II
Corinthians 6:14-17; Ephesians 5:8
The name means “All Hollows’
Eve”. But is it really? Where did it come from? What is it all about? Creepy
goblins, ghosts and demons, witches on brooms, spiders and bats, dead men’s
bones, flickering jack-o-lanterns, black cats, eerie costumes and parties. What
a weird festival this is! Should we as children of God practice it?
Halloween is increasingly
costly and dangerous. Each year following this strange celebration, gruesome
accounts surface of the giving of booby-trapped treats to children; apples with
concealed razor blades, cookies containing ground glass, candy laced with
laxatives or spiked with poisons. This is to say nothing of the cases, reported
and unreported, of muggings, murders and molestations which occur on the eve of
“All Hallows”. In addition there are other incidences of bodily harm inflicted
during the course of Halloween festivities, some on purpose and some
accidently.
THE ORIGIN OF HALLOWEEN
It really is no secret that
Halloween has been around for thousands of years. Centuries before the birth of
Christ the Druids performed mystical rites and ceremonies in honor of the dead
on their New Year’s Eve, October 31.
The ancient Druids priests
(known as “Men of Oak”), the most evil people living at this time in England,
France, Germany and the Celtic countries celebrated the “Vigil of Samhain” in
honor of their god, Samhain, lord of the dead who demanded human
blood sacrifices. These men were so filled with demons that some had strange,
frightening powers. The people lived in terror of the Druids. Halloween is fun
for the kids today, but in the times of the Druids it was a night of horror.
Halloween had its origin with the Druids. On Halloween the druids and their
followers went from house to house playing tricks or treat. The treat demanded
by the Druids would be a young woman for human sacrifice. If the treat pleased
the Druids they would leave a jack-o-lantern with a lighted candle made of
human fat to protect those inside from being killed by demons that night.
When some people couldn’t meet
the demands of the Druids, then it was time for the trick. A Hex (hexagram) was
drawn on the front door. That night Satan or his demons would kill someone in
that home through fear. That night the victim was assaulted brutally by the
priests and sacrificed her to their god. Even today on Halloween night many
occult killings take place in the USA and around the world.
Halloween acquired sinister
significance with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies and demons
of all kinds said to be roaming about the land. The people believed that evil
spirits lurked about as the sun god grew pale and Samhain grew stronger. By
lighting great bonfires on the hillsides, on the “Vigil of Samhain”, they hoped
to scare away the evil spirits of those who had died the previous year. It was
believed that on this day the souls of the dead would rise from the grave to
haunt those who were living.
By waving burning straw aloft
on pitchforks, the people tried to frighten off demons and witches. Just
in case waving of burning straw didn’t work, the people also put on grotesque
and terrifying costumes. They believed that if you dressed in a horrible enough
fashion and went roaming around with the spirits all night, they would think
you were one of them and they would do you no harm. They believed that when
these spirits came to your house, if you did not treat them, they would trick
you.
Halloween is a day Witches
celebrate above all other days. Witches have eight major festivals throughout
the year. The major Witchcraft festival is October 31 or Halloween. Witchcraft
is not child’s play. It is an abomination in the eyes of God (Ex. 22:18; Dt.
18:10-12; I Sam. 15:23; II kings 9:22; II Cron. 33:6; Mic. 5:12; Nah, 3:4; Gal.
5:19-21). From 1575 to the 1700’s many people were burned at the stake for
their real or suspected involvement in witchcraft. Yet, today witchcraft has
gained acceptability by many people. Even the Internal Revenue Service has
given tax exempt status to the church of Wicca (the official church of
witchcraft). The word Witch is derived from the Saxon word WICA, which means
“wise one”. The black of a witches cloak reminds us that Halloween is a
“festival of the dead.”
All Saints’ (All Souls ’ Day),
was a day that the Roman Catholic church set aside in memory of early
Christians who died for their beliefs, it was first celebrated in the month of
May. By the year 900 the date had been changed to November 1. Another name for
All Saints’ Day was “All Hallows”; October 31 was known as All Hallow’ Eve,
which was later shortened to “Halloween”.
While All Hollow’s Eve
originally had been a strictly Roman Catholic holiday, the pagan influences
from earlier traditions gradually crept in while the Catholic Church’s
influence waned. Soon Halloween became a secular observance, and many customs
and practices developed.
History books and encyclopedias
freely and openly describe this pagan origin and explain their parallelism to
today’s customs. Halloween is pagan; still most people, will justify
Halloween’s observance by saying, “So what? So it was started by pagans. We
aren’t thinking about pagan gods today. We’re just having fun. Where it came
from doesn’t make any difference.”
Well, it doesn’t make any
difference unless you care what God says on the subject! And if you accept the
teachings of God, then it does make a great deal of difference! God’s Word has
a great deal to say about why you should not be involved with customs such as those
centering on Halloween.
One only has to look at
Halloween costumes and decorations to see that it celebrates death, devils,
witches and darkness. We as children of God are supposed to conduct ourselves
in a way that exemplifies light and life, not darkness and death.
The real contradiction between
these two approaches is noted by Ralph Linton, in “Halloween Through Twenty
Centuries”. “Among all the festivals which we celebrate today, few have
histories stranger than that of Halloween, it commemorates beings and rites
with which the church has always been at war.”
C. W. Douglas discloses in “The
American Book of Days”, “The mystic rites and ceremonies with which Halloween
was originally observed had their origin among the Druids, centuries before the
dawn of the Christian era in the celebration on the eve of the festival of
Samhain, the Lord of the dead-Satan. The early Roman Catholic Church adopted
the eve and the days following and gave new names to them, as it did with many
other Christian observances.
Dorothy Wood a writer of the
Wichita Beacon presented the case clearly in October 30, 1959. She wrote,
"This ancient night of feast for the devil and his groups to degenerate,
because of the Christians has grown in popularity. For centuries Christians have
adopted all the pagan festivals of old. The Winter Festival has become
Christmas. The spring festival has become the Passover (Easter), and worship of
Christ shamelessly uses the old pagan fertility symbols, chicks, bunnies and
eggs. Now they have completely taken over Halloween.
A SERIOUS MATTER
God does not look at this
lightly, as some of us do. He does not want his children to borrow pagan
customs (Dt. 12:29-30) with their inevitable detriment to the development of
spiritual character. He plainly and directly commanded through the prophet
Jeremiah, “Learn not the way of the heathen” (Jer. 10:2). Through
Moses, God condemned as abominable all that has to do with witchcraft, black
magic and other demonic works of darkness (Dt. 18:9-12).
In view of this Biblical
condemnation, we should want to stay as far away as possible from whatever
falls into these categories. Instead all across the land in this “Christian
Nation”, children and adults dress as witches, demons and other manifestations
which honor the “Lord of Death” on his special night.
People do not seem to realize
that Satan and his demons are the enemies of God. Halloween purposefully
worships Satan. The apostle Paul summed up the attitude true Christians should
have and should teach their children: “For once you were darkness (in
the past, before becoming a child of God), but now you are light in the Lord;
walk as children of light (not dressed as demons, witches, zombies and other
beings of darkness) for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and
right and true; and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in
the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them (by letting your
light shine). For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in
secret (let alone to participate in them)” (Eph. 5:7-12).
Halloween is not just fun and
games. It is serious business! It is the time that witches celebrate more than
any other time of the year!
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