A Hollow Win

[This was first posted in 2012, reposted every year thereafter.  We’re approaching another Halloween trick or treat fright night when not only children but grownups party in ‘spook-tacular’ costumes.  Live and let live, we now say, since we discovered there is no devil, no demonic spirits, no ghosts to feel threatened by dressing up as imaginary characters of the ‘dark’.  Really, we ought to be more frightened of flesh and blood evil humanity who are the real threats to our safety and our lives. And we ought to be in awe of only one Being to Whom the word “awesome” should be applied and that is no other than the One True God Whose Name is YHWH!—Admin1.]

 

 

Ever wonder about the origin of what has become known as “Halloween,” the night of spooks, witches and devilish creatures?  

 

The short version:

• Dictionary definition . . . Halloween |ˌhaləˈwēn; ˌhälə-; -ōˈēn| (also Hallowe’en) noun
  • the night of October 31, 
  • the eve of All Saints’ Day, 
  • commonly celebrated by children who dress in costume and solicit candy or other treats door-to-door.
• ORIGIN late 18th cent.: contraction of All Hallow Even 
  • (see hallow hallow |ˈhalō|verb [ trans.] honor as holy : the Ganges is hallowed as a sacred, cleansing river | [as adj. ] (hallowed) hallowed ground.• formal make holy; consecrate.• [as adj. ] ( hallowed) greatly revered or respected : in keeping with a hallowed family tradition.noun archaica saint or holy person.ORIGIN Old English hālgian (verb), hālga (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German heiligen, also to holy .
  • even 2 — noun archaic or poetic/literarythe end of the day; evening : bring it to my house this even.

One has to ask: how does a “holy” (hallow) “evening” become the weird ‘anything-but-hallowed’ festivity that it has transformed into in this day and age? How could the “fruit” stray so far from the “root”?  As it is with customs and traditions, someone started something ages ago and its perpetuation changed over centuries because of loose transmission or adaptation to the times. Often, the original practice has absolutely nothing to do with the later significance of the custom or tradition.  

 

The longer version about halloween traces it to  pagan customs celebrating the changing of the seasons, specifically from summer to autumn; [source: http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/origin-of-Halloween.html]:

• “Samhain,” a Celtic-sourced festival in Ireland.  
  • The word “sam” means summer;
  •  and “hain” or “fuin” means end; 
  • or end of summer (beginning of fall)
  •  which in that part of the world is on October 31. Other words are used in other Celtic countries. 

 

• The Roman Autumn festival — Harvest was celebrated by the Romans with a festival dedicated to Pomona, the goddess of the fruits of the tree, especially apples. 
  • The origin of Halloween’s special menus, which usually involve apples (as do many party games), probably dates from this period. 
  • Pomona continued to be celebrated long after the arrival of Christianity in Roman Europe. 
  • So did Samhain in Ireland and it was inevitable that an alternative would be found to push pagan culture and lore into a more ‘acceptable’ Christian event.  

• Sure enough, the 7th century Pope Boniface, attempting to lead his flock away from pagan celebrations and rituals, declared 1st November to be All Saints Day, also known as All Hallows Day.
• The evening before became known as Hallows’ Eve, and from there the origin of Halloween, as a word, is clear. 

The well-meaning Pope Boniface might have succeeded in “christianizing” a pagan festival during the centuries when Vatican wielded political and religious influence over countries in Europe but just look at the world today.  If 14 centuries later, halloween continues to be part of seasonal celebrations so that not only kids are all excited about going trick-or-treating, but also adults who look for any excuse to party in ridiculous costumes, there’s the Pope’s hollow win!

 

People with creative imagination will turn any occasion to suit their particular self-serving interest.  Media and commercial establishments jump at every opportunity to hype up shoppers to buy stuff they don’t need, people want to get a break from the monotony of work routines, what’s so bad about having some fun on fright night. And as for remembering the dearly departed by trekking to cemeteries once a year, it’s a cultural tradition that make the living feel connected to their dead as well as to each other. Ever heard the joke that the cemetery is ‘the place that everyone is dying to go to ‘. . . .?

 

 

 

Some of the fondest memories my three sons have about their childhood is associated with halloween.  I used to spend time preparing their costumes and even presented them one time at their school as “the Boo-men” (to their embarrassment).

 

Yet, when I became seriously evangelical and was warned to stop celebrating this evil and pagan festival, I unquestioningly obeyed.   My agnostic brother called me and my evangelical friends “killjoys” for depriving our kids from having simple fun like all other kids, wondering what’s the big deal?

 

 

Well, that seems like ages ago.  Now that I’ve discovered there is no devil, no ghosts, witches, evil or dead spirits from reading and understanding YHWH’s TORAH, I have changed my mind and my attitude toward all the customs, traditions, belief systems of people, pagan or religious.  Hey, live and let live, most everything we do came from paganism at some point.

 

 

If you know the truth about the One True God, none of these are threatening to your faith, except when you allow them to dominate and control your behavior and your life and in turn you start controlling other people’s behavior and lives.  

 

Here comes the ‘sermon’:  there is only one Power to Whom we should subject ourselves and that is the Creator of humankind, the One Who truly does have power to control our lives if He wanted to but guess what, He’s given His manual for living, it is up for us to control ourselves.  He did not give us free will just to overstep the boundaries He Himself had set.

 

 

We have been given minds to inquire after truth, the ability to study and learn, reasoning and logic to apply in reaching conclusions, so we can make informed decisions. He has made known His revelation to the nations through Israel.  We could expose ourselves to all kinds of influences, deceptions, untruths, man-made teachings, but  if we know TORAH, we cannot possibly be misled.  TORAH is that standard of truth, that ‘ruler’ to measure all “truth claims” by.  We either believe God’s Revelation or not.  And if we believe it, then decide what to do with each TORAH truth we progressively learn. 

 

 

I googled the well known verse used by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his crusade and was surprised at the trick-or-treat type of answer:  “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you mad.”   This is not to make light of a verse attributed to Jesus in John 8:32 Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.   

 

Indeed, both were true for me: first the truth did make me “mad,” that I had spent decades of my life internalizing and teaching to others a whole belief system that turned out to be opposite of TORAH teaching; until I realized that the Jesus of John’s gospel did say it correctly, but you have to distinguish which “truth” to believe because for us at S6K, we KNOW that YHWH’s Truth and no other, is what truly sets you free!