Reclaiming All Hallow's Eve
Opinion
The increasing number of households decorating their front yards with all things ghoulish and the hordes of children dressing up and roaming the streets in search of lollies on Halloween is literally quite frightening.
Once a tradition scoffed at by many Australians as simply another sign of American TV brainwashing our children, these days many Aussie parents are just as interested as their kids in trick-or-treating and putting out carved pumpkins and spider webs.
On a recent trip to Sydney to visit family I couldn’t believe how many homes already had scary stuff on show, even though Halloween was still more than two weeks away.
The local shopping strip was promoting its Halloween festival with banners and there were costumes aplenty on sale, even for babies just a few months old. The commercial aspect of the occasion is definitely alive and well.
But as my daughter tried to explain to me after her four-month-old daughter was given a very cute pumpkin costume, it’s also a great way of being part of the community and getting children and families in the area together.
As a Halloween ‘scrooge’ (my husband and I hide when we hear kids come trick-or-treating), I had to accept that in a world where kids no longer play out on the streets with their neighbours until all hours like we did, then perhaps the Halloween fad is not such a bad thing.
Bringing older or lonely people into contact with youngsters is another bonus, as long as the kids don’t scare them!
But her comments also made me think about the origins of Halloween from a Christian perspective.
According to an article in Vatican News, while some people have connected Halloween to earlier pagan celebrations of the new year, it actually has significant Catholic roots.
The name itself comes from All Hallow’s Eve – that is, the Vigil of All Saints’ Day, when Catholics remember those who have gone before us to enter our heavenly home. Immediately afterwards, on November 2, the Church commemorates all the faithful departed and prays for them.
While images of ghosts and ghoulish faces can be a distraction from the sacredness of All Saints and All Souls Day, perhaps the growing popularity of Halloween can be an opportunity for our secularised society to focus on the deeper meaning of life and death.
In many cultures, death is not something hidden away but very much a part of their everyday life. For example, I remember visiting New Caledonia and being surprised to see graves in the front yard of people’s homes. I was told families wanted to be able to remember their loved ones and honour them every day.
In western society, we are not always good at dealing with death. We find it hard to talk about someone dying, and in some instances a burial or cremation is done ‘behind the scenes’ rather than as a central part of the mourning process. And for children who aren’t exposed to any sort of religious beliefs and rituals, there could be a tendency for parents to avoid the topic of death.
Perhaps it’s time the Church reclaimed Halloween and used it as a time to talk about why we shouldn’t be frightened of death, why we celebrate the saints in our midst, and perhaps even talk about those loved ones who have entered eternal life.
I certainly would like my grandchildren to know about their great-grandmother (my mother) who left this world well before they were born but who had such a big impact on her children and grandchildren.
Rather than focus on trick-or-treating (by the way, when do the kids ever choose tricking the residents?), our parishes and schools could offer alternative community-based activities that are still fun but that demonstrate our Catholic faith and beliefs, such as dressing up as saints and raising money for charity.
One thing is for sure, the popularity of Halloween is not waning so we might as well get on the ghost train and reassure the passengers that hope is on the horizon.
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