Halloween

            Like any other kid, I grew up thinking that Halloween was just another holiday. But this particular one was even better than the rest because of the fun costumes and a bucket full of candy. I believe I stopped trick-or-treating when I was eight or nine. Strangely, I don’t remember the reason that my parents gave to me and my siblings for not taking us out in the neighborhood.

 Since that time it seems to me that Halloween has been over-commercialized encouraging so many people to go over-board with decorations, parties, and costumes. While these things are fine and fun in and of themselves, are these really the kinds of things we need to spending a lot of money on considering our current economy? Look at the costumes people wear nowadays - for girls they are either a cute little princess or something suggestive and degrading, for boys they are either a superhero or disgusting. What has happened to the thought and ingenuity of creating your own costume?

Halloween actually is based off of a Catholic feast day called All Saints Day. The word “Halloween” means “holy evening.” Don’t believe me? Say the Lord’s Prayer… “hallowed be Thy Name.” Back in the day, All Saints was a huge festival-like day for Catholics. The day after this is called All Souls Day in remembrance of all those who have died. It was the custom the night before (the evening of All Saints) for the poor and homeless to go from door to door asking for alms and food in return for prayers for the dead members of that particular household. This is where we get the idea of trick-or-treating from. Unfortunately, other religions mocked this custom and so it eventually evolved into our modern holiday of Halloween.