Sunshine,
You walked into my study last week, as you do from time to time. And as always I was happy to take a break from my work and listen to what you had to say. You told me that your classmates all received invitations to a Halloween party but you did not get one and that Miss Peggy (your teacher) said I had sent a message to say you were not to participate in any Halloween celebrations.
I confirmed what you had been told and you understood because we had talked about it a few days before. I had explained to your curious 4-year-old mind what I discovered when I took time to read the history of Halloween. Indeed, you may be too young to understand what I found out…
That Halloween, referred to as the “Quintessentially pagan holiday” dates back some 3,000 years, to the Celtic tribes of northern Europe. There, the year officially ended on October 31st and therefore November 1st was celebrated as the New Year. It was believed that on the night of the 31st of October, spirits of those who had died in the preceding year came in search of the living to inhabit in the New Year. So, people extinguished light in their houses to make it dark and unattractive to these spirits while others dressed in ghoulish costumes and went around the neighbourhood being noisy and destructive in a bid to frighten away those spirits. The fruits and sweets that are distributed during Halloween are offered to entice the dead to stay in the spirit world.
It is said that in those days anyone believed to have been possessed by the disembodied spirits, as well as prisoners, criminals and animals (especially cats) were burnt at the stake as part of a ritual carried out to appease the dead and foretell the future.
The Romans adopted the practice of Halloween and mingled it with some of their own. For instance the bobbing of apples on Halloween stems from a tradition that honoured Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and tress, whose symbol is the apple.
The custom of trick-or-treating is said to have originated from 9th century Europe with a tradition called souling. Then, some people professing the Christian faith believed that the dead were in limbo until sufficient prayers were offered to expedite their passage into heaven. As a result, they went from door to door begging for “Soul cakes” in exchange for prayer on behalf of the dead relatives of the donor.
The Jack-o-lantern may have come from Irish folklore. The tale is told of a notorious trickster called Jack who tricked Satan into climbing a tree and then carved an image of a cross on the tree, thereby trapping the devil. Then, when Jack died he could not go to heaven because of his evil deeds and he was denied access into hell for obvious reasons. Instead, the devil gave Jack a single ember to light his way. Jack placed the ember inside a hallowed-out turnip to keep it glowing. When the Irish immigrants got to America they found out that pumpkins were more plentiful than turnips so they converted to using pumpkins as Jack-o-lanterns.
The colours of Halloween are Black (standing for death and magic) and orange (evoking nature’s harvest time).
But, my daughter, you do not need to understand all these details. It is ok that mummy understands them and explains them to you in a simple way. I told you that Halloween has its roots in practices that are against the word of God. And, as you know, anything that does not honour God is not for a ‘Jesus girl’ like you. I told you if your 12 classmates attended a Halloween party it did not make them bad people, they would still be your friends. Remember they are from different nationalities, different cultures with different orientations. And you must love and respect them as we have taught you to do all people irrespective of their race, social class, physical ability, etc. This is because every human being is created in the image of God and is therefore a person of value.
We pray you learn to be a Daniel, to stand alone, if you must, for the sake of the gospel of Christ. I hope that from Daddy and me you have learnt to bow your knees to the living God alone, not to man or to peer pressure. Somehow, I believe you already have. That is why you did not come to tell me you were the only one not invited to the party with tears in your eyes. No, you were simply informing me of what had taken place that day at school as you usually do.
Sunshine, you are a special child. Only a special child would see the face of God (as you tell me you have on at least two occasions). But then I am not surprised because we pray, don’t we, that when you (and your precious brother) sleep you would be visited by God as the child Samuel had been.
I must say you are a good student of life. You love the time we set aside to do home-school after school-school, you love the afternoons we spend in the pool or at the playground or somewhere more adventurous. When we are able to go to the market you are fascinated by the hustle and bustle of the traders’ world, you enjoy the pushing and tugging to get from one place to the other. And back home you live for our story time and you adore prayer time. When I insist on telling you only one bible story you beg and cajole and fuss until I tell you at least one more. And oh when I spice it up with songs your eyes light up! How you love the things of God! And that keen mind you have inherited from your dad takes in every tiny-winy detail. I dare not miss out or change anything from those stories you know so well for you are quick to correct me if I do.
Sunshine, I always tell you (and your brother) that you are the light of the world, the salt of the earth, a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people….
And you will never celebrate Halloween.
Mummy