Should the Observance Date of Halloween Be Changed?
A Brief History
Halloween is the night before All Saint’s Day or All Hallow’s Day and was aptly called Hallow E’en (hallow evening). In Celtic Ireland during the 5th century BC summer officially ended on October 31. It is also celebrated as the eve of the new year on the Gregorian calendar and many pagan religions celebrate it as such, Wiccan being one such religion. In the pagan cultures Halloween is referred to as Samhain (sow-en).
It is the one night of the year believed to be when the spirits of the dead could come to earth and join the spirits of the living. People wore ghoulish costumes as a way to trick the evil spirits and be safe from them.
Halloween Today
However, Halloween today is not celebrated for this anymore but is often celebrated as an autumn festival with costumes and pumpkins being the only things relating to the origins of Halloween. Games, parties, apple-bobbing and corn mazes have become abundant in the activities that many people do on this night. And yet, as fun as this holiday is without the pressures of gift-giving, large family gatherings or cooking a massive amount of food it is often not celebrated in certain religious circles because of its pagan origins or it “ghoulish” activities and customs.
The Problems with the 31st
Since Halloween is always on the 31st the actual day of the week changes from year to year and this can provide some confusion and inconvenience as to when trick-or-treating or festivities are actually going to take place.
Also, when Halloween takes place on a weeknight it causes pressures on children and parents alike to get off from work or school, rush home to do homework and eat supper and get dressed in costumes in time to go out trick-or-treating or to a community event or party. Then, parents and children have to rush home in order to get to bed at a deent time for school. Childless people will also feel the crunch if they like to engage in activities or have volunteered to help out at an activity.
With more two-wage earners and single-parent families there is not always an adult at home all day to help children get ready for Halloween. Costumes have to be made during whatever spare time a parent can muster, which is often not a lot.
For a holiday that is supposed to be all about the children, it is not always child-friendly when it takes place on a weeknight.
So, what would happen if we changed the date of Halloween from that of October 31st to the last Saturday of the month?
The Benefits
Changing the date would have all benefits and no disadvantages. It would make it safer and more parents could accompany their children to the festivities. There would be more daylight because Halloween would fall during the daylight saving time the majority of the time. There is less-work related traffic on Saturdays as well. This change would also make it more of a family day and giving parents more time to participate in activities.
Moving the holiday would also take away some of the religious/pagan connotations with it (it would no longer be associated with All Saints Day) and perhaps encourage more participation at community events or allow for more opportunities to sponsor alternate events for communities not wanting to promote trick-or-treating.
A weekday would allow for better and more community festivities to occur because events could be held all day and there would be more community partcipation. Events could go on throughout the day and then end with traditional trick-or-treating in the twilight hours.
An easy change?
Currently there is no state or federal laws establishing the date of Halloween. Therefore no laws would need to be amended or passed to initiate a change. Changing Halloween’s date could start off as a grassroots campaign. It could start within city or county councils or even classrooms and blossom from there. Creating a grassroots campaign within a classroom would be a wonderful opportunity for children to have a political voice on a topic that they can identify with. Those of the Wiccan or pagan religions can still celebrate their New Year on the 31st without their traditions getting tied up with the festivities of what Halloween has become today.
Conclusion
Many holidays have changed over the years and there is abseloutely nothing holding us to the observance of Halloween on October 31st. Moving it would be a task in which the benefits greatly outwigh the conseqences or the effort to do so.
