10.23.2007
H-A-double-L-O-double-U-double-E-N
This post is for the "Christians and Halloweeen" Synchroblog. Please visit my fellow synchroblogers, listed at the bottom of this post.
When I was in elementary school (1st-3rd grade) we sang this song in music class every year in October:
When I was a girl, Halloween was a mystical adventure for me...being out at alone night, running around with my friends...dressing up silly or scary; not to mention the candy haul. Back in those days, people still felt relatively safe letting their children roam the neighborhood without an adult, because everyone knew everyone, and all the parents knew that other parents would look out for their kids. Seems idyllic, huh?
We would be given a flashlight and a pumpkin bucket and trick-or-treat for hours. Then we would return home to pore over our treasures; trading the things we didn't like for things we did. Of course, there were the disappointing finds: the toothbrush from the dentist around the corner, the raisins from the people on 36th street, the mandarin orange from the old man up on the hill. Then there were the FULL-SIZED candy bars from the people in the next neighborhood, who we always felt were wealthy. How else could they afford to not pass out the little miniature candy bars?
I remember the year our parents became suspicious of Halloween...the rumors were rampant, all over the news: weird people were hiding things like razor-blades or cyanide in the Halloween candy they passed out. I was probably 11 and suddenly, our night was not our own. We were instructed not to eat any of the candy until our parents inspected it. We had to throw away everything that looked the lest bit suspicious or as if it had been tampered with. We were no longer allowed to roam alone or visit the homes of people we didn't know; because somehow these suspicions expanded to include evil-children-eater-witches who might kidnap us like in Hansel and Gretel.
To me, Halloween was innocent. It meant nothing more to me than Candy-with-a-capital-C. To my parents, suddenly it became one more thing to worry about. However, even with their concerns, they never eliminated Halloween altogether, they simply put out a few boundaries to keep us safe. They didn't take us out of Halloween, they just used common sense about it.
One day, I grew up and became a parent...and for the first time became aware of the Christian controversy surrounding Halloween. Suddenly we were inundated with lectures about the evils and demonic forces surrounding the holiday. We noticed churches were having something called a "harvest festival" on October 31st so their members could avoid traditional Halloween activities. Somehow pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples and wearing costumes on October 31st were "safe" when done in a church, but evil when done in the neighborhood.
We tried to obey the church's ideals about Halloween, but somehow my husband and I couldn't see fit to rob our children of the fun...so we would get them cute costumes and let them trick-or-treat at a few homes of people we knew. We were chastised by some of our Christian friends for even doing this much, so we were careful how much homage we paid to this pagan holiday.
Fast forward a few years and I've realized a few things. When I left the church, I my eyes were opened to the hypocrisy; how we would label certain traditions as evil, then take those same traditions, "clean them up" and make them our own.; instead of Halloween, we'll call it a "harvest festival", but it's more or less the same thing.
Trust me, I've been a good charismatic, and I understand about demonic spirits and all that jazz. I've studied all the arguments against this celebration. Yes, Halloween may have it's roots in some pagan ritual from eons ago. However, in my world, Halloween as it is practiced in the US is no more a pagan holiday than Christmas or Easter. All three have pagan traditions incorporated into them, but the holidays are simply what we make of them.
Halloween is a great opportunity to be 'missional', to get to know your neighbors, be a part of your community. Talk to the people who come to your door, learn who they are. Pass out candy with a smile, so the world can see we Christians don't think ourselves too good for this simple and fun tradition. When we thumb our noses at what the rest of the world does, we make enemies instead of friends.
I have found that with a few common-sense boundaries, our children can experience the this event safely. In my house there are no bloody or gory costumes. My children don't trick-or-treat unaccompanied. We check their candy.
We also gather with friends in the neighborhood, we often eat together and share food with our friends and neighbors. We talk with people in our community we might not yet know.
Instead of trying to take this holiday out of the world, we simply use our heads, for God gave us brains, and continue to be in the world.
