Having noted a recent post by the leader of the church of Satan, I noticed that everyone started freaking out. The post went something like this. It was a thank you to all Christians allowing devil worship at least one night a year. It didn’t specifically reference Halloween, but we all know what he meant.

So, every body started freaking out and declaring that their children would never trick or treat again and that’s why they stopped them in the first place! Oh sweet Jesus.

Ok, now let’s take a minute and put our brain caps back on and discuss the actual history of the evolution of the commercially popular Halloween that we have today.

Ok, here we go. Halloween is an annual holiday that is celebrated on october 31st. It has roots in an ancient Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian observance of All Hallows’ Eve. What? Christian roots as well?! More modern celebrations include things like trick or treat, costumes, and carving pumpkins and haunted houses. This has become a commercialized culture of celebration of horror and the supernatural, hopefully all in good fun.

Let’s take a closer look at the Celtic roots. This holiday traces all the way back to Samhain which was an ancient Celtic festival that celebrated the end of summer and the harvest and the onset of the new year. Participants used to light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts and spirits. There was no devil worship involved.

Now let’s talk about the Christians. Halloween evolved when the Christian Church designated November 1st as All Saint’s Day way back in the 8th century. So, then the night before became All Hallows’ Eve which then further evolved into the Halloween that we know today. Even Halloween today incorporates some of the original Samhain traditions.

Let’s go further and talk about the Irish and Scottish influence. Actual trick-or-treating that we know today started with Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 19th century and this practice became a more mainstream even by the 20th century.

So, before you go freaking out and stopping kids from collecting candy while wearing a costume, take a step back and realize that Halloween as we know it today, or even in the past, has nothing to do with Satan or the Devil. Last time I checked, Satan himself used to be a fallen angel so there is a religious background there as well.

Having said all that, I will be wearing my costume this year and handing out candy and spreading joy and spookiness to my neighbors and all the kids that come by.

Happy Halloween folks!

Dr. Katz