Do You Really Want to Celebrate Halloween?
October 31, Halloween, is the “Vigil of Saman” celebration of the Druids, ancient Pagan Celtic priests. On this night, they placated the Lord of Death who released the souls of the dead to haunt and trick their relatives and visit their former homes. Witches and demons also came out of hiding on this night. This day coincided with the end of harvest and the beginning of the new year for these Druid worshipers of Samhain (numerous spellings are correct), the grim reaper, who required a human sacrifice.
In AD 601 the Roman Catholic Church “sanctified” these pagan practices they had previously been trying to abolish. They literally gave up against evil. The Roman autumn harvest celebrations and All Saint’s Day (November 1) were combined with All Hallows Eve (October 31) in an attempt to Christianize it. The founding Pilgrims of America outlawed this practice. In the mid 1800’s Irish immigrants brought this custom to America.
Today young and old alike dress up and go out into the night, trick or treating and celebrating. Halloween has become the second most celebrated holiday with people spending about $80 per person to party (again, financially second only to Christmas). The majority of them are unknowingly giving glory to the day that the occult, Satan worshipers and Wiccan (those involved in witchcraft) call the “day above all others.” This is the highest of their eight holy days.
Anton LaVey, author of The Satanic Bible and high priest of the Church of Satan states, “Satanists consider Halloween the most important day of the year. Satanic, occult and witchcraft powers are at their highest potency level…Satan and his powers are at their best that night.”
A sergeant at the Baldwin Park Police Department in Southern California states “frightening, murderous satanic practices take place around the world every Halloween, and yet the public dismisses reports of their occurrence, refusing to believe the holiday is anything more than ‘child’s play’.”
Quite literally, this “holiday” belongs to Satan, and those who celebrate it, even innocently, are giving glory to him and putting themselves in dangerous territory.
The Symbols
A grotesque face was carved in a pumpkin to scare away evil spirits; this was a sign to the demons that a virgin sacrifice had been given by the household. Inside was a candle made from the human fat of the sacrifice. Do you want a Jack-o-lantern in your home?
The Bonfire had a three-fold purpose: 1) to scare away the evil spirits; 2) to mark the gathering places for the celebration where people came after putting out their hearth fires; 3) and to have the “bone-fire” where human and animal sacrifices were burned. The participants carry a stick home to light their hearth fires from this community bonfire.
To disguise themselves from the spirits, people donned Costumes trying to look like the evil spirits, or look terrible enough scare them away; oftentimes they wore the heads of the animals they had sacrificed.
The Druid priests went door to door demanding food to offer to Samhaim and pronounced a demonic curse of death or physical male castration, if they didn’t get what they asked for. Another custom was for people to leave a “treat” out for the spirits, so they wouldn’t “trick” or torture the household. Thus the Trick-or-Treat custom was born.
What about the other symbols of Halloween? Ghosts played tricks and caused supernatural happenings in the household. Astrology was heavily practiced, as everyone wanted predictions for the coming new year. Traditionally they “read” the sacrificial bones and entrails of sacrifices. Witches are real satanic worshipers, yet their caricatures are portrayed and costumed everywhere. Coffins, tombstones, mummies, skeletons and cemeteries come from the Lord of Death theme. Roman harvest festivals bring in the apples, cornstalks and pumpkins. An ancient Roman ceremony honoring false gods involved trying to grasp floating fruit without using hands, which is where bobbing for apples came from. The Druids believed that black cats were reincarnated humans who had been punished for their evil deeds. These cats were sacred sacrifices. Today, black cats are still sacrificed during occult rituals.
Is it Really Just another Holiday?
Knowing the meaning and traditions behind Halloween, do you really want to celebrate Halloween? It’s much more than just an innocent child’s day. There is absolutely no way you can include Jesus Christ in these celebrations. Why place yourself, even for a few hours, in the territory of the evil one? In Ephesians 5:11 Jesus tells us through Paul to “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but reprove them.” In Ephesians 4:27 He says, “Neither give place to the devil.”
Bible Answers
When you apply the following Bible texts to Halloween, it is obvious what our position as Christians should be regarding Halloween, the occult, sorcery or magic:
What Can We Do?
