Their two main
feasts were Beltane at the beginning of summer (May 1), and Samhain
(pronounced Sah-ween) 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. "During this interval the normal order of the
universe is suspended, the barriers between the natural and the supernatural
are temporarily removed, the sidh lies open and all divine beings and the
spirits of the dead move freely among men and interfere sometimes violently,
in their affairs" (Celtic Mythology, p. 127).
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.
Trick-or-Treat?
Some
trace the origins of present day "trick-or-treat" to Samhain, which 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. 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.
Others trace
"trick-or-treat" to 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'.
Blending of Paganism with Christianity
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.
In 1517, a monk named
Martin Luther honored the faithful saints of the past by choosing All
Saints Day (November 1) as the day to publicly charge the Church
heirarchy with abandoning biblical faith. This became known as
"Reformation Day," a fitting celebration of the restoration the same
biblical faith held by the saints throughout church history. [What
about Halloween?]
Traditional
Halloween symbols (witches, black cats, pumpkins, candles, masks,
parties and pranks) appeared in the U.S. during the late 1800's. In
1848, millions of Irish emigrants poured into America as a result of the
potato famine. With this sudden influx of people, the holiday of
Druidism found its new home on alien shores. "Proudly Celtic, they
called Halloween Oidche Shamhna (`Night of Samhain'), as their ancestors
had, and kept the traditional observances"
[Common Boundary, Sep./Oct. 1993, p. 31].
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 have religious origins as well. Black cats were considered to be
reincarnated beings with the ability to divine the future. 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.
To witches, Halloween is a
festival of the dead, and represents the "end and the beginning of the
witches year. It marks the beginning of the death and destruction
associated with winter. At this time the power of the underworld is
unleashed, and spirits are supposedly freed to roam about the earth; it
is considered the best time to contact spirits" (Halloween
and Satanism, P. Phillips and J.H. Robie, 1987, p. 146).
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).
Divination
The various activities traditional to Halloween are mostly
associated with the idea of obtaining good fortune and foretelling
the future. Samhain was a time when it was customary for the pagans
to use the occult practice of divination to determine the weather
for the coming year, the crop expectations, and even who in the
community would marry whom and in what order.
- 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. Unmarried
people would attempt to take a bite out of an apple bobbing in a
pail of water, or suspended on a string. The first person to do
so was believed to be the next to marry.
- 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 people 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.
Should Christians adopt such practices?
Can we borrow the pagan customs and superstitions of ancient peoples and
"Christianize" them?
As
believers, we are called to "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. Christians are to
"... have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but
rather reprove them." [Ephesians 5:11]
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?
"Do not conform any longer
to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind." [Romans 12:2]
"For what do righteousness
and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with
darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?" [2
Corinthians 6:14, 15]
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]
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]
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. While
some may say, "But we only do this in fun...we don't practice
witchcraft," those things that represent Satan and his domain cannot be
handled or emulated "for fun". Such participation places you in enemy
and forbidden territory and that is dangerous ground.
Tom
Sanguinet, former high priest in the Celtic tradition of Wicca
(witchcraft) said "The modern holiday we call Halloween has its origins
in the full moon closest to November 1, the witches’ New Year. It was a
time when the "spirits" (demons) were supposed to be at their peak power
and revisiting the earth planet." He went on to say, "Halloween is
purely and absolutely evil, and there is nothing we ever have or will do
that would make it acceptable to the Lord Jesus." [The
Dark Side Of Halloween]
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)
Acceptance of the Supernatural
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 or so 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.
Indeed, Halloween has
taken root in America. Americans spend $21 million on Halloween candies
yearly second only to Christmas in total sales. Halloween is the Number
1 season for selling humorous greeting cards. In North America, some 25
million cards are sold annually. (Peter
Smith, "By the Numbers," The Toronto Star, 2002-OCT-27.)
Halloween is the third-largest party occasion next to Christmas and New
Year's Eve.
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.
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.
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.
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
