Halloween

Facts and misinformation

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The Halloween season of OCT-31 to NOV-2 each year is unique. It includes:

	A Neopagan Sabbat:  Samhain, usually celebrated on or near the evening of OCT-31. It was originally a celebration of the final harvest of the growing season among the ancient Celts. It was also their new year celebration. Today, it is mainly celebrated by Wiccans and other Neo-Pagans
	Three Christian holy days:  All Saints' Day (a.k.a. All Hallows' Day) on NOV-1. The holiday was first celebrated on 609-MAY-13 CE when Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary. The date was later changed to NOV-1 by Pope Gregory III who dedicated a chapel in honor of all saints in the Vatican Basilica. Pope Gregory IV (827-844) later extended the feast to the whole church. The Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate All Saints Day in the springtime -- the Sunday after Pentecost.   All Souls' Day (a.k.a. the Day of the Dead) which is normally celebrated on NOV-2. When NOV-2 is a Sunday, as it was for the years 2003 and 2008, the celebration is held on the following Monday. This is a day for prayer and almsgiving in memory of ancestors who have died. Believers pray for the souls of the dead, in an effort to hasten their transition from Purgatory to Heaven. It is primarily celebrated by Roman Catholics. The day is believed to have been selected by "St. Odilo, the fifth abbot of Cluny...France because he wanted to follow the example of Cluny in offering special prayers and singing the Office of the Dead on the day following the feast of All Saints." 1    Some Protestants celebrate Reformation Day. This is the anniversary of 1517-OCT-31 CE, the day that Martin Luther's published his 95 theses. These were criticisms of beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic church, particularly related to the sale of indulgences. He is widely believed to have published them in a dramatic manner, by nailing them to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Actually, that may never have happened. There is some evidence that he did write a letter to his superiors attacking the sale of indulgences; the 95 theses were merely appended to the letter. This triggered the Protestant Reformation, leading to a decades-long war in Europe, enmity between Catholics and Protestants, and the eventual fracture of Christianity into thousands of individual faith groups.
	A secular celebration, Halloween on the evening of OCT-31. In some areas, if OCT-31 falls on a Sunday, Halloween is celebrated on the evening of OCT-30. Stores love Halloween. It is the festival when the largest amount of candy is sold. It is second only to Christmas in total commercial sales. The total sale of costumes, candy and other Halloween material  reached almost $7 billion in 2003. 2 A 2008 survey by the National Federation in the U.S., revealed that the average person was spending $66.54.

There is probably more misinformation circulated about these festivals than about any other yearly celebration.

Halloween topics covered:

	Opinions about Halloween by the public and by religious groups
	Evangelical Christian beliefs about Halloween How Evangelicals celebrate the season Analysis of inaccurate web sites on Halloween More of the same Analysis of accurate web sites on Halloween Hell houses, Judgment Walks and Revelation Walks
	Neopagan beliefs about Halloween
	Halloween customs and traditions
	Hoaxes about Halloween: "Razor blades in the apples" hoax Ritual abuse and sacrificing black cats The myth of Samhain: Celtic god of the dead

Vaguely related sections in this web site:

	The Goth culture
	Vampyres and vampires
	Wicca

Interesting web sites related to Halloween:

	50 Spooky Faves has a list of 50 links to Halloween web sites at: http://www.all-4-free.com/
	Arkadia has a list of links on various topics related to Halloween: Religious views at: http://www.arkadia.com/ Anti-Halloween web sites at: http://www.arkadia.com/ All Saints Day at: http://www.arkadia.com/ Samhain at: http://www.arkadia.com/
	"Bev" et al., have an essay on the "Day of the Dead," at: http://www.nacnet.org/
	Cards: Many web sites allow you to send Halloween cards to friends: Halloween Greeting Cards at: http://www.halloweengreetingcards.com/ 123 Greetings  at: http://www.123greetings.com/events/halloween/  Gcards at http://gcards.com/halloween/ Regards.com at: http://www.regards.com/ Halloween Horrors at: http://www.halloweenhorrors.net
	Dana's Designs supplied icons for our Halloween essays were contributed by . Thanks, Dana.
	The Fright Catalog has been named "best overall" for Halloween shopping by the Wall Street Journal! See: http://www.frightcatalog.com
	Glow Inc. sells glow-in-the-dark powders and paints, particularly to the Fun House and Halloween community. See:  http://www.glowinc.com/
	Halloween Express has an immense variety of adult, kids, TV  & movie and other costumes. See: http://www.halloweenexpress.com/
	Halloween Manor offers a wide variety of costumes for children, teens, and adults. See: http://www.halloweenmanor.com/
	Haunted Fog has foggers (machines that generate fog), lighting products, flyers, Halloween E-Cards,  tombstones and many other products.
	The Holiday Spot at Theholidayspot.com/  is a place to "celebrate the holidays." They have a well-written history of Halloween at: http://theholidayspot.com/
	Nickscape.net has a list of links to online suppliers of Halloween costumes, decorations and party supplies. See: http://nickscape.net/

References used:

1. Isaac Bonewits describes "The real origins of Halloween." It is a carefully researched essay at: http://www.neopagan.net/  He has other well researched essays at: http://www.neopagan.net/
2. Geraldine Sealey, "Satan's Big Day? Culture Wars Don't Take a Holiday on Halloween," ABC News, 2003-OCT-31, at: http://abcnews.go.com/ This appears to be offline.
3. "Samhain on the Cauldron" discusses the history of Halloween and the Pagan celebration of Samhain. See: http://www.ecauldron.com/p
4. "The Halloween Myths: It's not evil, just misunderstood..." describes the many untrue fables and legends that have surrounded Halloween. See: http://altreligion.about.com/
5. "Halloween: Myths, monsters and devils" analyzes the many errors in four essays about Halloween at: http://www.illusions.com/
6. Elspeth Sapphire has a pleasant and accurate description of Halloween at: http://www.ecauldron.com/

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Copyright © 1998 to 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Last update and review: 2009-APR-26
Author: B.A. Robinson

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