Our pagan friends will celebrate Samhain this night; we will be celebrating food, community, and in the end, Love.
Please visit my fellow synchrobloggers. I will update post links as they become available.
When I was in elementary school (1st-3rd grade) we sang this song in music class every year in October:
H-A-Double-L-O-Double-U-Double-E-N Spells Halloween
H-A-Double-L-O-Double-U-Double-E-N Spells Halloween
Halloween means ghosts and goblins,
Skeletons, monsters and howling cats.
Spooky masks and jack-o-lanterns
Witches and devils and big black bats.
H-A-Double-L-O-Double-U-Double-E-N Spells Halloween
H-A-Double-L-O-Double-U-Double-E-N Spells Halloween
Halloween means ringing doorbells,
Scaring the people who open the door.
Trick-or-Treat gets you candy and apples,
Then go to the next house and get some more.
H-A-Double-L-O-Double-U-Double-E-N Spells Halloween
Halloween means ghosts and goblins,
Skeletons, monsters and howling cats.
Spooky masks and jack-o-lanterns
Witches and devils and big black bats.
H-A-Double-L-O-Double-U-Double-E-N Spells Halloween
H-A-Double-L-O-Double-U-Double-E-N Spells Halloween
Halloween means ringing doorbells,
Scaring the people who open the door.
Trick-or-Treat gets you candy and apples,
Then go to the next house and get some more.
When I was a girl, Halloween was a mystical adventure for me...being out at alone night, running around with my friends...dressing up silly or scary; not to mention the candy haul. Back in those days, people still felt relatively safe letting their children roam the neighborhood without an adult, because everyone knew everyone, and all the parents knew that other parents would look out for their kids. Seems idyllic, huh?
We would be given a flashlight and a pumpkin bucket and trick-or-treat for hours. Then we would return home to pore over our treasures; trading the things we didn't like for things we did. Of course, there were the disappointing finds: the toothbrush from the dentist around the corner, the raisins from the people on 36th street, the mandarin orange from the old man up on the hill. Then there were the FULL-SIZED candy bars from the people in the next neighborhood, who we always felt were wealthy. How else could they afford to not pass out the little miniature candy bars?
I remember the year our parents became suspicious of Halloween...the rumors were rampant, all over the news: weird people were hiding things like razor-blades or cyanide in the Halloween candy they passed out. I was probably 11 and suddenly, our night was not our own. We were instructed not to eat any of the candy until our parents inspected it. We had to throw away everything that looked the lest bit suspicious or as if it had been tampered with. We were no longer allowed to roam alone or visit the homes of people we didn't know; because somehow these suspicions expanded to include evil-children-eater-witches who might kidnap us like in Hansel and Gretel.
To me, Halloween was innocent. It meant nothing more to me than Candy-with-a-capital-C. To my parents, suddenly it became one more thing to worry about. However, even with their concerns, they never eliminated Halloween altogether, they simply put out a few boundaries to keep us safe. They didn't take us out of Halloween, they just used common sense about it.
One day, I grew up and became a parent...and for the first time became aware of the Christian controversy surrounding Halloween. Suddenly we were inundated with lectures about the evils and demonic forces surrounding the holiday. We noticed churches were having something called a "harvest festival" on October 31st so their members could avoid traditional Halloween activities. Somehow pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples and wearing costumes on October 31st were "safe" when done in a church, but evil when done in the neighborhood.
We tried to obey the church's ideals about Halloween, but somehow my husband and I couldn't see fit to rob our children of the fun...so we would get them cute costumes and let them trick-or-treat at a few homes of people we knew. We were chastised by some of our Christian friends for even doing this much, so we were careful how much homage we paid to this pagan holiday.
Fast forward a few years and I've realized a few things. When I left the church, I my eyes were opened to the hypocrisy; how we would label certain traditions as evil, then take those same traditions, "clean them up" and make them our own.; instead of Halloween, we'll call it a "harvest festival", but it's more or less the same thing.
