History
traces Halloween back to the ancient
religion of the Celtics. The Celtic
people were very conscious of the
spiritual world and had their own
ideas of how they could gain access
to it - such as by helping their
over 300 gods to defeat their
enemies in battle, or by imitating
the gods in showing cleverness and
cunning.
Their
two main feasts were Beltane at the
beginning of summer (May 1), and
Samhain at the end of summer (Nov.
1). They believed Samhain was a time
when the division between the two
worlds became very thin, when
hostile supernatural forces were
active and ghosts and spirits were
free to wander as they wished.
The
Celtic priests who carried out the
rituals in the open air were called
Druids, members of pagan orders in
Britain, Ireland and Gaul, who
generally performed their rituals by
offering sacrifices, usually of
animals, but sometimes of humans, in
order to placate the gods; ensuring
that the sun would return after the
winter; and frightening away evil
spirits. To the Celtics, the bonfire
represented the sun and was used to
aid the Druid in his fight with dark
powers. The term bonfire comes from
the words "bone fire," literally
meaning the bones of sacrificed
animals, sometimes human, were piled
in a field with timber and set
ablaze. All fires except those of
the Druids were extinguished on
Samhain and householders were levied
a fee to relight their holy fire
which burned at their altars. During
the Festival of Samhain, fires would
be lit which would burn all through
the winter and sacrifices would be
offered to the gods on the fires.
This practice of burning humans was
stopped around 1600, and an effigy
was sometimes burned instead.
Samhain
was the supreme night of demonic
jubilation. Spirits of the dead
would rise out of their graves and
wander the countryside, trying to
return to the homes where they
formerly lived.
Frightened
villagers tried to appease these
wandering spirits by offering them
gifts of fruit and nuts. This is the
origin of our present day
"trick-or-treat." They began the
tradition of placing plates of the
finest food and bits of treats that
the household had to offer on their
doorsteps, as gifts, to appease the
hunger of the ghostly wanderers. If
not placated, villagers feared that
the spirits would kill their flocks
or destroy their property.
The
problem was... if the souls of dead
loved ones could return that night,
so could anything else, human or not,
nice or not-so-nice. The only thing
the superstitious people knew to do
to protect themselves on such an
occasion was to masquerade as one of
the demonic hoard, and hopefully
blend in unnoticed among them.
Wearing masks and other disguises
and blackening the face with soot
were originally ways of hiding
oneself from the spirits of the dead
who might be roaming around. This is
the origin of Halloween masquerading
as devils, imps, ogres, and other
demonic creatures.
Trick
or Treat has been thought to have
come from a European custom called
"souling". Beggars would go from
village to village begging for "soul
cakes" made out of square pieces of
bread with currants. The more soul
cakes the beggars would receive, the
more prayers they would promise to
say on behalf of the dead relatives
of the donors. At the time, it was
believed that the dead remained in
limbo for a time after death, and
that prayer, even by strangers could
guarantee a soul's passage to
heaven.
In
many parts of Britain and Ireland
this night used to be known as
'Mischief Night', which meant that
people were free to go around the
village playing pranks and getting
up to any kind of mischief without
fear of being punished. Many of the
different customs were taken to the
United States by Irish and Scottish
immigrants in the nineteenth
century, and they developed into
'trick or treat'.
When
Christianity spread to parts of
Europe, instead of trying to abolish
these pagan customs, people tried to
introduce ideas which reflected a
more Christian world-view. Halloween
has since become a confusing mixture
of traditions and practices from
pagan cultures and Christian
tradition. The Romans observed the
holiday of Feralia, intended to give
rest and peace to the departed.
Participants made sacrifices in
honor of the dead, offered up
prayers for them, and made oblations
to them. The festival was celebrated
on February 21, the end of the Roman
year. In the 7th century, Pope
Boniface IV introduced All Saints'
Day to replace the pagan festival of
the dead. It was observed on May 13.
In 834, Gregory III moved All
Saint's Day from May 13 to Nov. 1
and for Christians, this became an
opportunity for remembering before
God all the saints who had died and
all the dead in the Christian
community. Oct. 31 thus became All
Hallows' Eve ('hallow' means
'saint'). Sadly, though, many of the
customs survived and were blended in
with Christianity.
