Spooky Spiritual Spaces Subverting Secularity

Abstract: This essay examines Halloween's evolution from its sacred roots in Christian and pagan traditions to its contemporary secular celebration. It argues that Halloween offers a unique opportunity for Christians to re-engage with its spiritual dimensions, transforming it from a mere commercial event into a meaningful practice. Through the lens of metamodernism, the essay explores how aesthetically mediated beliefs can create a liminal space where the sacred and secular converge, allowing for a renewed encounter with the spiritual in the modern age.

Introduction

We live in, at least on Charles Taylor's definition, a secular age where we have lost our Christian roots as a part of our collective identity and relegated them to one among many possible beliefs.1 Religion is not a broadly institutionalized feature, and national celebrations are similarly secularized, allowing for but not asserting any non-flattened realities. This includes Halloween, which to most Americans is a non-threatening, harmless blend of candy, costumes, and commercialism where macabre themes are engaged in a fun and friendly manner, and participation in which is of no issue at all.

However, there is a fear in some circles of the Christian community that this festival, stemming from an age-old association with the demonic, might serve as a conduit for evil. Thus, these believers tread cautiously, wary of the spiritual pitfalls they associate with October’s end, some opting out of the celebration entirely. However, in this very dichotomy, there seems to be a hidden danger. The overly demonic has culturally retreated into the shadows, but if the Christian proposition is true, then there is little reason to believe that it has disappeared, only that its influence is even more subtle than it may have been in the past. It has thus taken on a more insidious form, blending with the secular celebrations that dominate contemporary Halloween with its pervasive will. Consequently, the relegation of the festival to a mere commercial frivolity can cause us to miss the spiritual undercurrents at play, as the cautious Christians have posited.

Yet, despite these very dangers, I have a bold proposition to make: Instead of sanitizing Halloween of its spiritual essence or relegating it to secular indifference, why not confront the spiritual head-on? In doing so, Christians might reclaim the narrative, viewing Halloween not only as a battleground where demonic forces run rampant but also, and more importantly, as a testament to the enduring power and triumph of Christ over these forces. In this light, Halloween transforms from a night of fear to a celebration of Christ the Conqueror, overcoming the world and all its hidden spiritual adversaries.

The Evolution of Halloween from Sacred to Secular

The Christian Origins: All Saints’ Day and All Hallows’ Eve

Established in the 7th century by Pope Boniface IV, All Saints' Day originally fell on May 13th, marking the dedication of the Pantheon in Rome to the Virgin Mary and all the martyrs.2 By the 9th century, under the guidance of Pope Gregory III, the observance was moved to November 1st, with the intention to honor not only recognized saints and martyrs but also all the departed faithful. This shift placed the celebration in close proximity to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, leading to a synthesis of traditions over time. The eve of this solemn feast, known as All Hallows' Eve on October 31st, evolved into a time of reflection and remembrance. As the centuries passed, while the religious undertones of All Hallows' Eve persisted, the night became imbued with various cultural practices. Prayers, vigils, and contemplations of the ethereal characterized the evening, setting the stage for the ensuing holy feast and, inadvertently, laying the groundwork for the Halloween we recognize today.

Pagan Precursors: Samhain and Celtic Traditions

Yet, before the Christian reinterpretation of this period, the ancient Celts had their own significant celebration, Samhain.3 Marking the transition from the abundant harvest season to the cold embrace of winter, Samhain was seen as a time when the boundaries between the mortal and the supernatural worlds thinned. Spirits, both benevolent and malicious, were believed to roam more freely. To counter any potential spiritual malevolence, the Celts lit grand bonfires and donned disguises. These practices were rooted in the belief that by blending in with the spirits or by offering light to guide the good ones and repel the bad, they could avoid harm and ensure a prosperous new year.

The Synthesis of Christian and Pagan Ideas

Christianity, as it spread its influence across Europe, displayed a nuanced approach to pagan traditions. Rather than outright rejection, there was often a synthesis, a “baptizing” of pagan places, rituals, and objects. The positioning of All Saints’ Day close to Samhain can be viewed as a strategic overlap, harmonizing two worlds. However, this was not Christianity bending to the culture but a deliberate effort to redirect, rather than replace. Christian cultural synthesis is an extrapolation of the implications of basic Christus Victor theology – Christ has conquered, and he’s got the authority to use the resources of his opponents. Likely, the most pronounced example of this perspective is the reconsecration of previously pagan temples, like the Parthenon. St. Gregory the Great said it best in his letter to Mellitus:

I have long been considering in my own mind concerning the matter of the English people; to wit, that the temples of the idols in that nation ought not to be destroyed; but let the idols that are in them be destroyed; let water be consecrated and sprinkled in the said temples, let altars be erected, and relics placed there. For if those temples are well built, it is requisite that they be converted from the worship of devils to the service of the true God; that the nation, seeing that their temples are not destroyed, may remove error from their hearts, and knowing and adoring the true God, may the more freely resort to the places to which they have been accustomed.4

This is not a practice of submitting to the culture but walking among it with the boldness and confidence of a faith that actually believes that Christ has “been given all authority in heaven and on earth.”

