Samhain

Every year, around this time, the crazies come out.  No, I'm not talking about the people dressed as ghosts, witches and pirates, I'm talking about the fervent religious believers out to 'educate' us about the evil nature of Halloween and its festivities.
So, here's my brief rant against these ridiculous ideas.

Without fail, in late October, articles and videos surface that purport to give us the true 'Satanic' origins of Halloween.  'Save your children' they proclaim.  'Stop them from trick-or-treating!'  In various versions, we're told that the holiday is devoted to Satan, designed to convert people to worship the dark lord and that the entire event is a massive 'black Sabbath.'  One recent video making the rounds on the internet wraps up pagans, Satanists and Mormons in the global Halloween plot.  Apparently, they've all been in league on this from the onset.
Often, the person writing the article claims to be an ex high priest or priestess of some satanic church.  They've been saved somewhere along the way and it's now their mission to put a stop to Halloween
These articles would be quite laughable if not for the fact that so many people blindly buy into the 'facts' presented.
Honestly, I wish these people would educate themselves in terms of both history and religion.  The reality of Satanism is that it is a fairly modern creation, gaining most of it's attention in the 1960s with the advent of the official 'Church of Satan' created by showman Anton LaVey.  LaVey was outrageous and basically created anti-versions of Christian rites.  He sprinkled in a bit of witchcraft, upside down crosses and lots of nudity.  It became a fad and a way to rebel against the structured church.  Satanist aren't Mormons, and pagans aren't Satanist.

As for Halloween, the primary root of the celebration is the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-en).  It marked the end of the harvest and the start of the dark half of the year, or winter.
You'll find that many of our modern Halloween traditions have direct links to early Celtic ideas and practices.  From masks to jack o'lanterns it's all there.  I won't go into the full history here though.  Rather, I encourage you to research it and educate yourself.  Maybe it will set an example for all the experts out there who are attempting to educate us.

In the mean time, Happy Halloween!!