In the nineteenth century, cultural anthropologist Sir James Frazer studied the practices of the Northern Celtic people on Hallowmas (a term that has come to describe the three day period of October 31st or Halloween, November 1st or All Saints’ Day, and November 2nd or All Souls’ Day). He asserted that the traditions of Hallowmas were rooted in Samhain, and he claimed that the ancient pagan festival had been a day to honor the dead. Many cultural anthropologists after Frazer have repeated and exaggerated this claim ever since, and Protestant Fundamentalists have gone to extreme lengths based on these false studies and myths to distort and demonize Halloween.
Many Orthodox Christians are no better than these Protestant Fundamentalists. Always looking for scapegoats to ease their fears or calm their confusion, Orthodox extremists have more in common with Protestant Fundamentalists than with traditional Orthodoxy. Christians have demonized Halloween, mainly through the influence of Protestant Fundamentalists, and changed a day that was once dedicated in the West to all Christian saints and departed loved ones (with many healthy folk traditions as is common in all cultures) into a day of demons. After all, this is how Fundamentalist Protestants regard the saints of the Church, especially those of the Catholic Church.
In the video below are only a few of the many many myths being spread by anti-history demonizing Fundamentalists, which supports many things I have previously written about on the subject. The video covers the following myths:
Myth #1: Samhain - The Lord God of Death
Myth #2: Druids practiced Human Sacrifice
Myth #3: Halloween can be traced back to Samhain
Myth #4: Druid priests dressed in black
Myth #5: Black cats were considered to be reincarnated beings with the ability to divine their future.
Myth #6: Pagan Celtic origin of "Treat or Treating"