Numerous
folk customs connected with the
pagan observances for the dead have
survived to the present. The various
activities traditional to Halloween
are mostly associated with the idea
of obtaining good fortune and
foretelling the future. The idea
behind ducking, dooking or bobbing
for apples seems to have been that
snatching a bite from the apple
enables the person to grasp good
fortune. Samhain is a time for
getting rid of weakness, as pagans
once slaughtered weak animals which
were unlikely to survive the winter.
A common ritual calls for writing
down weaknesses on a piece of paper
or parchment, and tossing it into
the fire. There used to be a custom
of placing a stone in the hot ashes
of the bonfire. If in the morning a
person found that the stone had been
removed or had cracked, it was a
sign of bad fortune. Nuts have been
used for divination: whether they
burned quietly or exploded indicated
good or bad luck. Peeling an apple
and throwing the peel over one's
shoulder was supposed to reveal the
initial of one's future spouse. One
way of looking for omens of death
was for peope to visit churchyards,
because the spirits of those who
were going to die during the coming
year were thought to walk around the
churchyard during this night.
The
Jack-o-lantern is the festival light
for Halloween and is the ancient
symbol of a damned soul. Originally
the Irish would carve out turnips or
beets as lanterns as representations
of the souls of the dead or goblins
freed from the dead. When the Irish
emigrated to America they could not
find many turnips to carve into Jack
O'Lanterns but they did find an
abundance of pumpkins. Pumpkins
seemed to be a suitable substitute
for the turnips and pumpkins have
been an essential part of Halloween
celebrations ever since. Pumpkins
were cut with faces representing
demons and was originally intended
to frighten away evil spirits. It
was said that if a demon or such
were to encounter something as
fiendish looking as themselves that
they'd run away in terror,thus
sparing the houses dwellers from the
ravages of dark entities. They would
have been carried around the village
boundaries or left outside the home
to burn through the night.
Bats,
owls and other nocturanal animals,
also popular symbols of Halloween,
were originally feared because
people believed that these creatures
could communicate with the spirits
of the dead. Black cats has
religious origins as well. During
the Middle Ages it was believed that
witches could turn themselves into
black cats. Thus when such a cat was
seen, it was considered to be a
witch in disguise.
Witches
and witchcraft are dominant themes
of the holiday. Witches generally
believe themselves to be followers
of an ancient religion, which goes
back far beyond Christianity, and
which is properly called 'wicca'.
Witches are really just one side of
a
modern revival
of paganism
- the following of pre-Christian
nature religions, the attempt to
return to worshipping ancient Norse,
Greek or Celtic gods and goddesses.
The apostle Paul said Witchcraft is
one of the acts of the sinful nature
and those who practice it will not
inherit the kingdom of God
(Galatians 5:16-21; see also
Revelation 22:15).
Let
no one be found among you who
sacrifices his son or daughter
in the fire, who practices
divination or sorcery,
interprets omens, engages in
witchcraft, or casts spells, or
who is a medium or spiritist or
who consults the dead. Anyone
who does these things is
detestable to the LORD, and
because of these detestable
practices the LORD your God will
drive out those nations before
you. You must be blameless
before the LORD your God. The
nations you will dispossess
listen to those who practice
sorcery or divination. But as
for you, the LORD your God has
not permitted you to do so.
[Deuteronomy 18:10-14]
Should
Christians adopt such practices?
"Do not conform any longer to the
pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your
mind." [Romans 12:2]
Can we borrow the pagan customs and
superstitions of ancient peoples and
"Christianize" them?
"Test everything. Hold on to the
good. Avoid every kind of evil. [1
Thesalonians 5:21-22]
Who can deny that virtually all of
the symbols of Halloween are evil?
Witches, monsters, ogres, vampires,
ghosts, ghouls, goblins, devils and
demons all portray evil.
"And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather reprove them." [Ephesians
5:11]
The sort of practices celebrated on
Halloween are what defiled the
ancient nations [see Leviticus
18:24-30]. The Israelites were
warned against such practices when
they entered the Promised Land,
"When thou art come into the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
thou shalt not learn to do after the
abominations of those nations."
