This article was written by William Hamblin and Daniel Peterson for Deseret News. The following is an excerpt.
We are hours away from Halloween night, where, in America at least, tiny vampires, ballerinas, ghouls, superheroes, goblins, ninjas and witches will descend upon us, demanding candy. Halloween launches the holiday season, and children everywhere eagerly anticipate it. Some adults, however, regard the holiday as a glorification of darkness and evil.
The word “Halloween,” or “Hallowe’en,” dates to about 1745. It’s a contraction of “All Hallows’ Eve,” and it denotes the evening before the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day (i.e., “All Saints’ Day”) — a time, in the Catholic calendar, for remembering the dead, particularly saints, martyrs, and departed Christian believers. (It’s akin to the Jewish “Yizkor” prayer and the Hindu period of “Pitru Paksha.”)
Read the full article at deseretnews.com.
