancel Christmas as well.

Secularized Holidays

There’s one funny parallel between Christmas and Halloween that I must point out. Christians often get upset over the secularization of Christmas. They rightly say that Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph, and Santa have nothing to do with Jesus’ birth. They shake their heads and complain that their religious holiday has been taken over by commercialism. I know people who practice a variety of religions, and people of no religion, who all celebrate Christmas because it is a cultural holiday—not because of religious interest. You can celebrate Christmas and have nothing to do with the Christian faith because Jesus has been removed from a significant amount of Christmas.

Here’s the parallel: my Pagan friends say the same thing about Halloween. “They’ve taken everything religious out of Halloween,” they lament, sounding very much like Christians at Christmas. The secular celebration really has nothing to do with the religious one. You can dress up as Freddy Krueger, Jessica Rabbit, or a box of French fries without having anything to do with either Satanism or Paganism. Going to a Halloween party doesn’t turn a Christian into a Pagan any more than celebrating Christmas turns a Wiccan into a Christian. So, if a Rastafarian might feel comfortable celebrating the cultural Christmas, then Christians can celebrate the secular version of Halloween.

Giving Glory to Death and Evil?

Now for the argument that fundamentalists make, saying that Christians should not celebrate a day that glorifies death and evil. First, there is much about Halloween that has nothing to do with death and evil. If that’s your issue, then dress up as a bride instead of the Corpse Bride. Be a funny clown, not the clown from IT. Be a baby doll, but not Chucky. There are plenty of options that don’t involve death and evil.

Second, if Christians believe that death has been swallowed up in victory, then maybe we can see Halloween differently. We can understand that Halloween is all about making fun of death. It allows us to get a handle on fear, rather than letting fear rule us. 2 Timothy 1.7 ESV says that “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” Halloween gives us annual practice at self-control in the face of fear. Instead of running from fear, we buy tickets. Rather than glorifying it, Halloween pokes fun at the thing that used to hold us bound. It sweeps the rug out from under death, and it tells death that it has no power over us. More than any other holiday, Halloween says, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Halloween takes our power back and allows us to laugh in the face of death. And any holiday that lets us do that is good for us as Christians.