by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Let’s first cover a bit of the history of his sugar-coated holiday. (Disclaimer: The history of this holiday is long, complex, interwoven and often debated. This is my attempt at synthesizing my research and findings.)

There are signs that in the early 4th century the church had a day, the specific day is unknown, during which they celebrated the lives of well-known Christians.

Several hundred years later on May 13th, 610 AD, Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon and established that day to specifically celebrate Mary and the martyrs of the Church.

Now, in the late 8th century, Pope Gregory III changed that day from May 13th to Nov 1st and named the day “All Hallows Day” (aka All Saints Day, or Hallowmas) to remember all the dead, not just the martyrs.

This change of date happened to coincide with the ancient Celtic holiday of Samhain (of the Irish, Celts, Scots) that officially marked the end of summer and the beginning of the winter. Thus, Oct 31st became known as All Hallows Eve (i.e. the day before All Hallows Day, aka Halloween).

Then, in 998 AD, on Nov 2nd, Saint Odilo of Cluny established All Souls Day to commemorate souls condemned to purgatory. Therefore, up until this point we have All Hallows Eve (Oct 31st), All Hallows Day (Nov 1st) and All Souls Day (Nov 2nd). Just wait, it gets messier.

Moving ahead 600 years, Martin Luther posted his 95 theses (which were primarily against the indulgences required by the Catholic Church for those in purgatory) on the door of Wittenberg Castle on Oct 31st, 1517, appropriately on the eve of the ensuing Catholic celebration and remembrance of the dead in heaven (Nov 1st) and for those in purgatory (Nov 2nd). Thus, Oct 31st assumes the name of Reformation Day in addition to All Hallows Eve (aka Halloween).

While all of this is taking place in Europe, All Saints and All Souls Days are combined into one holiday in Mexico called Dia de Muertos (in English, the Day of the Dead), which corroborated with an ancient Aztec custom of regularly remembering the dead.

It wasn’t until the 19th century that Halloween customs were brought over to America. Most historians say that “trick or treating” did not become significant in the US until the 1930s. Since then, good ole fashioned Americanism has paved over much of these former traditions. One example of this is the use of pumpkins for Jack-o-Lanterns versus the original use of Irish turnips and rutabagas.

This brings us to present day:

• Halloween is observed in the US, Canada, UK, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Australia.
• Halloween is the 6th most profitable holiday in the US (after Christmas, Mother’s Day, Valentines Day, Easter, and Father’s day).
• Americans are expected to spend over $5 billion on Halloween.
• The top kid costumes (2005) were: princess (3.8m), witch (1.7m), Spiderman (1.4m), monster (1.3m), and Darth Vader (1.26m).
• The top adult costumes (2005) were: witch (3.9m), vampire (1.45m), actor/famous person (784k), monster (724k), and pirate (573k).

Therefore, given this long, complex, confusing, and constantly evolving history of days, cultures and customs associated with this day – what do we with Halloween?

This is part two in a four part series exploring Halloween.
To read previous post click below

Part four Halloween: Loving God and Your Neighbor
Part three Halloween: To Trick or Not to Treat?
Part one Halloween: The Issue