Last night at Brew Theology Jax, we talked about the tangled history of Halloween, so if you couldn’t join us, here’s some of that history. I’m writing from a Christian perspective in this post, but remember, all worldviews are welcome at Brew Theology. Let’s keep the conversation going…

Have you ever noticed how Christmas trees feature nowhere in the story of Jesus’ birth? Did you ever wonder what bunnies and eggs have to do with the annual remembrance of Jesus’ resurrection? As it turns out, a lot of the “traditional Christian holidays” are kind of complicated.

As Christianity spread into northern Europe, missionaries sought to replace local folk holidays with Christian feast days. Rather than supplanting the old holidays, however, the Christian and pagan traditions had a way of blurring together with old rituals either taking on new meanings or sticking around because of cultural significance. The Christmas tree? That was the Druids’ contribution. The eggs and bunnies? Fertility symbols from pagan spring festivals. Of course, there’s one holiday that might exhibit this festive blurring better than any other, and it’s coming up next week: Halloween.

Our modern Halloween comes from interactions between early Christians and Druids, the priests of the Celtic tradition. The Celts observed a three-day festival called Samhain (pronounced “Sow-een”) to mark the end of the harvest and the start of winter. During the festival, the Celts prepared for the long winter months by crafting makeshift lanterns and lighting bonfires to ward off the darkness. It was a time of mass sacrifice, and recently deceased spirits were thought to make their way to the underworld during Samhain. Communication with these spirits was believed possible, and other supernatural beings like faeries were thought to have an increased presence as well.

Christian missionaries initially attempted to erase this holiday, but over time, the feasts of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day were moved into the Samhain season as a substitute. These holy days offered a chance to remember the dead without Samhain’s spirits and faeries (or so the Church assumed). Many of the Samhain customs lingered on though. Costumes, lanterns, hospitality toward wandering souls— these traditions continued on the eve of All Saints’ Day, and thus, All Hallows’ Eve (i.e. Halloween) emerged as a holiday unto itself.

Christians often debate whether it’s appropriate to celebrate Halloween. Some cite the pagan roots; others call it demonic; and still others criticize the holiday as just an excuse for gluttony and debauchery. On the other hand, Halloween’s defenders point to themes of light and darkness all over the Bible, and there’s something holy about a community coming together to brace for the winter and remember lost loved ones. Giving out treats has just as much root in Christianity as in Celtic folk tradition (if not more), and the costumes and decorations are intended to mock ghosts and demons rather than glorify them. Admittedly, the “sexy Halloween costume” phenomenon makes me roll my eyes every year, but it’s getting more and more pushback, and while the holiday encourages some gluttony too, how about we monitor our kids’ candy intakes instead of blaming an entire holiday?

I guess it’s pretty obvious I fall into the pro-Halloween camp. The themes may not be explicitly Christian, but giving out treats and lighting lamps against the darkness are great symbols. The costumes give me a chance to revive my theatre kid upbringing, and when else during the year are random neighbors out in the streets talking to each other? The community aspect alone makes this one of my favorite holidays. As for the ghosts and goblins, there’s something liberating about taking a good hard look at the spooky and sinister and being able to laugh it off as fiction. Does the holiday have some tangled origins? Sure, but I challenge you to find any Christian holiday —or any Christian for that matter— that doesn’t.