Halloween is one of those days, and one of those things, that Christians have a hard time coming to grips with. It is like whether to shop at a store that supports a cause that is evil or opposed to the message of Christianity –fundamentally.
Well, there is always that question,
“What would Jesus Do?"
Recently, I invited a family member to a celebration of El Dia de los Muertos, which is on October 31, (Halloween).
Our ancestors celebrated El Dia De Los Muertos, whereas one would celebrate the memory of their loved ones who had passed. A small personal ceremony where one would build a small altar, decorated as vibrantly as rainbows with pictures towering over the offerings to the deceased ones, such as art, knick-knacks, fruits, drinks, and anything else they enjoyed. Candles are also lit in memory, and to help the spirit of the loved ones find the wonderful ofrendas.
It's a fun celebration that is all about remembering the spirit of the loved while they were alive.
To me, mourning a life just doesn't feel right. Therefore, life should be celebrated, as each person is different; different passions and different loves….this is what should be remembered and celebrated.
Getting back to the point…. I noticed my cousin hadn’t responded to the invite, and I saw her online, so I thought I would ask her if she was going to join the celebration, and here is her response,“No, I don't know what it all means....it’s scary."
I thought to myself how silly she was for basing her decision off of fear and ignorance. To each is own, I thought. However, I did educate her on the fact that it was part of our heritage before our ancestors were conquered by the Spanish; replacing their ancient traditional practices with Christianity by way of Catholicism.
She then rebutted,
“5th generation Americans never have participated in the day of the dead.”
Wrong again!
I can't believe I'm actually having this discussion with my cousin. My gosh, her home is in Texas, near San Antonio! So I did a quick search online, and I sent the following link. It sure looks like plenty of 5th generation mexican americans participate, as well as others celebrate this day.
See for yourself:
San Antonio Celebrates - El Dia De Los MuertosWhile the Western tradition of celebrating Halloween is celebrated across Eastern, and South America.
All over the world people celebrate the lives of deceased loved ones.
After the Spanish arrived, they saw their celebrations and tried to convert the indigenous peoples to Catholicism. The Spanish moved Day of the Dead from August to November to coincide with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day (November 1st) and All Souls’ Day (November 2nd). On All Saints’ Day, it is customary to honor dead saints.
Largely a Roman Catholic observance, Poland, Lithuania, Hungary, Croatia, Ukraine and other countries consider these two days a national holiday when shops, schools and businesses are closed. The faithful attends church to remember the saints. On All Souls Day, also known as Day of Remembrance or Day of the Dead, people attend a requiem Mass and travel long distances to place flowers on the graves of loved ones and burn specially decorated candles to help the departed souls find their way to everlasting light. Sometimes the parish priest says prayers or blesses the graves.
What might otherwise be considered a maudlin tradition is beautiful with cemeteries across the countryside lit by thousands of candle lanterns at night.
In Poland, All Saints Day is known as Dzień Wszystkich Świętych and All Souls Day is known as Dzień Zaduszny or zaduszki, when doors and windows are left open to welcome the spirits of the dead.
Czechs call Nov. 2 Commemoration of All the Departed and remember their departed ones with prayer, flowers and candles.
In Croatia, the Western tradition of celebrating Halloween has begun to invade the culture. A practice unheard of a few years ago has now blossomed into parties, horror film fests and trick-or-treaters ringing doorbells of less-than-receptive homeowners.
In Russia, the black cat is not feared but blue cats (Russian Blue, British Blue, Burmese) are adored because they are said to bring good luck. Serbians, Slovaks, Bulgarians and other Orthodox Christians honor their dead not only on this day, but several times a year.
In China they call it “Teng Chieh.” They place food and water in front of photos of those who have passed, and they light lanterns and place them on the streets to light paths for the dead. In Czechoslovakia, chairs are placed by the fireplace for each of the dead family members.
In Sweden, children do not attend school from Oct 31st to Nov 6th, in honor of remembering the dead.
Whether in Latin America, Europe or the United States, Day of the Dead-type holidays are celebrated by different cultures in different ways. Yet these holidays all tell the same story:
Remembering and celebrating loved ones and having fun loving life while remembering death.
So for my cousin to say that it's not celebrated in our culture today, is an ignorant statement, as I have proved here. Not only do 5th generation Mexican Americans celebrate and/or participate in this, but the celebration is practiced all around the world, just as Halloween is practiced in the Western world.
My cousin finally concedes,
"I know the history behind the celebration and yes they do celebrate it here. But we do not participate, no need to ..."
"...a lighting of a candle believe me will not bring my son back to party with us or any other love ones. sorry."
While I respect my cousins wish not to accept my invitation, participate, or even join in the celebration of El Dia de los Muertos. I didn't quite understand her reasoning behind her responses.
I looked over her facebook timeline and noticed that she had posted pictures of the pumpkin patch whereas her hubby was picking out Pumpkins to make Jack O Laterns . I questioned as to why she celebrated Halloween, yet didn’t believe in El Dia de los Muertos.