[Deuteronomy 18:9]
Is
Halloween just another innocent
holiday that doesn't harm anyone? Is
it really just childish fun? Should
the church be compromised by
accommodating itself to the culture?
Vandalism and wanton disregard for
the property of others is common on
Halloween night. Even normally
well-behaved children are driven by
unseen forces to destructive
behavior. Police officials
everywhere report a great increase
in such activities on Halloween.
Worse yet are the horrifying
accounts of poisoned candy and
fruits booby-trapped with razor
blades and needles. Such threats are
so real that many hospitals offer
free X-rays of Halloween treats in
order to prevent children from being
harmed. Who but Satan could inspire
such monstrous actions?
As
an alternative to the celebration of
evil and death, Christians should
rather do what Christians are
supposed to do every day and that is
shine the light of Jesus Christ. We
should emphasize the Christian
influences and strive to make
Hallow's Eve a celebration of the
acts of God through his people the
saints. We should make it a day when
acts of charity instead of vandalism
and hatred abound. A day that
emphasizes the light of Christ
instead of the darkness of evil. A
day when people meditate on the acts
of Godly people instead of ghosts
and goblins.
When
America and the world celebrates the
Festival of Samhain and the powers
of darkness by masquerading as evil
creatures or decorating our homes,
schools, businesses and churches
with occult symbols, Satanic power
is glorified. While you may have
participated "all in fun," be
assured, Halloween is serious
business for Satanists and witches.
Those who oppose Christ are known to
organize on Halloween to observe
satanic rituals, to cast spells, to
oppose churches and families, to
perform sacrilegious acts, and to
even offer blood sacrifices to
Satan.
As
evil prevails, Americans have
embraced an evil day of Satan, with
the pranks of 'would be' hoodlums,
combined with 'demon faces' on
pumpkins, clothing of 'death' being
worn, and calling it fun. When
Christians participate in Halloween,
it sends a message to children that
witchcraft, demonism, Satanism, and
the occult are something fun,
entertaining and harmless.
Many
years ago, C.S. Lewis wrote that one
of Satan's most deceptive tactics is
to convince people that he doesn't
exist. Apparently he has done a good
job in his deception. Sadly, many
people think of the devil as no more
than a symbol of evil: like Santa
Claus, he is just a fictional
symbol. Many people today also do
not think of witches as real people
who practice magic, but simply as
imaginary figures who represent the
supernatural world and everything
that is 'spooky.' Recognizing this
pagan holiday gives the false
impression that what is actually
lethal is innocuous.
Some
children develop a fascination with
the supernatural which leads them
later into more sinister occult
practices. It's the spiritual
equivalent of painting a loaded gun
to look like a toy and giving it to
child to play with.
It
is the kind of celebration that
encourages kids like the 16-year-old
in Pearl, Mississippi who stabbed
his mother to death in her sleep and
then opened fire at his high school,
killing two students and wounding
seven. Authorities found this
student along with at least six
others involved in a small, avowedly
satanic clique that calls itself "Kroth."
How
some people can defend this kind of
activity as just another innocent
holiday that doesn't harm anyone is
beyond me.
Light has come into the world,
but men loved darkness instead
of light because their deeds
were evil. Everyone who does
evil hates the light, and will
not come into the light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed.
(John 3:19-20)
Central
to Satan's goals is the widespread
acceptance of the supernatural,
including the occult, on the part of
North Americans, accompanied by a
great revival of spiritism all over
the world. Over the last 30 years,
the occult has moved into the
mainstream of America - in
television, movies, magazines,
business, and various aspects of
daily life. Movies, books, magazines
and encyclopedias of the
supernatural have abounded. Turn on
your TV and hear from the
ever-present "Psychic Friends"
hotline, or see lead characters in
TV shows meet their "spirit guide."
Entire bookstores devoted to the
occult have become common.
Universities regularly offer courses
on witchcraft and magic - usually
the so-called "white" variety.