The American Influence and Ethnocultural Evolution

When European settlers, including descendants of the Celts, brought Halloween to American shores, the festival underwent a transformation.5 The United States, a melting pot of cultures, infused Halloween with diverse layers of spookiness. For instance, Scottish and Irish immigrants carried forward the Celtic traditions of Samhain, integrating them with the American milieu. They carved turnips and later pumpkins, a New World fruit, into jack-o'-lanterns, a practice reminiscent of the ancient custom to ward off malevolent spirits. Similarly, the tradition of "souling" – where the poor would visit homes, offering prayers for the departed in exchange for "soul cakes" – found its echo in the American custom of trick-or-treating. Initially rooted in spiritual and communal gatherings, the American version of Halloween gradually leaned towards revelry and mischief. As communities grew and diversified, so did the celebrations. The melding of various immigrant traditions, from English to German to Latino, enriched the festival's presentation.

With the dawn of the 20th century, the winds of commercialism began to blow strongly. Halloween, with its vivid imagery and communal spirit, was prime for commercial adaptation. Costumes grew intricate, driven by popular culture and cinema. Candy companies recognized the goldmine that was trick-or-treating, leading to a surge in candy sales, turning Halloween into a child's dream and a dentist’s nightmare.

Modern Interpretations: A Celebration of Spookiness

Today, Halloween is an eclectic blend of old-world rituals, Christian observances, and modern consumerism. Jack-o'-lanterns, symbols rooted in ancient rites, now illuminate suburban porches. Haunted houses tap into our timeless fear of the unknown, and candy sales soar.

The narrative of Halloween, as it is celebrated today, offers a lens through which we can explore the broader theme of secularity. Sociologist Max Weber's concept of “disenchantment”6 speaks to a world stripped of its magical essence,7 a landscape where rationality and predictability reign supreme. This evolution has led to a collective disengagement from the spiritual dimensions that once deeply permeated daily life. Charles Taylor, in A Secular Age,8 sheds light on this transformation, illustrating how society has transitioned from an era where divine belief was the default to a time where faith becomes one among many available worldviews. Secularity is not, then, simply a disbelief in the religious, but rather a complex shift in the conditions of belief, where the sense of the transcendent is no longer axiomatic, and multiple understandings of existence, including the non-religious, coexist and contend within the social imaginary.

In the secular age, symbols, and rituals associated with Halloween find themselves borrowed, repurposed, and commodified. While these symbols — such as the jack-o'-lantern or the notion of spirits wandering the Earth — had profound meanings in their original contexts, they have, over time, been disentangled from their foundational narratives. In the modern Halloween celebration, they are appreciated more for their aesthetic or entertainment value rather than any deep spiritual significance.

Yet, this isn't necessarily a diminishment. The very fact that Halloween can seamlessly blend ancient traditions with modern festivities speaks to its adaptability and enduring appeal. Even in its secularized form, Halloween offers a momentary break from the everyday, a chance to engage with an aesthetic that, while perhaps no longer transcendent in the traditional sense, still captivates the imagination.

Metamodern Halloween

In this age where disenchantment is thought to be a feature of the broadly secular society, Halloween emerges as a possible exception, cutting through the thick layers separating the sacred and the profane. It isn't just any festivity; it’s a window into the metamodern psyche, at least as articulated by the originators of the theory of metamodernism.

In short, metamodernism suggests that culturally, the West has moved beyond the skepticism of the postmodern movement.9 Having internalized its critiques, there is now a renewed openness to the so-called naive ideas of Modernism. These include the belief in objective progress, grand narratives, absolute truths, and a teleological view of history. Metamodernism seeks to balance these modernist ideals with postmodernist irony, creating a dynamic cultural framework that oscillates between sincerity and skepticism. It encompasses ten key traits:

1. Oscillation: Moving between opposing perspectives.

2. Reconstruction: Building upon deconstructed ideas.

3. Affect: Emphasizing emotional engagement.

4. Depth: Seeking profound meaning.

5. Empathy: Valuing interpersonal connections.

6. Historicity: Acknowledging historical context.

7. Myth: Reviving traditional narratives.

8. Metaxis: Navigating between reality and virtuality.

9. Apology: Embracing uncertainty and humility.

10. The sublime: Pursuing awe and wonder.

As Halloween nears, the changing leaves, crisp air, and the invasion of pumpkin spice represent broad aesthetic shifts that move the mind of the metamodern individual, perhaps even more so than their predecessors in Western civilization. Reflecting on Halloween's trajectory from All Hallows' Eve to today, it’s clear that it wasn’t always just about candy and costumes. It began as a genuine intersection of realms, but over time it evolved into spectacle and performance.

