Halloween, the festival of carved pumpkins, zombies, and witches’ hats, is just around the corner; and it inevitably causes many people, especially parents, to feel confused. What is the right thing to do: celebrate or oppose Halloween celebrations?
 
History of the festival
Among the Celtic peoples of the British Isles, it was customary to celebrate the first day of the month of Samhain on the night of October 31. It was mainly a farming festival that officially marked the beginning of the cold winter months. It was honored by eating one’s fill and enjoying the night around the fire, telling adventurous and subtly frightening stories.
At the time, it was widely believed that incredible wonders occurred on that night. Fairies and spirits invaded the world of the living, playing small tricks or unleashing real threats. At the same time, people believed that the souls of the dead could also return to earth in the form of benevolent and welcome presences that visited the homes of their living relatives and strengthened the unbroken bond that united them. These celebrations greatly fascinated the evangelizers who arrived in the British Isles during the first centuries after Christ, and these customs were reinterpreted in a Christian context: with a few minor theological adjustments, the veneration of the dead served well to illustrate the Christian idea of an inseparable union between the living and the dead. It is no coincidence that, around the middle of the 8th century, Pope Gregory III set November 1 as the date for commemorating all the saints and the following day for all the souls of the dead. Even etymologically, the term “Halloween” is a contraction of “All Hallows’ Eve,” that is, “the eve of All Saints’ Day.”
 
“Jack o’ lantern” and the pumpkin
The typical symbol, the illuminated pumpkin, is also linked to a specific character, “Jack o’ lantern.” The name comes from a legend, very popular in Ireland, that portrays Jack as a liar, a cheat at games, a thief, and a swindler. So much so that even Satan himself wanted to meet him in person one day. Jack took the opportunity to challenge him to a game of dice. Since he cheated, he won, and the man obtained from Satan the prize he had requested: the promise that the devil would never claim his soul for Hell when the man breathed his last.
Confident in this prospect, Jack continued living a dissolute life and died without even the slightest hint of repentance.
The fact that the devil did not want him in Hell, however, certainly did not mean that the gates of Heaven would open to such a hardened sinner. Quite the opposite.
When he discovered that the gates of Heaven were barred to him, Jack thought he would surely find a place in Purgatory, but that was not the case.
Jack’s soul then wanders the earth without peace, carrying a lantern, the famous illuminated pumpkin, rejected by Hell and unable to earn a salvation he had not deserved.
 
How Halloween is celebrated
Halloween falls on October 31 every year and is celebrated mainly in the United States and England, although in recent decades it has also become popular in many other countries, including Italy. During the night between October 31 and November 1, children, and often adults as well, go from house to house dressed as witches, ghosts, vampires, and skeletons for the famous “trick-or-treat” ritual: the residents of the house can escape the pranks only by giving the children candy.
 
Conclusion
We can turn Halloween into an opportunity to rediscover the ancient reasons that gave rise to this tradition, freeing it from its consumerist and commercial dimension and removing the layer of occultism with which it has been covered.
Let us celebrate, then, provided that we are clear that we are celebrating the saints and all the deceased: speakers, schools, and families could make a positive commitment in this regard. Halloween can become an opportunity for deep reflection and, why not, conversion.