‘Satanism’: Russian lawmaker calls for Halloween ban
Celebrating the holiday should be outlawed as it undermines traditional values, according to Mikhail Ivanov
Halloween should be banned in Russia, according to a lawmaker in Bryansk Region who associates it with Satanism, which is illegal in the country.
Speaking to news outlet Gazeta.ru, Mikhail Ivanov, who is also the head of the organization ‘Orthodox Russia’, described Halloween as a Western holiday that is alien to Russian culture and its spiritual foundations, claiming it is being forcefully imposed on society.
He argued that the symbolism associated with Halloween is linked with evil spirits and darkness and has a “destructive influence” on the fragile psyche of the younger generation.
According to Ivanov, the celebration undermines Russia’s traditional values, promotes occultism, and contradicts “the fundamental moral values on which our country has been built for centuries.”
Ivanov has called for equating the promotion of Halloween with the propagation of Satanism, stating that his organization’s mission is to create “legal barriers to the aggressive promotion of alien ideologies disguised as harmless entertainment.” The lawmaker urged Russians to focus instead on their own national holidays, heroes, and history instead of “borrowed substitutes.”
Halloween traces its origins to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest and the belief that spirits could cross into the world of the living.
The Western Christian Church, particularly Roman Catholics, later adopted the date as All Hallows’ Eve, the vigil preceding All Saints’ Day. The celebration eventually evolved into today’s Halloween, known for costumes, lanterns, and trick-or-treating.
Ivanov’s proposal comes as Russian religious leaders have been warning of occult practices spreading across the country.
Earlier this year, Russian Orthodox Church archpriest Andrey Tkachev described the phenomenon as a serious moral threat to the nation, stating that “the Russian land is full of sorcerers” and that “this abomination requires purification.”
The newspaper MK had previously reported that spending on esoteric services such as fortune-telling and spiritual healing reached 2.4 trillion rubles ($24 billion) in Russia in 2024.
https://www.rt.com/russia/626385-russian-lawmaker-halloween-ban/
It is a pagan festival, when lore and myth took the place of religion. Celtic, if the history is true. The Harvest is over, and it seems that death happens to the earth, as the woods become bare and plants die off. Skeletons and spookiness, because death is/was, spooky and final. It was made up stories, like, the dead are hungry, the jack o lantern, a hallowed out turnip carved into faces, with a candle inside, was supposed to keep the bad spirits away. When Catholicism came to the pagan land of Ireland, it was easier to convert the locals if some of the traditions remained, the narrative changed to some kind of religious observance, All Souls Day, a time to remember those who died without baptism, and they were supposed to be prayed for on that day. Of course it was commercialized, and with the commercialization, more costumes came about, with witches and other monsters. The only symbolism should be skellies and white sheeted "ghosts". Begging for treats, because the ghosts were apparently hungry, may be an off shoot from the hunger and famine that the Irish were subjected to. The Catholics thought the Protestants were evil and demonic, the Protestants thought the same of the Catholics. It's really amazing that one small country had such an influence on American culture, but I can tell you that kids running up and down the street giggling and dressed as princesses or superheros or witches and pirates for one evening out of the year will not turn them into blood drinking evil adults. Although many a teacher will tell you that the day after halloween , with sugar addled kids could be a horror in itself. Taking away people's traditions and thinking somehow they are being cleansed of evil is a weird thought to me. There are evil practices in the world going on right now, and they are being practiced by real life monsters. So off target, in my opinion. We will have a bowl of candy ready, held by the skellie that sits in a lawn chair in the front of the house. It gets dark early up here, so the invasion of the littles lasts about an hour and a half. Some Protestant denominations think this will force us into hell, and some Catholics think all sex without the idea of making a baby being its only purpose, is a sin. I think we all continue to be off target when fighting real evil, and vanity and virtue signalling is as systemic with Conservatives as it is in liberals. Sigh, its the perennial discussion, next up is Christmas and we have to hear about pagan Christmas trees again. Lighten up. My goats really love Halloween, the pumpkin guts and seeds are a natural de wormer, and the pumpkins themselves are a lovely treat.