Eve of Hallows' Day= Halloween

Halloween in Disneyland (from StartedbyAMouse)

Two questions:
1. What is a Hallows' Day?
2. And why is a Hallows' Day associated with witchcraft and the devil?

First, a Hallows' Day is what modern Christians, especially Roman Catholics call as the All Saints' Day. Today is All Saints' Day and is on the same date every year.

Now if this is a Christian's observance, then why is the eve of All Saints' Day associated with witchcraft and the devil?

I've heard of many explanations. Even though they are mostly incoherent to each other, they are still convincing in their own ways. Here are some of the explanations that I summarised:

1. Halloween is a hijack of the holy Christian celebration. This is obvious enough because it is just one day before the holy day. Today most people know about Halloween and not All Saints' Day even though Halloween was the concomitant of the All Saints' Day.

2. Halloween is a day when the dead revisits the mortal world. People dress up in their scariest form to ward off the evil spirits.

3. Similar to point 2, this is what's been explained in Wikipedia: "Halloween was perceived as the night during which the division between the world of the living and the otherworld was blurred so that spirits of the dead and inhabitants from the underworld were able to walk free on the earth. It was believed necessary to dress as a spirit or otherworldly creature when venturing outdoors to blend in, and this is where dressing in such a manner for Halloween comes from."

This brings me to my next question. Whose belief is it anyway about the "dead revisiting the mortal world" and how did it come about?

I remember this is pretty similar to the 7th month in the lunar calendar called as the Ghost Month, where spirits from the underworld gain access to our world for a month- roaming our streets, taking lives and the "offerings" that we burn for them.

I remember as a kid, I was always reminded by my grandmother not to wander or drive on the streets in this spooky period.

My grandma still does that even though she knows I am Christian.

That said, if Halloween is neither Christian nor Chinese, then what belief does it thrive on?

Some say it's a Scottish folklore, some Irish, some are unsure if this is a traditional celebration or a religious celebration but the truth of the matter is that no one knows.

I can draw parallels of this with Christmas and the Santa Claus. Nowadays, people associate Christmas with Santa Claus rather than the birth of Christ, whose name makes up nearly 70% of the word "Christmas".

At least the Santa Claus story has an underlying positive message that encourages children to be good or they do not get their presents! But I can't say the same for Halloween.

I don't think there is a problem with dressing up costumes of scary characters. It can be fun and entertaining. Some people earn a living doing that too.

Queue in Covent Garden to get a costume

I do think there is a problem when we are dealing with witchcraft and sorcery clearly in the name of preserving a tradition which we have no knowledge of and what all these would lead to.

This is not only a problem. This is dangerous.