What is Halloween?
Reflection week beginning 31
October 2016
Why do we have festivals and
celebrations?
Every celebration we have
is linked to the natural
world around us:
• At Easter we celebrate
new life we can see in
the plants and animals
• In Christianity it is a
celebration of new life
via the Resurrection of
Jesus
Why do we have festivals and
celebrations?
• At Christmas, the darkest
time of the year, we
celebrate light and love
and laughter to try to
banish the dark days –
After Christmas the days
start to get lighter again.
• In Christianity Jesus is
celebrated at Christmas
as ‘the light of the world’
So what about Halloween?
•
•
•
Traditionally, autumn was seen as a
time of death (rather than birth in
the Spring). However, as the trees
and plants die, so they send their
seeds down to earth and have the
potential for new life in the Spring
In mediaeval times, at “Hallow ‘een”,
children would dress up to mock,
tease and belittle death (the ‘trick’
part of the tradition)– because it has
been defeated by the new life we
know is coming (the ‘treat’).
The next day would be All Hallows
Day (All Saints Day), and their dead
relatives would be remembered and
prayed for.
Reflection
• https://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=zty8Ns5B
QtQ&feature=youtu.be
Watch the video clip.
Reflection
Halloween can be a time to
have a party or enjoy
dressing up.
It can also be a time for
quiet reflection for those
who have lost love ones. A
time to remember.
However, it can also be a
time to be grateful for the
fact that after the winter
comes the Spring – with the
promise of new life and
hope for the future