The metamodern movement demands a pivot – not a naive attempt to revert to the days of old, but a nuanced fusion of past and present. With the West’s embedded imagery, Halloween turning away from its gothic allure isn’t an option, and thus any subversive efforts cannot avoid the macabre and overall dark aesthetic. Hopefully, it’s becoming clear where the opportunity lies in the unique state of Halloween today and the metamodern psyche’s relationship with aesthetics.

For Christians especially, this metamodern Halloween is an opportunity to breathe new life into old traditions, not in a neo-secular, non-macabre, harvest-festival manner, but rather in a sublative manner with intent to destroy, preserve, and uplift. That is, to use Halloween as a liminal space where certain temporal aesthetic mediators align, allowing the sacred to emerge into the secular. Just as the cautious Christians feared might happen.

Herein lies a call to action – a reminder of the spiritual warfare beyond the material. As you engage this liminal space, there needs to be full acknowledgment of the risks of opening the door. What this acknowledgment looks like will be articulated in just a bit. For now, let’s discuss methodologies or methods of approach.

A Second Naivete

The term "Second Naivete" was coined by the philosopher Paul Ricoeur.10 It describes a developmental process of understanding, where one moves from an initial naive acceptance of religious narratives through a period of critical skepticism and finally to a post-critical re-embrace of those narratives, but with a more profound appreciation. Think here of how both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien held an affinity for children’s literature despite the fact that they were both legitimate scholars of literature. They enjoyed the children’s literature naively, then went through the sort of academic rigor that would lead many to mock that naivety, but they emerged, in the end, able to enjoy the literature once again but with renewed vision.

To extrapolate this idea from the personal to the cultural, one can view the metmodern movement as a collective "Second Naivete" of society. Modernity, with its emphasis, at least in the abstract, placed value on reason, empiricism, and secularism, resulting in a flattening of perceived reality, and removing the spiritual and mysterious elements from having a role in institutions. This resulted in a desacralized world where the supernatural was pushed to the margins or denied outright.11

But this desacralization seems to have reached its telos with postmodernism. While many consider postmodernism a separate epoch, it might be more apt to view it as a culmination of the Modern age. It took the critical skepticism of Modernity and amplified it, questioning not just religious narratives but all grand narratives and foundational truths. If Modernity was involved some flattening of reality, postmodernism involved fracturing it. One of the, perhaps unintentional, consequences of this process was the so-called “meaning crisis” that we face today. The world has been stripped of inherent meaning, and folks have been left to make it for themselves.

Enter metamodernism, which can be seen as society's "Second Naivete." It doesn't reject the insights of Modernity or the critiques of postmodernism. Instead, it seeks to move beyond them, to re-embrace a sense of depth, meaning, and even, at times, spirituality, but in a way that's informed by the journey through skepticism. It's not, in itself, a return to pre-modern naivety but rather a post-critical embrace of depth and transcendence.

By viewing the historical-cultural progression in terms of secularity, metamodernism appears to be a time when this second naivete is emerging in the culture. Where and theorists of metamodernism tend to view it primarily as a return to Modern naivety, this lens would categorize modernism as a movement away from premodern naivety, which culminated in postmodernism. Thus, the metamodern movement is one where the culture is navigating its way back to a reenchanted world.12

The Insufficiency of Prevailing Christian Approaches to Halloween

When it comes to engaging with Halloween, the Christian community seems split into two main camps: those who engage non-cautiously and those who attempt to strip Halloween of its inherent spirituality, opting for more palatable alternatives.13 Both approaches, in their own ways, might be inadvertently affirming the secular overtones of modern society.

Non-Cautious Engagement: Presuming the Secular

This group looks at Halloween and thinks, "What's the big deal? It's just fun and games." They dive right in, immersing themselves in the holiday without much thought about its deeper spiritual implications. This approach, in essence, presumes the secular a priori. It's as if there's an underlying belief that the spiritual realm either doesn't exist or, if it does, it poses no threat to the devout Christian.

