This is Halloween (a repost)
Everybody scream! (Seriously, it might be good for you)
Hello fellow misfits,
If you’ve been following this newsletter for very long, you might’ve picked up that this time of year is pretty meaningful to me.
In the midst of writing a book about the ways our Western culture navigates (or ignores) death, I grew to have a greater appreciation for Halloween, All Saint’s Day, and All Soul’s Day and how they can be important for a death-averse culture such as ours.
But this year is a little strange.
As we have been consumed with moving and adjusting to a new town, a new state, a new church, new schools, and even a new office, I haven’t been able to get my mind around this time of year.
We currently live in the country so, even though the view outside our window is a cemetery, there probably won’t be any kids coming to our house for candy. Most of our Halloween decor is still packed away.
So I’ve decided to repost something I wrote two years ago for Halloween.
As we head into the election (and boy oh boy are we headed there in this swing state), it’s a good reminder to me that evil is present in our world but it doesn’t always come in the forms we think.
You might not agree with everything I write here. I know, I’m changing all the time. And my fingers itch to delete or reword a few things…to maybe make it a little less snarky at points. Even so, I haven’t edited it. I think I stand by most of it still. But if you have some thoughts, I’m happy to hear them in the comments.
On to the repost…
In my childhood home, we celebrated Halloween with gusto. Dressed in homemade costumes (usually sewn by my mother), we took off trick-or-treating into the night (after dark), largely unsupervised.
If you can believe it, I grew up in a conservative Christian home in the 1980s—just after the “poisoned Halloween candy” scare and satanic-panic—and somehow, I missed the fact that many Christians felt that celebrating Halloween wasn’t, well, Christian. When I began writing about death and my own Halloween traditions, I started to understand that when it comes to Halloween—as my Texan grandfather used to say—some Christians are fer and some are agin.
I’ll admit that, in the past, I have been exasperated when Christians decried Halloween. I mean, were they the same people who wanted to ban A Wrinkle in Time because it “teaches occult practice?” I’m less inclined to frustration now because, even if I don’t agree, I can better understand why Halloween doesn’t sit well with some Christians.
I imagine that for some, the fact that Halloween is connected with pagan traditions can be troubling.1 Halloween has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain was celebrated as the end of harvest and the beginning of winter when the world tilted toward death and the veil between worlds (and life and death) was thin. The tradition of going door-to-door bringing or begging food was associated with the appeasing of spirits, who were often portrayed by revelers in masks.2
In this same vein, there is a view that Halloween is a time when people flirt with the occult. Kids dress up as devils, witches, killers from horror movies and other characters often associated with evil. It’s a perfect recipe for fear.
So, let me offer some thoughts.
First of all, the church has known of the pagan roots of Halloween for a very long time. In fact, early Christian missionaries to the British Isles (think 5th or 6th centuries) were instructed by Pope Gregory not to avoid but to convert the local Celtic traditions into Christian traditions. November 1 eventually became All Saint’s Day (a day to remember the saints of the church who have died) and October 31 became All Hallow’s Eve, the night before.
When it comes to the forces of evil, I can’t write about the Christian mystics for a decade and not take evil seriously. I’m inclined to think that some people are more in touch with the places that evil seeps into the world. The mystics, especially my favorite medieval mystics, were pretty clear on the fact that there were evil forces in the world. If those forces are real, I think it’s true that some people feel more sensitive to them. And for some, that sensitivity can manifest itself during the Halloween season.
But let me offer a different way of thinking about these these evil forces. My view is that evil forces are often far less obvious than a kid dressed up as a devil or Harry Potter or a witch. If that is letting evil into our homes (and I don’t think it is…see my costumes below), it’s not likely to do as much damage as some other unChristian ideas.
As one friend pointed out to me while I wondered at the recent growing interest in pagan forms of spirituality (look at the Best Seller titles in your local Barnes and Noble), there are a lot of other ideas that have seeped into American life and, even Christianity, that are way more insidious, dangerous, and unChristian than a Jane Austen Tarot pack from Barnes and Noble.3 See racism and Christian nationalism, among others.
I also see Halloween a little differently. I see it as a time when our culture collectively agrees to take a peek at our mortality. We are a culture that is very death-averse and so Halloween and All Saints’ Day offer a time for Memento Mori, or remembering that we will die. At least, theoretically. I mean, most children dressed up as a Paw Patrol dog, a Storm Trooper (that would be my youngest son), or a blow-up dinosaur, are not thinking about their mortality. They are thinking about all the candy they will shortly be inhaling.
But some of us are trying to approach the idea of death a little more.
In my book Awakened By Death, I talk about a house down the street from us that goes all out for Halloween. This year, they have a skeleton as tall as their roof, a front yard filled with gravestones (or as my five year old calls them “gravystones”), ghouls in the windows, skulls on the fence. That house is the big draw for kids who come trick-or-treating on our street.
Incidentally, we literally live on Elm St (cue 80s horror movies). And we are the street for trick-or-treating in our small town. This year, our neighborhood put in a request for the city to shut down traffic for a few hours on Halloween to avoid any children being hit by cars. Our street is popular. And we only expect more visitors because our street closure made the local tv news (must’ve been a slow night).
During the pandemic, the house owners decided to go with a more muted decor and I heard several children express vocal disappointment. They had come to that house to be scared! And maybe we should let them be scared a little sometimes. They survived a pandemic. A little bit of Halloween gives them a chance to feel a “safe fear.” One neuropsychologist suggests that the increased adrenaline a kid can feel during these kinds of scares actually “intensifies feelings of alertness, energy, and strength.” In a time of deep anxiety and stress, it can actually be good for their sense of self and their ability to face their fears in a safe way. My young daughter was scared of the house down the street when we first moved here. But we walked over there together and talked about it and she was proud of herself afterwards for facing her fear.
So…if Halloween is painful or scary for you. If it feels wrong or invites evil into your thoughts, I get it. Step away. Do not engage. That’s fine. No judgement here.
But for those of us who tend to see it as a child’s holiday, or want to protect our children from facing their fears, I’m just suggesting you consider leaning in a little.
Look, I hate horror movies. I hate the gory/seriel killer/bloody costumes too. But a little scary house here, a ghost or skeleton there, a witch stirring around potion in a large cauldron…it might offer you or your kids a moment to face fears and give some ways for you to talk to your kids about the things that scare them.
Also, I doubt it will hurt anything to say hi to some kids who’ve looked forward to this night for a long time. Compliment their costume and give them a piece of candy. That’s it.
If that doesn’t stir you, think of Halloween as a good night to laugh at death. And maybe a way to remind ourselves that, in the end, death will also die.
Happy Halloween and Memento Mori.
Christiana
Memento Mori and other Amusing Musings:
A throwback Spotify playlist I made when I was writing Awakened By Death.
This album called Dream War by Ella Mine is on my current playlist as I write my novel (I know, I know…I’ve been writing it a long time). The vibe is perfect.
I saw this gem at Michaels yesterday, two days after my wedding anniversary.4 I wish we’d had it when we started our podcast Til Death Do Us Part (which you can check out here or here). New episodes will be forthcoming when Matthew and I can get settled enough to record!
My books:
Mystics and Misfits: Meeting God Through St. Francis and Other Unlikely Saints
Awakened By Death: Life-Giving Lessons from the Mystics
When I say ‘pagan,’ I guess I mean belief systems apart from the major world religions…which could be a lot of things.
This is from Awakened By Death.
I still feel a wariness about those things but I think it might be more productive to see them as an indication that people, even those who have left Christianity, are still deeply hungering for spiritual things.
I did not buy it.