On the Friday before Halloween, the discussion during our fellowship focused on this peculiar celebration:

• All Saints' Day
• Halloween's origins to its development into a major American holiday
• The response Christians should have to Halloween and the occult

Initially, many expressed their view of Halloween as a harmless, enjoyable evening during which costumed youngsters travel from door to door in search of free sugary treats. Yet, in the course of our discussion, many in the group came to unsettling realizations about this annual fall celebration.

Origins of Halloween

Historically speaking, Halloween is inseparable from All Saints' Day, a feast celebrated by Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans that is a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics in the United States. "All Hallow's Eve" is the day that precedes the Christian feast to honor all the holy ones, or the all "hallowed" of God.

Using the same logic of early Christians who chose to celebrate Jesus' birth on December 25th as a way to countervail Roman winter solstice festivals, in 603, Pope Boniface VI celebrated the first of what we now call All Saints' Day on May 13, a popular pagan holiday, the Feast of the Lemures.

All Saints' Day vs. Ireland's Samhain

This was a Christian direct attack on long-practiced European pagan traditions. When Gregory IV changed the date of All Saints' Day to November 1st, it directly conflicted with the Irish celebration of Samhain, a major occult celebration often accompanied by mischevous activity.

Although Samhain continued to influence Ireland and the UK, soon the Christian Holy Day became a preeminent fall-time celebration throughout all of Christendom and this remained the case for many centuries. But is All Saints' Day still an significant event for modern Christians? It seems Halloween, now a major American holiday that ranks among some of our most commercialized celebrations, almost completely overshadows November 1st.

Halloween in the 1930s and 1940s America

A Catholic priest who joined us for tonight's fellowship reported that during the years leading up to the Second World War, October 31st came and went with little to no celebrations. No one decorated their homes or "trick or treated." It was, however, a favorite day among teenage boys for soaping their neighbors' windows or ringing doorbells then running away before the door was answered.

Outwardly, American society in this time period did not embody many egregious examples of evil.

Catholic Bishops Twist Hollywood's Arm to Transform Culture

In this era, a number of Catholic Bishops wielded significant power in Hollywood, and would threaten that the nation's Catholics would boycott any motion picture that did not meet a certain moral standard. In what is unthinkable by contemporary standards, the Church guided the Entertainment Industry to the extent that producers would not even show a couple kissing on-screen for longer than the Bishops would allow.

It was not until Gone With The Wind that Hollywood dared broach the boundaries the Bishops laid down. Though it may seem insignificant, minimizing society's exposure to sexual, violent and otherwise malevolent images and themes reinforced Christian ideals for a number of generations.

1950s Halloween in America

It was out of this culture that a nationwide tradition now known as Halloween was born. Homeowners would invite window-soaping teens over for various sweet treats in hopes that they might minimize the number of "tricks" on October 31st with this kind gesture.

By the 1950s, this theme of tricks and treats developed to the extent that a child could dress in costume, popular choices included cute-looking witches, goblins or ghouls, and their neighbors would award them with candy as they passed from house to house. Slowly, American society grew increasingly secular and Halloween became increasingly commercialized and its evil undertones gained widespread popularity.

Dangers of the Occult

Our discussion then turned to the fact that our society and many Christians do not realize the real danger the in the occult. Wicca, Ouija boards and horoscopes often pique the interest of many, though are generally seen as innocent or fun. To alert our fellowship of the clear and present danger that evil presents to modern society, one of our group shared an account of a grief-stricken policemen he knew who discovered human bodies that had been sacrificed on satanic altars one Halloween night.

Witch Hunts?

The occult did not enjoy such a hidden, unencumbered presence in Judeo-Christian cultures of old. Throughout Torah, God warns Israel of witches and demands the eradicate of individuals who practice of spells and divination. Throughout medieval Christian Europe, and even in early years of America, witches were burned at the stake to uphold the purity of a nation and discourage future practitioners of magic.

It was universally affirmed that the Salem witch trials were neither examples of juridical justice nor effective ways to cleanse society of the occult.

Final Thoughts

At this point, the following questions emerged:

• How urgent is the need to eliminate witchcraft and divination from our nation and what degree of force can be used in this removal?
• Should Christians boycott Harry Potter and keep it from their children?
• Should we push to remove horoscopes from the press?
• Should Christians push that horror movies be universally banned?
• To what extent does syncretism (mixing Christianity with pagan practices) exist in American Christianity?

While time did not permit us to discuss these questions deeply, tonight's discussion awakened many to the presence of evil and the occult in Halloween and modern society. Almost everyone asserted that Christians can and should reform society, and a few individuals even recommitted to fighting the evil they encounter on a day-to-day basis more credibly.

Closing Prayer

We closed with a heartfelt prayer that we might be led by the light of Christ to be beacons of hope amidst the darkness, reforming our culture for the sake of His Kingdom. Throughout our social hour (sometimes lasting until after midnight) this framed many of our conversations.