But history tells a different story. Time and time again, Christians have been cautioned about the potential dangers of the demonic. Think of Athanasius’ The Life of St. Anthony,14 which describes his numerous battles with demonic forces. To brush this aside, to see Halloween as just masks, candy, and symbols is a mistake. By doing so, Christians inadvertently align with a culture that might be fundamentally at odds with their faith. They end up playing into the hands of secularism without even realizing it. It's like walking into a dark room without checking if there's a pitfall waiting.

Stripping of Meaning: Affirming of the Secular

On the flip side, there's a segment of the Christian community that's deeply wary of Halloween's spiritual undercurrents. Their solution? Strip it of its depth, extract the potentially harmful elements, and promote sanitized versions like 'harvest festivals' or 'trunk or treat' events. At a glance, this might seem like a commendable attempt at safeguarding spiritual integrity.

However, this hollowing out of Halloween's essence has its pitfalls. By retaining the candy, costumes, and pumpkins, while discarding the profound spiritual symbolism, this approach essentially affirms the secular. It doesn't challenge the secular narrative; it negotiates with it. The result isn't a re-consecration or a baptism of Halloween's profound essence; it's an endorsement of a commercial, secular version.

In their bid to protect their faith, these Christians might be missing a golden opportunity. Halloween, with its liminal space between life and death, its flirtation with the mysterious, and its inherent focus on community, could be a platform to delve into profound spiritual discussions and reflections. Instead, by sidelining its depth, we're left with a surface-level celebration that does little to challenge or enrich the Christian narrative.

Aesthetically Mediated Belief and Halloween

Aesthetically Mediated Belief

A notion that has become increasingly prevalent in the Metamodern era15, “aesthetically mediated belief” refers to the idea that our understanding and experience of beliefs are significantly influenced by aesthetics – the sensory and emotive aspects of religious or cultural phenomena. Rather than mere intellectual or doctrinal affirmations, beliefs are often "felt" and "experienced" viscerally through the lens of art, rituals, symbols, and other aesthetic manifestations.16 Here, it’s helpful to think of the “suspension of disbelief” that we all use when reading a novel or watching a movie – we would simply enjoy the narrative less if we held it to high standards of skeptical criticism.

The Liminal Halloween

At the heart of Halloween lies an aesthetic that is both enchanting and eerie. This festival swathes itself in a rich array of colors – the inky black of the night, the fiery orange of pumpkins, and the deep reds reminiscent of fall. Sounds, too, play their part – the distant echo of a haunting melody or the gleeful laughter of children trick-or-treating. Combined, these elements create a unique sensorial experience that's distinctly Halloween.

Culturally, Halloween has cemented its place in the global psyche. From iconic movies to spooky-themed merchandise, its imagery has become ubiquitous. One might argue that this commercial prevalence dilutes its original significance. However, there's an underlying cultural thirst that Halloween quenches. It serves as a conduit, a liminal space, allowing participants to traverse between the ordinary and the extraordinary. This liminality is vital, for it permits a temporary escape from the mundane, offering a portal to the mystical, even if just for a night.

At its core, every ritual, including the festivities of Halloween, is a symbolic act. The act of donning a costume, for instance, isn't merely about changing one's appearance. It's a potentially transformative experience,17 allowing individuals to momentarily shed their everyday identities and embrace “the other” – in a broad sense, where “otherness” is the non-mundane. This can be a character from folklore, a contemporary icon, or even an abstract concept. Such acts of transformation resonate deeply with the metamodern yearning for both playfulness (irony) and authenticity (sincerity).

Symbols serve as the anchors of our cultural traditions, especially in events like Halloween, where the interplay of aesthetics and belief shines most vividly. Consider the ubiquitous skull or skeleton, which appears in many forms during the Halloween season. At its core, the skeleton symbolizes mortality, a universal human truth. Every person, regardless of background, understands the inevitability of death. The skeleton, as a symbol, is a direct confrontation with this truth.

During Halloween, skeletons are not just displayed as reminders of death but are often adorned, animated, or even celebrated. The act of dancing with a "skeleton" at a party, or playfully posing a set of bones in one's yard, takes the somber reality of mortality and, for a night, transforms it into something lighter, more approachable. It's an aesthetic mediation between the living and the concept of death. This ritualistic play with skeletons allows participants to engage with the deep-seated, often uncomfortable awareness of mortality, but in a manner that's communal, playful, and less daunting. Through the lens of Halloween, the skeleton loses some of its sting, and participants find a way to aesthetically navigate one of the most profound truths of human existence.