Her response was,
“the pumpkin is for Thanksgiving.”
Well, at least I was able to shed some light on the subject; her ignorance of it was a little more than startling, and I was a little offended that she was not more forthcoming regarding the subject. I get it, she is a Christian. Christians apparently do not celebrate this day….right?
Wrong again.
My sister happened to walk by my room and saw me shaking my head, and inquired, what's wrong...I told her what my cousin and I were debating, and she was a little surprised (not knowing that my sister was just on her wall and saw all her postings of them celebrating Halloween!) that my cousin would feel that way.
I don't know why she felt the need to lie to me, but as I have proven here; Christians all over the world celebrate this day. If you actually think about it...Halloween, in the western sense is more of a morbid, dark celebration:
Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31.
The word Halloween is a shortening of All Hallows Evening also known as Hallowe'en or All Hallows' Eve.
Traditional activities include trick-or-treating, bonfires, costume parties, visiting "haunted houses" and carving jack-o-lanterns. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century including Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom as well as of Australia and New Zealand.
Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced "sah-win").
The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter. The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and cause havoc such as sickness or damaged crops.
The festival would frequently involve bonfires. It is believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which attracted bats to the area. These are additional attributes of the history of Halloween.
Masks and costumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them. It’s begun to turn into a dark event, and parents around the world are starting to see that practices this western culture, whereas children are being taught that if someone doesn’t give them a “treat” , that they deserve to be “tricked”.
This certainly doesn't sound Christian like. I mean, what would Jesus would think?
The most significant growth and resistance is in the United Kingdom, where the police have threatened to prosecute parents who allow their children to carry out the "trick" element. In continental Europe, where the commerce-driven importation of Halloween is seen with more skepticism, numerous destructive or illegal "tricks" and police warnings have further raised suspicion about this game and Halloween in general.
Part of the history of Halloween is Halloween costumes. The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays goes back to the Middle Ages, and includes Christmas wassailing. Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of "souling," when poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2).
It originated in Ireland and Britain, although similar practices for the souls of the dead were found as far south as Italy. The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging for treats door to door on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593), when Speed accuses his master of "puling [whimpering, whining] like a beggar at Hallowmas." And speaking of Verona, here are some details from an extraordinary manuscript that depicts the horror of the tortures suffered by the martyrs Saint George and Saint Margaret. Shakespeare mentions the practice in his comedy.
Adults, as reported in newspapers from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s, typically saw it as a form of extortion, with reactions ranging from bemused indulgence to anger. Likewise, as portrayed on radio shows, children would have to explain what trick-or-treating was to puzzled adults, and not the other way around. Sometimes even the children protested for Halloween in 1948, members of the Madison Square Boys Club in New York City carried a parade banner that read,
"American Boys Don't Beg"
I sent her all the above information and this is the response I received,
"Richard wow you have to much time on your hands stop already to much Blah Blah ...don't care about that crap !!...I don't need to be educated on anything"
This is a typical response you get from a Christian when you begin to question their logic or reason.
My response was short and sweet (somewhat):
"The day we stop educating ourselves, is the day the world ends....education is key....and I know you really understand that and are just speaking out in anger....and I apologize for bringing that part out in you. Yes, I have lots of time on my hands, because this is what I do; I study, research, and write. I have a strong connection to my writing, , as you have a strong connection with your happy hour. I feel that this may be a purpose of mine; to share experiences, and to help validate shared opinions, and thoughts."
So I guess the question becomes … should Christians celebrate El Dia de los Muertos, Halloween, All Souls Day and All Saints Day which all have spiritual, religious and pagan roots?
Is it OK to let the kids dress up?
What about decorating the house or the yard?
Some Christians quickly declare that Halloween is Satan’s high holy-day and we should have nothing to do with it. Today I tackled the issue head on (as opposed to that famous horseman that Ichabod Crane encountered). Christian leaders around the world agree that those who believe that Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the evil, devilish, dark side of the spiritual world.
Christians are placed in this world to be a light in a world of darkness. There is no lasting benefit to celebrate Halloween.
matthew 5:14-16You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
ephesians 5: 11, 12"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove [them]. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret."
Those who celebrate Halloween either are unaware of its roots, or are intentionally promoting a world where evil is lauded and viewed as an ultimate power.
To counter the evil influence of Halloween, we need to join together and celebrate the reality of the heroic efforts of Christian saints over the evil in their day. Many leaders in the past -- and present -- have fulfilled the mandate of destroying the works of the devil through their sacrificial commitment to Christ and His Kingdom.
I hope you find this controversial article informative. I don’t think you’ll look at Halloween the same.
I guess it all boils down to the simple question,
Related Articles“What would Jesus Wear For Halloween?”
El Dia De Los Muertos
What Is Death? El Dia De Los Muertos
Porque Los Muertos Estan En La Calle?
No comments:
Post a Comment