It’s Halloween 2021, and you’re thinking, “We spend how much on pet costumes?!” Halloween isn’t what it used to be, but that doesn’t mean it’s a warm fuzzy commercialized American holiday either. There are some pitfalls with the dark day. This Sunday we looked at some of the dangers that you might find as the occult can creep into your trick or treating fun.
Part of the challenge of Halloween is getting our arms around exactly what it means. A little history can be helpful. November 1st the ancient Christian festival of All Saints Day. It’s a time to talk about heaven and those faithful whom Jesus has taken to heaven. In two Sundays it will be Saints Triumphant Sunday. We’ll spend some time talking about heaven, what it’s like and the grand reunion that is awaiting us all. If the day before Christmas is Christmas Eve, what is the day before All Saints Day? It would be All Saints Day Eve or All Hallows Eve or… Halloween.
Now there is a whole lot more that goes into Halloween. I’m just going to touch on one tradition – bobbing for apples. If you’ve ever done it, it’s a wet, messy way to have fun at a party. And the kids aren’t even eating candy! It’s just an apple. What doctor isn’t relatively happy about children eating apples? So what’s the downside for bobbing for apples? Going back more than 100 years, bobbing for apples had a superstition attached to it. The names of eligible bachelors were attached or carved into the apples. Ladies would bob for an apple and the name associated with the apple they grabbed with their teeth would be a love interest. Going back a thousand years, bobbing for apples had worship attached to it. Pomona was the Roman goddess of fruitfulness and is one of the few Romans deities that doesn’t have a Greek counterpart. COVID has put an end to the bobbing for apples tradition, but in the years to come you might see it again.
Want to hear more? Watch this week’s Bible study on Halloween 2021.
Please click HERE for the Bible class slides.