Every year in October, Halloween props, decorations, and costumes begin to fill the entrance ways and isles of malls, departments stores, and even grocery stores. Advertisements for haunted houses, themed parties, and other events start popping up all around us. As we are reminded again of the Halloween season, the debate about Halloween festivities starts brewing. Is Halloween an evil ritual based on satanism and witchcraft or is it just a time to have some harmless fun with family and friends? The debate rages on.

Halloween is celebrated every year on the evening of October 31st. Many people love Halloween time and get excited about dressing up as their favorite character, taking their children trick-or-treating, eating sweets, and going to themed parties and think it is just clean fun. However, other people think of Halloween as an wicked tradition based on satanic practices and should be avoided . This brings up an interesting discussion with many heated and passionate arguments on each side of the issue.

Simply Clean Fun

If you are like many people, you have childhood memories of Halloween . You remember choosing the costume of your favorite cartoon super hero or your mother making a cool ghost outfit made of a simple white sheet with some holes cut out for the eyes. With a little plastic jack-o-lantern or paper sack, you frolicked about the neighborhood with your friends going door to door quoting the famous phrase "trick or treat". You couldn't wait to see what kind of candy or treat you would get. Sometimes you would eat some of the candy while you wandered the neighborhood even though your parents told you to save it until you got home where they could ration your consumption (as they picked through some of the "good stuff" for themselves). You remember hayrides, costume parties, and visiting the local make-shift haunted house or haunted woods. You watched Halloween television specials and just had a lot of fun with your friends and have special memories of this scary holiday.

Evil Tradition

While many people find no harm in having fun at Halloween, there are also many that avoid any activity or event that has anything to do with Halloween. Many believe that the origins of Halloween are based on witchcraft and satanic rituals and any participation or celebration in Halloween festivities is condoning satanism, witchcraft, and other evil based traditions.

Conflicting Beliefs

There are many conflicting beliefs on the history of Halloween. One belief is that it originated as a Celtic pagan celebration originally named Samhain in Ireland where Celtic priests (known as Druids) performed rituals by offering sacrifices or crops, animals, and supposedly even humans to appease the gods. This was done to ensure the sun would return after the winter season and the evil spirits would be scared away. Another belief is that much of the information about the origins of Halloween are based on myths, inaccuracies, and other fiction and that no historical evidences link Halloween to witchcraft or satanism.

So, is Halloween an wicked ritual? Is it just clean fun? Is it what we make of it now regardless of it's origins? Should we totally avoid it at all costs? Should we celebrate it as a time of plentiful harvest? What is your opinion? The debate rages on...