Student's belief on Halloween

    With Halloween just a few days away, many people are busy decorating while children are buying their costumes getting ready for their night of collecting candy.

    Halloween is primarily an American holiday, although celebrations like it are celebrated all around the world.

    In the United Kingdom, you can often find bands of children pleading for money and playing pranks on Guy Fawkes Night.

    Children roam the streets carrying lanterns that depict birds and beasts at the Lantern Festival in Taiwan.

    The Day of the Dead in Mexico is a celebration that has crossed the Mexican-U.S. border. Children and adults alike don wooden skull masks called "callacas" and dance in honor of their deceased relatives.

    Unlike many people from around the world, because of my religion, I do not take part in this celebration because of its history.

    Though celebrated as a Christian holiday today, Halloween has origins in pre-christian festivals that propagate false ideas about life after death.

    Most people view this celebration and others like it as harmless fun, but this holiday is undeniably of pegan origin.

    As an example, the Lantern Festival in Taiwan was started when people lit lanterns to attempt to see "celestial spirits" that they believe floated in the sky.

    Halloween aslo called All Hallows' Eve and eve of All Saints' Day has origins that are far from "hallow".

    The actual celebration of Halloween has roots far before Christianity. In a time when Celts inhabited Britain and Ireland, they used a lunar calendar, which divided the year into two distinct seasons, the dark winter month and the light summer months.

    On the night of the full moon closest to November 1, the Celts celebrated their festival of Samhain, meaning "Summer's End."

    This festival symbolized the end of the summer and the beginning of a new year. The Celts believed that as the days shortened, it was necesary to reinvigorate the sun through different rituals and sacrificed.

    The Celts would often set bonfires, which were thought to frighten away evil spirits. They believed to frighten away evil spirits. They believed that on that festive night, the supernatural world was parted and spirits could roam the earth. They believed that the dead would return to their homes, so families would provide food and drink for their "ghostly" visitors.

        Today when children dress as various witches and ghosts and go door-to-door demanding treats or threatening mischief they are, in fact, copying these ancient pagan rituals.

    People also are unwittingly submitting themselves to these ancient rituals by participating in the popular Halloween game of bobbing for apples.

    The Celts believed that a young man or woman would be able to  identify their future spouse by seizing an apple, viewed as products from sacred trees, with only their mouths.

    Can celebrations that have such dark origins be viewed as harmless?

    The Bible condemns the idea of putting a Christian mask on a pagan practice.

        Parents also have a reason for concern for what their children are learning through trick-or-treating.

    On Halloween night children go from house-to-house threatening adults in order to obtain sweets. This can have a long-term negative effect on children.

    "This can foster a selfish and egocentric personality. They learn that by exerting pressure, by demanding with threats, by making others afraid, they can obtain what they want," said a French school inspector with 20 years of experience.

    By letting their children "threaten" for candy, what is a parent teaching their children?

    I persoanlly view Halloween not as harmless fun, but as a pagan holiday that is deeply rooted with spiritism.