Myriads of mystical Eastern
religions, bizarre and often
demonic, have invaded North America
and found in most cases an amazing
responsiveness.
Increasingly
the curriculum in many public
schools is becoming a primer in
occultism. Impressions, a curriculum
used in many school districts
instructs teachers and students in
how to cast spells. One teacher's
manual reads, "Tell the children
that a magician has cast a spell on
some children. Have them work in
pairs to write the magic spell the
magician used. Have each pair write
another spell to reverse the first
spell. Have them chant their
spells." About 16,000 school
districts use the Pumsey the Dragon
curriculum, by Jill Anderson. Many
of the relaxation techniques used
are identical to those used in
hypnosis. Another curriculum called
Duso the Dolphin employs relaxation
techniques and sends hypnotized
youngsters off on guided fantasies
to a place called Aquatron.
Recently,
a California skateboard manufacturer
used a package enclosure similar in
appearance to a gospel tract to
encourage purchasers to sell their
souls to the devil. The brochure
titled, "Let's Make a Deal" has a
smiley-faced devil who explains to
Flame Boy what happened in heaven
after he was banished: "First off,
they set up a bunch of dumb rules,
and then they imposed a really
strict dress code. I'l wager that
people must be quite bored up there,
but hey, that's what they get for
being good." He contrasts this with,
"Flame Boy, even a dimwit like you
can see that hell is by far the best
place to retire. Just look at all
the fun to be had." Children are
asked to sign and return a contract,
by which they give possession of
their souls to the devil for
eternity.
Satanism
has become a phenomena that crosses
the city limit into the rural areas
of our nation. It is reported there
are some 6000 witches, and
approximately 10 million people are
involved in the occult. However, it
is very difficult to establish how
many actually participate. These
individuals are involved in a wide
variety of activities from simply
casting spells to human sacrifice.
The news wires carry story after
story about young children being
kidnapped, only to be found later as
victims of some bizarre ritualistic
crime.
As
satantic involvement among our youth
increases, we begin to see the
primary goal of such activity.
According to Scripture (2 Cor. 4:4;
Rev. 12:9), Satan's goal is to
deceive man by blinding him to the
truth of the gospel and to receive
worship for himself (Matt. 4:9; Isa.
14:12-14). It has become clear that
the primary goal is to alter an
individual's values and turn him
against himself, his beliefs,
family, God and society.
"Be
sober, be vigilant; because your
adversary the devil, as a roaring
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour." 1 Peter 5:8
Young
satanists believe the strong will
rule with Satan. Once an individual
becomes involved, they often make a
pact with Satan. They commit
themselves to a future date when
they will take their own lives by
suicide. They believe if they submit
themselves to Satan in death, they
will come back in another life as a
stronger being and rule with him
forever. According to recent
statistics, fourteen young people a
day take their own lives.
What's
wrong with Halloween? It does not
have even one single redeeming
virtue. It is custom born out of
pagan superstition. It is a
demon-inspired, devil-glorifying,
occult festival. It is an evening
holy unto evil, death, and
divination. The Scriptures tells us
to
"Abstain from all appearance of
evil." [1Thess. 5:22]
Wake up Christian! This is the night
of evil and those who love the Lord
Jesus Christ should have nothing to
do with it.
We
are all accountable for our choices
and decisions. Ignorance is no
excuse. The choice is up to you.
Have you been involved in this
satanic holiday? Do you struggle
with giving it up because "it's just
fun" and an innocent opportunity for
children to dress up and collect
candy? Don't take my word for it.
Let God show you what he would have
you do. You might begin by praying
the following:
Father in heaven I come to
you in the name of Jesus Christ
to confess that I'm a sinner.
I'm sorry! Please forgive me. I
believe with all my heart that
Jesus Christ is Your Son and
that You raised him from the
dead. I believe that Jesus
Christ died for my sins and that
I might be saved. Each and
everyday Father I turn my will
and my life over to Your care,
and may Your Holy Spirit lead
and guide me in all the things I
think , do and say. I'm Yours
and You are mine. Father, please
use me that I might help others
come to know and love Your Son
Jesus Christ. Thank you for
saving me. Amen
