No Virginia, Halloween is not Evil

Since deciding to become “Miz Halloween” this year, I found myself at Yahoo! Answers this month, answering all kind of Halloween questions. In addition to the ever-popular “What should I be for Halloween?”, someone asked the question “Is Halloween evil?” No way could I skip a question like that!! Since my answer was quite long (I did give it some thought. I even provided Wikipedia links!) I figured someone might find it interesting here too.

Remember always, your mileage may vary! 😉

No Virginia, Halloween is not Evil

Halloween is not evil.

Halloween was originally a holiday that celebrated the end of the harvest before Christianity existed. Before Christianity, women were understood to produce life, and it is believed that humans worshipped a Mother Nature/Goddess. It is also believed that these nature lovers were mostly peaceful folk.

When Jesus “the Christ” (means “the Anointed”) lived, his power for love, forgiveness, and healing changed people, and the world forever. Long after His death, his devoted followers passionately spread his teachings throughout the world.

Unfortunately, some of Christianity’s strongest champions employed ruthless methods to convert non-Christians into believers. In addition to physical methods such as torture, pro-Christianity propaganda was also employed.

Pre-Christian practices were then named evil, in order to discourage followers. Before Christianity expanded, Friday the 13th and black cats were considered very lucky. After Christianity was established, forget about it.

Pre-Christian holidays (yes, there were holidays way back then) such as the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain were too popular to destroy, so they were “baptized” with a new Christian name and story. Samhain became “All Hallows Eve” celebrated every October 31st, when it was believed that the veil between the dead and the living was thinnest. To be safe, November 1st was also celebrated as “All Saint’s Day”.

After a few hundred years, no one even remembers why the name changed. But whatever you want to call Halloween, kids (and bands!) love it as a day to dress up in costumes, and try on another persona. So no, Halloween is not evil.

But in my humble opinion, Mother Nature should have fired her publicist!

Source(s):
Wikipedia: Venus of Willendorf
Women in Prehistory
Wikipedia: Venus Figurines
Wikipedia: Halloween
Wikipedia: Spanish Inquisition
Wikipedia: All Saints Day

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