HALLOWEEN, RELIGIOUS AND PARANORMAL BELIEFS
Proud spirits of our ancestors forever live with us.
After the lockdown for the deadly coronavirus pandemic was over, the enthusiastic celebration of Halloween in America with all of its pageantry of costume parades, trick-or-treating, partying, visits to haunted houses, live scary shows, creepy movies in the theater and on TV and the internet depicting ghosts, zombies, spirits, witch craft and, people seeking enjoyment from being scared stiff, kindled my interest to know more about Halloween, and its connection to religion and other paranormal phenomena.
I thought it would be interesting to share the knowledge I obtained from my readings and my personal thoughts on the subjects, with my readers.
The word “Halloween” comes from “All Hallows’ Eve” meaning “hallowed or holy evening.” The main questions that must be asked is why is Halloween holy, since it was established before Christianity? And why is it always celebrated on October 31?
The tradition of Halloween originated from the pre-Christian Celtic festival called Samhain. The ancient Celtic people of British Isles and Northern France believed that the dead returned to Earth on Samhain, at the end of October when the veil between this world (life) and the next world (dead) is at its thinnest, which is also the end of summer and fall harvest, and the beginning of winter. It is the night that the dead can cross into the realm of the living for a day, in form of ghosts, zombies, fairies or spirits. Some mean no harm, but others can cause harm to people.
Samhain was not just celebrating spirits, since it fell after the hard work of the fall harvest, it was also a time to goof off, have some mischief and fun. People began wearing costumes inspired by spirits, ghosts, and witches to get up to mischief themselves. People also would light bonfires, jack-o-lanterns and wear scary costumes to ward off bad spirits and ghosts. Some people dressed up as saints and went door- to-door, which is the origin of trick-or-treating.
In the 18th century, Pope Gregory III designed November as a time to honor all saints. Thus, All Saint Day was incorporated into the tradition of Samhain and Halloween.
When large waves of Europeans immigrated to America in the 1800s, they brought Halloween and its pranks with them. Over time, Halloween became highly commercialized and an important cultural icon in American life.
As I see it, Halloween has a close relationship with Christian religion and paranormal phenomena. We, as people tend to try to explain the unknowns, and the things we do not understand in life with the paranormal. Believing in the paranormal is a way to grapple with unknowns and even can be a source of solace. Therefore, the celebration of Halloween shouldn’t be dismissed as pagan or a sacrilegious holiday. Halloween allows us to engage in our fears – fear of death, the strange, unknowns, dark stormy nights - in the same space that encourages wild joy, it transforms the things that we dread into a celebration where we embrace the things that we don’t understand.
Even though other monotheistic religions like Jewish, Muslim, Hinduism and other branches of Christian religions like Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness do not celebrate Halloween, they believe in immortality of soul, life after death, concept of paradise and hell, spirits, devil and witches.
I grew up in a conservative Muslim, Eastern Anatolian and Caucasian culture. We knew nothing about Halloween. But we were afraid of all the things I mentioned before. I remember my father telling me that the spirit of our ancestor lives in us, and that we should never disturb our ancestor spirit by doing anything bad and dishonorable. Allah would help us with all our fears, and difficulties we face in life.