Trust me, I've been a good charismatic, and I understand about demonic spirits and all that jazz. I've studied all the arguments against this celebration. Yes, Halloween may have it's roots in some pagan ritual from eons ago. However, in my world, Halloween as it is practiced in the US is no more a pagan holiday than Christmas or Easter. All three have pagan traditions incorporated into them, but the holidays are simply what we make of them.
Halloween is a great opportunity to be 'missional', to get to know your neighbors, be a part of your community. Talk to the people who come to your door, learn who they are. Pass out candy with a smile, so the world can see we Christians don't think ourselves too good for this simple and fun tradition. When we thumb our noses at what the rest of the world does, we make enemies instead of friends.
I have found that with a few common-sense boundaries, our children can experience the this event safely. In my house there are no bloody or gory costumes. My children don't trick-or-treat unaccompanied. We check their candy.
We also gather with friends in the neighborhood, we often eat together and share food with our friends and neighbors. We talk with people in our community we might not yet know.
Instead of trying to take this holiday out of the world, we simply use our heads, for God gave us brains, and continue to be in the world.
Our pagan friends will celebrate Samhain this night; we will be celebrating food, community, and in the end, Love.
Please visit my fellow synchrobloggers. I will update post links as they become available.
Phil Wyman - The Christians and the Pagans Meet for Samhain
Lainie Petersen - Our Own Private Zombie: Death and the Spirit of Fear
Julie Clawson - Trappings of a World in Which we Do Not Believe
John Morehead - Rethinking Evangelical Postures on Halloween
Sonja Andrews - Vampire Protection
Adam Gonnereman - What's So Bad About Halloween?
Reba Baskett - Halloween....why all the madness?
Steve Hayes - Halloween Synchroblog
KW Leslie - The Christian Harvest Festival
John Smulo - Hallmark Halloween
Mike Bursell - Hallowe'en
Sam Norton - Do Not Be Afraid
Steve Hollinghurst - Removing Christendom from Halloween
David Fisher - Vampires or Leeches
Sally Coleman - Encountering hallow-tide Creatively
Kay - Halloween: Four Perspectives
Johnny Beloved - Apples and Razorblades
Alan Knox - Fall Festivals and Scary Masks
Dan Allen - Why Christians don't like Zombies
Paul Walker - Peering Through the Negatives of Mission
Sea Raven - The Season of Samhain
Lew A - Halloween: My experiences
Timothy Victor - Appropriating Halloween and Creating Liminal Times
Nic Paton - Making Space for Halloween
A few additions:
Barb - The Heart of a Child
Bryan Riley - Bloated Body Parts
Lainie Petersen - Our Own Private Zombie: Death and the Spirit of Fear
Julie Clawson - Trappings of a World in Which we Do Not Believe
John Morehead - Rethinking Evangelical Postures on Halloween
Sonja Andrews - Vampire Protection
Adam Gonnereman - What's So Bad About Halloween?
Reba Baskett - Halloween....why all the madness?
Steve Hayes - Halloween Synchroblog
KW Leslie - The Christian Harvest Festival
John Smulo - Hallmark Halloween
Mike Bursell - Hallowe'en
Sam Norton - Do Not Be Afraid
Steve Hollinghurst - Removing Christendom from Halloween
David Fisher - Vampires or Leeches
Sally Coleman - Encountering hallow-tide Creatively
Kay - Halloween: Four Perspectives
Johnny Beloved - Apples and Razorblades
Alan Knox - Fall Festivals and Scary Masks
Dan Allen - Why Christians don't like Zombies
Paul Walker - Peering Through the Negatives of Mission
Sea Raven - The Season of Samhain
Lew A - Halloween: My experiences
Timothy Victor - Appropriating Halloween and Creating Liminal Times
Nic Paton - Making Space for Halloween
A few additions:
Barb - The Heart of a Child
Bryan Riley - Bloated Body Parts
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