A great many children and adults, who have embraced the American tradition, are getting their pumpkins and costumes ready for Halloween. For them, the day of “contact with the world beyond” is just a way to have a bit of fun, to let their imagination run wild and take some photos to remember it by. Many people who have started celebrating Halloween are not actually interested in its roots or pagan symbols. Others say that coming in contact with “the powers of darkness” even in jest, may have dire consequences in the upbringing of children.

On the eve of Halloween, Bulgarian Orthodox church priests sent a message to their congregations to lay emphasis on the pagan roots of Halloween which are at variance with Christianity. They add that to this day Orthodox Christians mark All Saints’ Day at the beginning of summer. Since 609 it was celebrated on the same day in the East and in the West. But in 853, Rome decided to shift it to 1 November, in an attempt to eradicate the deep-rooted pagan traditions in Western Europe, once kept alive by Celtic priests and sorcerers. So, Halloween has come down to our day, and thanks to modern technologies and globalization, it is now a latter-day tradition that has been keeping an entire industry going.

The Bulgarian Orthodox priests call Halloween a “pseudo-feast” and say that it teaches people not to reject demons and to regard death as a masquerade, as a harmless game and a bit of fun. And appeal not to make Halloween part of life in Bulgaria, all the more so, that in this country, 1 November is National Enlighteners’ Day, and many of these enlighteners were ecclesiastics with an educational mission.

Church postulates aside, at school, in their out-of-class work in industrial arts, children dedicate a great deal of time to their Halloween costumes. Together with their parents they go shopping and choose, out of the endless array of costumes, the one they want – witches, demons, fairytale or movie characters. Psychologists are very explicit when it comes to Halloween. In the words of Ass. Prof. Margarita Bakchareva, psychologist at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Institute for Human Studies, if Halloween were to be forbidden, that could harm children’s psyche.

“Any cause for a celebration, for having a good time is welcome. That is why to place any restrictions on Halloween would have a negative effect on the psyche of children. The modern world is changing all the time, and children have a growing interest in the material world, in anything bright and colourful they can touch. Dressing up as fairytale characters and mythological creatures at carnival time poses absolutely no danger and that is something that has been tested by time. On the contrary, celebrating together makes children feel they are part of the community of children. It helps them acquire an ability to plan, to cooperate, to make preparations for something, and last but not least to share their emotions and their joys. Halloween is a feast-day children find very appealing and it is easy to embrace. In fact, we should use it for educational purposes. Any occasion to dress up, to put on a costume of some kind is an opportunity to charge children’s emotional batteries so they may perceive their own selves in a different role and in a different situation. Parents should support their children in their desire for change and creativity. Celebrating Halloween is a healthy thing, especially in an age when the Internet is all powerful and children are finding it hard to distinguish between the real and the virtual world. The lead role here belongs to parents who should help their children know what is admissible and what is not, how far one can go in jest and which boundaries should never be crossed.”

English Milena Daynova