After he moved from the West to the Arab world... Is Halloween a pagan holiday?

CALIFORNIA

- Homes and shops are filled with figurines of ghosts, monsters, mummies, tombstones on the floor, spiders' houses, and a hollow, peeled pumpkin carved into the shape of an evil face amidst orange and purple lights to complete the awe-inspiring atmosphere.

Girls dressed as Disney princesses walk among superheroes, superheroes, fictitious and satanic characters, all holding a bowl of Halloween candy;

And they give the neighbors a choice - when they knock on their doors - between pranks or sweets.

This is the case of Halloween in the West, some of which has moved to the Arab world, and in light of globalization and the exchange of cultures and the spread of international schools in the Arab countries, the celebration that takes place on the last day of October has spread until those who are not allowed to have their children present their reasons sometimes to the community and always to their children .

California house decorated in preparation for Halloween (Al Jazeera)

Is Halloween a pagan holiday?

According to the Britannica encyclopedia, Halloween began as a pagan festival pronounced as “Sahween” and was celebrated by the Celtic peoples in Ireland and ancient Britain on the first day of November in our current calendar, and they considered it the beginning of the new year, the beginning of winter and the season of The darkness, for their year was divided into two seasons of light and darkness.

At this time, the land contracts are renewed and the herds return from the pastures.

As it was reported, these Celts believed that there was a barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead and that it would disappear or almost on the eve of “Sahuen” i.e. on October 31, so the souls of those who departed in the ending year are stuck and do not leave to the other world except on that night, as it comes The departed souls visit their families, so they put empty chairs around the tables and left the doors of the houses open.

As for the evil spirits, they set fires on the tops of the hills to expel them, and they wore masks so that they would not be recognized.

Because of the coming of spirits, this is the best period to go to the priests for future news of health, marriage, and death.

Then the Romans invaded those regions and brought their own celebration of the memory of the dead and the goddess of the harvest Pomona, and this combination cemented the association of spirits, ghosts and the dead with masquerade clothes and decorating fruits.

The manifestations of the celebration of Halloween in front of homes in America (Al-Jazeera)

Is Halloween a Christian religious holiday?

In the seventh century AD, Pope Boniface IV established All Saints Day on May 13, and a century later it was moved to November 1, perhaps in an attempt to replace the pagan celebration with a Christian religious celebration, which became a holy celebration that lasted 3 days.

The first is All Hallows' Eve on October 31, the second is All Hallows' Day and the third is All Souls' Day, hence the name All Hallows Eve, which mutated into Halloween.

Halloween delegations to America

The first American colonists prohibited Halloween in the 19th century, but with the influx of immigration from Ireland, costumes, rituals, and celebrations in general also flocked.

And when the Celts left food for the evil spirits to leave, some saw wearing scary masks and demanding food as well, then the young people started carrying the flag and then the idea of ​​threatening those who refused to give them entered.

In the thirties of the last century (1930), with the tight conditions at the time of the Great Depression, pranks and vandalism increased, which sometimes reached the point of violence, and Halloween turned into a dangerous holiday, and some cities considered banning it.

A quarter of the candy sold in America is Halloween time (the island)

Lisa Morton - in her book "Trick Or Treat: A History Of Halloween" - says that people united themselves in their own efforts to keep the little ones out of trouble, so children and young people roamed house by house, and "the first house might give clothes as a sheet." White to become a ghost, or black smoke to paint the children's faces. The next house might give sweets, and the other maybe arranged the basement (the basement) to be a place to search for sweets or something else. From here, the children began to dress up and knock on house and house to ask for sweets."

Thus, we see how religious ideas merged with other pagan cultures and updates until the celebration reached what it is today of confusion. Some Christians celebrate Halloween because of its religious origin, and some reject it because of its pagan origin, even if it wears the mantle of the Christian religion, but the majority of those who celebrate it today are Christians, Muslims, or Jews or others, do not see it as a religious or pagan meaning, rather it is just fancy clothes, sweets, parties and horror movies that they may not stand behind.

Despite the different origins, the mixing of cultures and beliefs, and the changes of circumstances, Halloween has always been associated with the dead, the departed spirits, and the sharing of food, to the extent that the celebration rituals over the centuries have become one and the same.

The transformation of the rituals and conditions of celebration from a ban to an obsession;

He points out that he will not settle for what he is today, especially after he started in the Arab countries, so will the voice of his resistance rise or will he take steps that distance him from what contradicts the Islamic faith?

Will it continue in the West with the same force, especially as the debate about the value of celebrating it is increasing, while some parents refuse to impose it on their children in schools.