We human beings have a need for rituals. We need to find significance in life (or perhaps we need to create significance in life) through ceremonies consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.
Archeologists have found evidence of rituals in cultures dating back as far as we can go. The ancient Egyptians had funeral rituals; the Greeks ritually sacrificed animals to their gods; the Chinese had imperial rituals, and so on.
Despite whatever might change in our culture, this basic need for ritual continues. How we express those rituals changes, but not the need for ritual.
In just a few days, we’ll celebrate Halloween, and two months after that we’ll celebrate Christmas. A few decades ago, Halloween was a relatively minor ritual, and Christmas was a major one. But over these past few decades, there has been some shifting of focus on these two rituals.
Consider these points: From 2007 to 2023, U.S. spending on Halloween has increased by 139%, while spending on Christmas has increased by 2%. The craft store Michaels started selling Halloween merchandise in June this year, where three years ago they started in August. In fact, five years ago, sales of Halloween merchandise on Amazon peaked in the last week of September, but last year it was in mid-August.
In my humble opinion, we’re seeing a diverting of the need for the ritual associated with Christmas to the ritual associated with Halloween. We haven’t lost our need for ritual. Rather, we are seeing a shift in how we fulfill it.
Some might argue that this isn’t a problem. After all, Christmas is a Christian celebration and Halloween is for everyone. But this is a rather naïve way of looking at the situation.
Halloween was first established as Hallow’s Eve, the evening celebration that took place the night before All Saints Day on Nov. 1. In years past, people would dress up as their favorite saint on Hallow’s Eve to usher in the celebration of All Saints Day.
Today Halloween has nothing to do with the saints. It’s a celebration of the occult, the devil, the walking dead, and a variety of lustful characters that go from naughty nurses to sexy school girls. My, how far we have fallen!
Yes, the religious beginnings of Halloween have been completely wiped out by the secular and the demonic. Satan can spike the football in the end zone over Halloween; he’s won the battle.
But what does this have to do with work? After all, UTG at Work (of which I serve as executive director) is an apostolate that looks at faith in the workplace, so why does this matter?
It matters because workplaces all over our great country are decorated with signs and symbols of Halloween, but signs and symbols of Christmas are under attack because they are religious in nature.
In other words, we’re free to openly celebrate the evil that comes with our mutilated understanding of Hallow’s Eve at work, but we’re forbidden to openly celebrate the birth of the Savior of the world who came to deliver us all from the very evil that we celebrate two months earlier at Halloween.
Does this make sense?
Sometimes we must realize that we are the frog in the pot that’s slowly brought to boil. We don’t realize we have a problem until it’s too late.
Deacon Mike Houghton is executive director of UTG at Work, an apostolate that strives to equip the laity with the tools they need to spread the Gospel and live their faith in the workplace. Contact him at [email protected].
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