Why I Celebrate Halloween

I celebrate Halloween to:

• hang out with family and friends,

• see my nieces, nephews and other kids dressed up in cute costumes

• eat candy

• wear my cowboy hat

• experience communitas (I call it Halloween-itas)

To those who believe that celebrating Halloween is “evil” or, akin to worshipping the devil, or similar nonsense, I have two words for you: Christmas, Easter. Or, to make it simple, we can combine it into one word, “Creaster.”

 

If you are against the celebration of Halloween because of its pagan roots and salacious rituals, and you wish to have any kind of integrity, you must oppose Christmas and Easter with equal, if not more fervent vehemence and vigor. Here’s why:

 

Some Noteworthy Pagan Aspects of the Celebration of Christmas:

• Sorry, Jesus was likely not born on December 25

• Tradition is rooted in the feast of the God Saturn, called Saturnalia

• This feast involved sacrifice to the God Saturn in the temple of Saturn by the priests of Saturn

• This feast involved various kinds of pagan revelries (use your imagination)

• Common Christmas things found in the average home of a Halloween-hater and most other Christians:

  • Christmas Tree

    • Symbolizes the rebirth of Nimrod in Babylonian traditions

    • Decorated with red berries during the feast of Saturnalia

    • Worshipped by Druids

  • Holly

    • In pagan cultures they were offered to the fairy people of the forests as refuge from the harsh winter weather

    • During the feast of Saturnalia, they were exchanged as a symbol of friendship and fertility

  • Mistletoe

    • Yeah. Think about it. Pagan rituals included lots of drunken orgies.

 

Some Noteworthy Pagan Aspects of the Celebration of Easter

• Sorry, Jesus likely did not really raise from the dead on Easter Sunday

• Tradition is rooted in the feast of the fertility goddess Ishtar

• Ishtar also goes by Astarte, Aphrodite, Artemis, etc

• The goddess Asherah, in reference to the Asherah poles in the Old Testament, is likely Ishtar’s sister (or is she?)

• Ishtar was also the goddess of sexuality and as such, is typically depicted nekkid

• The celebration of a feast to a fertility and sexuality goddess typically ended up in what could be generally called drunken orgies

• Easter eggs come derive from the Egyptian celebration of Shemu, which is the season of harvest and rebirth, where they wrote their wishes on painted eggs and put them on windows and trees to receive the blessings of the first rays of the morning light produced by sun god Ra.

• Of course eggs are also representative of fertility

• Easter Bunny – What are bunnies known for? Yeah. Fertility.

 

How/why did this Happen?

• Instead of trying to stop pagan practices, why not Christianize them?

  • Change their meaning

  • Soften the pagan practices

  • Make the pagan festival “holy”

  • Common practice during the Crusades

 

Why Celebrate any Pagan Feast Days/Holidays?

 

• Because, that is not what we’re celebrating!!

• At least, that is not what I am celebrating…

 

When I celebrate Christmas, I am celebrating Jesus’ birth, not making sacrifices to the pagan god Saturnalia. Reality is, I don’t even believe the god Saturn is a real being, believe it or not. Similarly, I decorate Christmas trees in my home as a family tradition – not because I am a druid that worships trees. True story.

 

I celebrate Easter because it marks, in my tradition, the central most important event in the Christian faith – The resurrection of Jesus. I am not celebrating the goddess Ishtar. In fact, believe it or not, I do not believe she is a real being, so, why would I worship her? I like easter eggs because it’s a fun family tradition, and I especially like Reese’s peanut butter eggs and Cadbury eggs. Yum!

 

And, yeah, I celebrate Halloween because it’s a fun tradition. It’s fun to get dressed up. Here’s a news flash, I have not, do not, and will not ever worship the devil, or demons, or anything but Yahweh/Jehovah, the one true God, and only God I believe in.

 

Putting on a mask, or costume, on the outside of your body does not defile you. Fortunately, my daily Bible reading included this quotation from Jesus, “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.”

 

And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.” – Mark 7:14-22

 

So, if you choose to celebrate halloween by dressing like a pilgrim and burning Harry Potter books go right ahead. I suggest you also burn Christmas trees and Easter bunnies though, to be consistent.

I am choosing to celebrate Halloween. You are all invited to hang out at Chipotle or Chilis or wherever we end up hanging out tonight! I’ll be the one wearing the black cowboy hat!