The rituals and symbols associated with Halloween offer more than just surface-level engagement. They invite participants into a deeper dialogue with the mysteries of existence, allowing for reflection, celebration, and even catharsis. In a world often dominated by reason and disenchantment, these symbolic acts and aesthetic experiences rekindle a sense of wonder, reminding participants of the intricate dance between the seen and the unseen, the known and the unknown.

To understand Halloween fully, one must look beyond the superficial. It's not merely about costumes, candies, or scares. At its heart, Halloween is a rich aesthetic and cultural experience, offering a liminal space where the boundaries blur. In this transient space, the metamodern individual finds a playground – an arena where irony and sincerity, skepticism and belief, coalesce. As the world continues to oscillate between extremes, festivals like Halloween, with their deep-rooted symbols and rituals, offer a beacon – a reminder that amidst the chaos, there's magic waiting to be rediscovered.

Christian Engagement with Halloween

The fusion of ancient and modern, secular and sacred, allows us to understand Halloween in a light that might be unexpected to many: a stage for meaningful Christian engagement. Halloween can be seen as a touchpoint for Christians to navigate their faith in a disenchanted world. By synthesizing our previous discussions, we can chart a path towards a genuine Christian interaction with this festival without compromising core tenets of faith.

Genuinely Engaging with Halloween

Christianity, in its essence, doesn't shy away from engaging with the world. From Paul's sermon at the Areopagus, addressing the philosophers of his time18, to the Christocentric interpretation of pagan celebrations in the early church, the historical trajectory of the faith suggests an eagerness to converse with prevailing cultural narratives. Halloween, with its medley of pre-Christian and contemporary secular motifs, offers a similar platform today.

However, to genuinely engage means neither engagement without discernment nor stripping Halloween down to its secular bones. It demands an authentic encounter where Christians can appreciate the liminal beauty of Halloween—the eerie allure of a world where the supernatural briefly feels tangible—and simultaneously reorient it towards a Christian understanding of the supernatural, of death, and of hope.

Reconquering Halloween for Christ

The prevailing Christian approaches to Halloween, I’ve argued, either assume the secular or affirm its value. The alternative I present is a mindset where Christ has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.19 To understand Christ as King is to reject the authority of other spiritual powers.20 This isn’t to assume that the wolves have no teeth or claws but to trust that when Jesus sends us out as sheep among them, he’ll keep us safe.

Again, think of the admirable St. Anthony, who suffered various attacks from demons, sustaining physical injuries. However, he went ahead and faced them anyway. Eusebius noted in the 4^th century that miracles still occurred among Christians, but that they were fewer than in the early days of the apostles. Today, they are fewer than at any point in history, and the buffering from the spiritual realm that Taylor identified in A Secular Age is no help. This inculcation of the secular at once buffers us from the demonic and the divine. To adopt this conquering mindset is to face spiritual realities as they are, without hiding behind the secular.

Spiritualizing with Halloween

These days, the veil between the spiritual and the material seems thicker than ever. Here, Halloween is a compelling exception, a liminal space where the secular and the sacred meet. The metamodern individual is one who’s been conditioned by postmodernism; they’re living in the meaning crisis, and they’re yearning for the transcendent. So drawn are they toward it that they’ve shed their ironclad Enlightenment-era rationality and moved toward aesthetically mediated beliefs. Halloween has the benefit of building anticipation for the holiday itself by building up to it for a month or more. The decorations go up, the leaves begin to change, the weather changes, Pumpkin Spice finds its way into all our favorite food and drinks, and Halloween movies begin popping up on our favorite streaming services.

Halloween, from its All Hallow’s Eve origins until now has always presented itself as a day of convergence between realms – only this went from authentic to performative over time. Now is the time to embrace this love of form that mediates our beliefs, seize on the strong pull toward transcendence that characterizes the victims of the meaning crisis, and plunder Halloween for its enchanting potential before the moment passes. A return to the All Hallow’s Eve and All Saint’s Day origins is admirable but unlikely. The cultural imagery, consumerism, and general aesthetic of Halloween have been cemented into the Western psyche. Thus, rather than shying away from the macabre, we embrace it as a spiritual reality.

Christians ought to be viewing Halloween in the Metamodern era as an unprecedented opportunity not to return to the past but to revitalize the past by bringing the sacred into the secular. This shouldn’t be a careless engagement that acknowledges no danger of demonic influence but one that accepts the dangers as worth facing in pursuit of the goal. We’ve been given a time, a place, and an audience for the following message: “Yes, there is evil in this world that lies beyond the material, and I’ve got a solution.” Taken in this way, Halloween is at once an evangelical tool, a tool for tearing down our own secular biases, and a cautionary tale to keep us sharp. This Halloween, let’s not be tricked by secularity but treat ourselves to the fruits of the transcendent.

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