By Luke Luedy

A silent gloom fills the air. 

Dead leaves crunch under your feet. Discarded, forgotten candy wrappers blow listlessly in the wind. The cold bites and nips at your shivering skin. 

Corn stalks bend and writhe towards the black sky, the pale moonlight illuminating softly from them. Pumpkins with an eerie orange glow grimace and grin at you. Overgrown weeds obscure and shroud the dim way ahead. 

A rustle behind you. Leaves in the wind? A deer in the bushes? 

Or perhaps something else. Something sinister, beyond this world, unknown. Unnoticed by most, only visible during this mystical and supernatural night: Halloween. 

Not exactly the definition of religious, is it? 

One could easily mistake Halloween, especially the holiday’s iteration in modern times, as being completely removed from anything remotely religious. 

But believe it or not, Halloween actually has prominent connections to Christianity. Some are good. Christianity tends to distance itself from others. 

This article will explain Halloween’s Christian origins, how the holiday is celebrated today, and Halloween’s overall significance. 

All-Hallows-Eve? Don’t You mean Halloween? 

No, actually! 

Ever since the eighth century, many individuals referred to Halloween as its older title: All-Hallows-Eve. 

Europeans most widely celebrated All-Hallows-Eve. The holiday was, and still is, a precursor to All Saints Day, which occurs on November 1^st. All Saints Day is another Christian holiday where people celebrate all the saints in the religion. The word “hallow” was an archaic form of the word “saint”, hence the name All-Hallows-Eve. 

But what exactly did people do on All-Hallows-Eve? Surprisingly, even over a millennia ago, Europeans performed similar rites and celebrations to ones we do during Halloween today. 

In England during All-Hallows-Eve, it was common for townspeople to go door-to-door, begging for fruit or “soul cakes.” According to the Catholic Education Resource Center, these ancient pastries were a “form of shortbread.” The beggars would, in return for food, promise to pray for the deceased of those in the generous household. 

Clearly, one can see that this door-to-door begging is an early version of trick-or-treating. 

Similarly, dressing up in costumes, more often than not scary ones, have its roots in Christian-European culture.  

Young children from Ireland and Scotland helped to bring this about. On All-Hallows-Eve, these children would dress up as priests or demonic figures and prowl about town, frightening the locals. More generally throughout Europe, townspeople would dress up as patron saints.  

Popular Halloween iconography also shares a similar religious origin. The jack o’ lantern, a carved face into a pumpkin with a candle within, is perhaps one of the most popular symbols of the holiday. 

A Christian legend from Ireland is widely considered by many to be the source of the jack o’ lantern. The Catholic Education Resource Center also provides the source for this legend. According to its website, a greedy man named Jack refused to enter Heaven, but was also too smart to be sent to Hell. Jack was then doomed to wander the earth for all of time, with nothing but a lighted pumpkin to guide the way.  

Once again, another symbol of Halloween has its origins in Christian mythology.  

Undoubtedly, these examples showcase the monumental impact Christianity had on Halloween. 

Halloween Today 

But today, Christianity’s influence on the holiday is less present. We now simply put on costumes just because, and carve into pumpkins simply due to the time of year.  

Obviously, however, many places around the world still view Halloween in a religious light. The Day of the Dead, a Mexican holiday usually celebrated on November 1^st, also shares similar customs to Halloween. However, an underlying theme of the holiday is paying homage to deceased relatives, thus carrying religious undertones.  

On the other hand, others refuse to associate with Halloween. The holiday has become so diluted and removed from its Christian origins that it could be seen as better not to celebrate it at all. 

Catholic schools especially fall under this category. They could view the showcase of the occult and the demonic during Halloween as sacrilegious. Many Catholic schools, as a result, hold Fall Festivals in lieu of Halloween. Interestingly, though La Roche is a university with Catholic roots, it still recognizes Halloween as an official holiday, judging by its event calendar. 

The Bigger Picture 

Regardless, even centuries after its founding, many across the world celebrate Halloween, no matter what form the holiday takes. 

And religious or not, Halloween speaks to a deeper part of the human soul: to celebrate. 

One could see the holiday’s placement on October 31^st, nearing the end of the year, as no mere coincidence. With winter around the corner, the Earth slows and stalls. Crops wither and wilt. Animals begin to hibernate. The weather becomes colder.  

Yet despite this, we persist on. And not only persist, but celebrate. Whether that be for saints or for lost loved ones. 

Adopting a positive mindset in the worst of times can certainly help. For though things may appear bleak and hopeless, we can only get through them by forging ahead.  

To put on a smile as wide and toothy as the one we just carved into a pumpkin.