For many people young and old, Halloween is a magical if not scary time of the year, one that brings back lots of memories.
My most prevalent memory of Halloween was when I was a freshman in college and my older brother Jay took me to see the movie Halloween. It scared the daylights out of me and caused him to hysterically laugh each time I screamed or jumped in my seat out of fear.
Then of course, I have many memories of my son Jonathan as a small child in his Halloween costumes each year. Whether he was Captain Hook, King Arthur, or a shark, he, like most children, was delighted with the whole celebration.
What is the origin of Halloween and how did it get to be such a big deal? And where do ghosts, black cats, and witches fit in?
Halloween dates back over 2,000 years ago to a Celtic festival called Samhain. It was celebrated on the final day of the Celtic calendar, October 31st each year and was viewed as a time when the living and dead would interact with one another. People would light bonfires, dress in costumes and wear masks hoping the spirits would think they too were spirits and leave them alone.
In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III chose November 1 to honor every saint. All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain and the evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween.
Ghosts are considered to be souls of the dead, a ghoul is a creature that supposedly eats stolen corpses and a goblin is a mischievous sprite or elf. As for the fear of black cats, it dates back to the Middle Ages when people believed witches could turn themselves into black cats in order to disguise themselves.
Today as we consider studies like those done by Dr. Gary Schwartz at the University of Arizona who says, “University-based scientific research has now definitively demonstrated that life continues after bodily death”, combined with Dr. Christopher Kerr’s research about hospice patients seeing visions of their deceased loved ones as they approach death, to countless studies about Near Death Experiences (NDE) and we realize we’re able to validate what we’ve intuitively known all along, that spirits do exist.
While religions and cultures have used the concept of evil spirits to control the masses throughout time and the entertainment and publishing industries have used evil spirits to sell movies and books, it’s important to remember ALL spirits are limitless beings of pure love.
So, dress up in whatever costume suits you. Bob for apples, eat all the candy your stomach can hold and remember while you’re celebrating Halloween, that your deceased loved ones are always around you supporting and loving you. And there’s nothing scary about that!