An odd thing happens each October. Decorative spider webs, skeletons, witches on flying broomsticks, jack-o'-lanterns and other ghoulish paraphernalia begin to appear. America’s society and culture spent an estimated $6.9 billion last year on the event, making it second only to Christmas as the country's most commercialized celebration.

Today's observance, however, had its beginnings in a much more ancient celebration hundreds of years before the first Europeans set foot in America. A closer look at the history of this strange annual ritual should raise some questions.

DISTANT ORIGINS

Halloween’s roots go back 2,000 years to the Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles. On the material level; the Celts took stock of their supplies for the coming winter and brought people and cattle in from the hills and glens to their winter quarters. To remain alone at this time of the year was to expose oneself to the perils of the chaotic "Otherworld."

On the inner level, Samhain was the most magical time of the year: the day that did not exist. The barriers between the worlds faded and the forces of chaos invaded the realm of order. The Celts believed that on this night the spirits of the dead and those yet unborn walked freely among the living, making people at one with the past, present and future. The cosmic level heralded the supremacy of night over day with the rising of Pleiades in the winter sky, and it marked the ageless battle between light and dark, life and death.

ROMAN INFLUENCE

In the first century of the Christian era, the Romans conquered the territory of the Celts. Typically the Romans were lenient in allowing conquered peoples to retain their religious observances. In the case of the Celtic celebration of Samhain, they would have found a number of similarities with their own practices.

"The first of November was declared All Saints' Day," records Jack Santino in his ground breaking collection of essays on Halloween, "The celebration began on the sundown prior to 1 November. Many traditional beliefs and customs associated with Samhain, most notably that night was the time of the wandering dead, the practice of leaving offerings of food and drink to masked and costumed revelers, and the lighting of bonfires, continued to be practiced on 31 October, known as the Eve of All Saints, the Eve of All Hallows, or Hallow Even. It is the glossing of the name Hallow Even that has given us the name Hallowe'en."

About A.D. 900 the church realized that All Saints' Day had not fully replaced pre-Christian customs, and that to draw more converts, the church's practice needed to be closer to the original intent of Samhain. November 2 was thus appointed as All Souls' Day. As Santino points out, "this day is in recognition of the souls of all the faithful departed who had died during the previous year. It is obviously much closer in spirit to the Celtic Samhain than is All Saints' Day."

HALLOWEEN GOES WEST

As settlers came to America from the British Isles, some brought their Halloween practices with them. At that time, large numbers of immigrants fleeing the Irish potato famine arrived and introduced their Halloween customs.

By the end of the 1800s, Halloween became a holiday associated with community and neighborly get-togethers, and parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. By the 1920s and 1930s, parades and town wide parties had become the norm.

After World War II the large number of children from the baby boom brought about the move of the celebrations from town civic centers to classrooms and private homes, where they could be more easily accommodated. Trick-or-treating was also revived and adapted, and Halloween became the popular and commercialized holiday observed today.

INNOCENT FUN?

Halloween is more popular than ever, and it may seem harmless enough, but what are we really participating in when we celebrate Halloween?

As today we continue to observe Halloween —with its roots in ancient pagan rites why in a 21st-century society and culture do we celebrate customs based on the ancient glorification of evil spirits, witches, magic, ghosts, death, and a pantheon of pagan gods and goddesses? Why do those who claim a Christian identity heritage observe and foster such a celebration for themselves and/or their children? Isn't Halloween observance exactly the sort of practice the apostle Paul was referring to when he encouraged the followers of Christ to disassociate themselves from the dubious customs of their societies? Surely the rejection of this overtly pagan festival is but one example of history we can change.