Halloween’s Surprising Tie to Family History

Tomorrow officially kicks off the decades-strong celebration of Halloween in the United States. Though certainly celebrated elsewhere around the world, none seem to do it with as much widespread enthusiasm. Though mostly celebrated as an opportunity for spooky outings, loud parties, and outdoor adventures, all with a chance to dress up (or down) and consume an otherwise disturbing amount of high fructose corn syrup, there are other ways people celebrate this holiday.

And the origins of Halloween are far more interesting and have to do with celebrating our ancestors, our duties toward them, the gratitude for the sacrifices of others, and all our connection to God. I’ve put together a short video about the origins of Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve, which was only the first of a three-day celebration known as Allhallowtide.

Since the festivities start tomorrow, I thought it would be a great time to share how some are starting to see this as a more religious and even family-centric time to honor those of our families who have gone before us and help create those welding links between generations.

For those interested in some ideas on how to celebrate Allhallowtide at home or with friends, I’ve also generated a short 15 minute mock podcast to go over the history and ideas on what activities you can include.

Both the video and podcast were generated using Google’s AI tool called NotebookLM. For anyone interested in the full details of the research, please contact me here on Malan Family @traek or through Messenger.