The rise of Halloween says a lot about the state of Britain

Our national festivities  – what we choose to celebrate, commemorate and perhaps revile, as well as the way in which we do so – reveal much about our values and attitudes. Take the case of a curious ritual that has enjoyed a sudden and dramatic surge of popularity in this country: Halloween.

In recent years, Halloween has become a major event for children, parents and a growing number of adults who are spending increasing amounts of time and money on ‘Halloween products’: spooky costumes, pumpkins, sweets for ‘trick-or-treaters’ or, for those who want to mark the occasion in style, alcohol and party food. Last year’s event was reckoned to be worth around £400 million, nearly double the 2013 figure.

The rise of Halloween cannot be ignored, because it reflects and builds upoon at least two profound changes in our collective mindset.

The first is our growing paganisation. Some people may dispute that the event is really ‘pagan’ at all, claiming that it has origins in a pre-Reformation festival, ‘All Hallows Day’, which commemorated the saints. But the truth is that few practising Christians feel comfortable with the event, and many actively oppose it. Halloween is, after all, a secular festival, based on a Celtic practice, which peers into a spiritual, supernatural world, traditionally the preserve of the churches. For many, it not only trivialises an imaginary underworld world of ‘demons’, ‘evil’ and ‘Satan’ – it even comes hauntingly close to celebrating it.

So it is no coincidence that Halloween has moved in exact step with the wider march of paganisation. We have all seen the roadside shrines – comprised of candles, photos and items of clothing – at the site of a tragic accident. Most of us have taken part in those national silences that follow whatever disasters have reached the headlines: the Grenfell tragedy was given a minute-long silence and the 2004 tsunami was granted three minutes. We have seen, on film or in real life, candlelit vigils in honour of some secular hero, victim or saint, real or imaginary. These are our own, contemporary versions of the rain dance, sun worship and other pagan rites. And while these secular rituals have been gathering traction, the traditional Christian churches, notably Anglicanism, have been suffering from a steady, consistent decline in allegiance.

This is not just a British, or even a Western, phenomenon. The contemporary age is increasingly secular, and traditional churches are on the retreat in many places, allowing ersatz religions to replace them.

Other countries, too, are affected by another phenomenon embodied by Halloween – the growing cultural influence of America.

The rise of Halloween has gone hand-in-hand with a much wider Americanisation that has seeped into our everyday culture. Some of these Americanisms, such as the introduction of the ‘Supreme Court’ in 2009, have been enforced upon us by a governing elite which never really liked this country. Others have happened spontaneously, such as the advent of the ‘school prom’ and ‘Black Friday’.

It is in this latter category that Halloween belongs, having emerged of its own accord over the past twenty years or so. It has usurped a long-standing and distinctly British national tradition, Guy Fawkes Day, which feels anachronistic at a time when the lighting of bonfires offends stringent health and safety rules – and when the idea of burning Catholics is distinctly distasteful.

Halloween and its growing band of worshippers give an interesting indication of where our cultural identity, as well as our religious allegiances, lie.

At a time when questions of national identity loom so large over post-Brexit Britain and its future, there could scarcely be any issue more important.