Every year in early October, Halloween decorations, costumes, and props begin to fill the entrance ways and isles of malls, departments stores, and even grocery stores. Advertisements for haunted houses, costume parties, and other events begin 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 a time to have some harmless fun with friends? The debate rages on.

Halloween is celebrated on the evening of October 31st. Many people love Halloween time and enjoy dressing up as their favorite character, taking their kids trick-or-treating, eating candy, and going to costume parties and think it is just clean fun. However, other people think of Halloween as an wicked ritual based on satanic practices and should be avoided at all costs. This brings up an interesting debate with many passionate and heated arguments on each side of the issue.

Clean Fun

If you are like many people, you have fond memories of Halloween as you were growing up. You remember choosing the costume of your favorite super hero or your mother making a scary ghost outfit made of a white sheet with some holes cut out for the eyes. With a plastic jack-o-lantern or paper sack, you journeyed about the neighborhood with your friends going door to door quoting the well known phrase "trick or treat". You were excited to see what kind of candy or other treat you would get. Sometimes you would eat some of the candy as you wandered through the neighborhood even though your parents told you to save it until you got home where they could ration your consumption (as they rifled 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 satanic rituals and witchcraft and any participation or celebration in Halloween festivities is condoning satanism, witchcraft, and other evil traditions.

Conflicting Beliefs

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

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