What do Halloween, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day have in common? Halloween, or Hallowe’en, is a contraction of All Hallows’ Eve, also known as All Saints’ Eve. It is celebrated on October 31st. This celebration is observed in a number of countries on the eve of the Western Christian celebration of All Hallows’ Day or All Saints’ Day, which is celebrated on November 1st, and followed by All Souls’ Day—Dia de los Muertos on November 2nd. All these celebrations have in common to remember the spirits or souls of those who have died.
How we choose to celebrate the dead is of course personal, but let’s take a look at the history these different traditions and the effect they have on our children.
All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day
All Saints Day is about thanking God for the lives and deaths of saints.
All Souls’ Day is the commemoration of all the souls who have died. Typically, observing Christians remember deceased relatives on that day. Christian religious customs include going to church and lighting candles on the graves of the dead. The celebration of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those in heaven, and the living.
Halloween
Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Celts believed that on the night before their new year (November 1st), the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. They believed that on the night of October 31 the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. People would wear costumes and gather to light bonfires, offer sacrifices and pay homage to the deceased (1). Poor people would visit the houses of wealthier families and receive pastries called soul cakes in exchange for a promise to pray for the souls of the homeowners’ dead relatives (2).
Trick-or-treating eventually became a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. Children visit houses in their neighborhood threatening the homeowners with trick or prank unless they give the kids a small treat.
Food for the mind
Death remains a mysterious thing and for most of us the unknown is scary. This is even more true for our children. What is left for our minds to perceive after the souls have left the body are dead body parts, skeletons, ghosts, or gravestones. This is why people ‘decorate’ their front yards with these. However, for children this can be terrifying.
Therefore, we really need to put some thought into giving our children the full picture. Instead of focusing only on the parts of us that die, we should not miss out on celebrating the spirits, the part of us that never dies.
Food for the body
Trick-or-treating has become a the pinnacle of candy overload and a very detrimental thing for our children’s health! Today, Americans spend billion of dollars annually on Halloween candy (3). A new survey by the National Confectioners Association shows that up to 77 percent of Americans are likely to purchase candy to participate in traditional Halloween activities every year (4).
We seriously need to pause here for a minute and ask ourselves: Is this really what we want to pass on to our children during this period of celebrating the dead – dressing up in scary costumes and collecting an excessive amount of candy that will make them sick? How did we drift so far away from the origins of this holiday?
And the story does not end here. It is actually only the beginning! Sugar is indeed very addictive. And once it is in our bodies, it alters our gut flora by feeding the ‘bad’ bacteria (see The Continuum of Life). These bacteria then intoxicate the body with their secretions and send signals to our brains resulting in cravings for more sugar. Now, we have a physical addiction!
Fact is, children are not born with huge cravings for excess sugar. We condition them this way. Their first desire for anything comes from curiosity. We feed it to their minds before we feed it to their bodies.
That means, we have a very important choice to make here, one that will have quite an impact on our children’s health! So, please, parents, choose wisely!
For ideas on how to help your child stay well during this season, check out my previous blog How to avoid the fall… Halloween and flu season always fall together.
(1) https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-halloween
(2) https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/history-of-trick-or-treating
(3) https://www.vox.com/2016/10/29/13408370/halloween-candy-market-obesity
(4) https://www.candyusa.com/three-quarters-americans-celebrate-halloween-candy/