Spend time in prayer and spiritual warfare for your community and the innocent children caught up in the darkness of Halloween. The occult members pray for evil spirits to inhabit the costumes sold to children. We should pray that Satan be bound.
Educate your own children. Don’t scare them by giving them too much information. Explain to young children only what they need to know to understand. Do a Bible study and look up these Bible texts with your children.
Get together with like-minded families. Have a soup and salad potluck, a time of intercessory prayer together and family game time.
Many Pathfinder groups collect cans on this night. You could do this as a church or homeschool group. Pass out bags in a specific area a few days before with a note explaining what your group is doing. After collecting, make food baskets or donate to Community Services and local food closets. I personally have reservations about being out on this night at all.
Witness to your neighbors without condemning them. On Halloween night, pass out inexpensive crafts or toys instead of candy and include a scripture that will point them to Jesus. Some families include an invitation to church and a Little Friend or Primary Treasure.
Celebrate your blessings and share with others the good news of Jesus.
As horrific as Halloween and these traditions are, “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and of a strong mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7.
Make a stand… “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
More Halloween Resources
Legacy of Halloween a video by James Arrabito discussing the religious origins of modern Halloween celebrations. P. O. Box 205, Angwin CA 94508; www.tagnet.org/llt
Halloween: Trick or Treat? A video produced by Jeremiah Films. Chuck Smith, Caryl Matrisciana, Hal Lindsey, Law enforcement officials, Witches and Satanists trace pagan origins and history of Halloween. Shows real rituals of the occult. Available for $19.95 from www.shopnetdaily.com/store/item.asp?ITEM_ID=285
The Dark Side of Halloween & The Bewitching of America by Pastor David L. Brown, Logos Communication Consortium, Inc., P. O. Box 173, Oak Creek, WI 53154: 414/7768-9754. Download the book from: www.logosresourcepages.org/introduction.htm This is a book to warn parents and adults of the abominations and perversions of Halloween, witchcraft and the occult. This book is not for young children.
Mommy, Why Don’t We Celebrate Halloween? By Linda Hacon Winwood; Published by Dentiny Image – 800/722-6774
Halloween Through Twenty Centuries by R & A Linton
The Book of Halloween by R.E. Kelley
Believe it or not this scary website: www.harrypottermagic.org is maintained by a conservative SDA group trying to educate and reach those caught in witchcraft. Visit first without your children.
There’s more to this than Halloween…
There are other ways besides celebrating Halloween for us to be on dangerous ground. From the very beginning of time there has been the battle between good and evil. Study the great controversy between God and Satan. It started with Lucifer in heaven, continued down through all time Romans and Jews, Reformers, missionaries and extends into our daily lives.
Hitler founded the Third Reich on mysticism and the occult. The Sixties movement and the song Age of Aquarius, free love and drug abuse paved the way for the New Age, holistic medicine, and nature worshipers of today.
There is confusion over the state of the dead among Christians. The Bible teaches that “the dead know not anything.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6). We see the body in the casket and put in the ground, but the minister preaches that they are “up in heaven.” Do a Bible search on what really happens when you die. Begin with Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, Ecclesiastes 12:7, Psalm 146:1-4, Psalm 115:17, Psalm 6:5, and Ecclesiastes 9:10.
Disney contributes heavily to occultic ideas with Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Fantasia, fairytales, magic spells and witches. Aladin with his magic flying carpet. Lion King with the “circle of life,” the mystical portrayal of the spirit of the dead lion guiding his cub, witchcraft and the practice of divination. Pocahontas portrays the Native American mystical and pagan view of Mother Earth as a spiritual being, rocks, trees and birds, etc. who have spirits as well as the out of body experiences.
Hollywood glamorizes and participates in horoscopes, star charting, channeling, witchcraft, mummies, etc. Television shows such as I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched and now Sabrina, The Teenage Witch portray witches and warlocks as normal everyday people.
The computer games Mystic and Dungeons and Dragons with occultic practices and fights to the death are filling young people’s minds with violence.
Pokemon (Pocket Monsters) trading cards, toys, characters, and computer games are produced by Wizards of the Coast who also produce Magic: The Gathering, an occultic trading card game and Dungeons and Dragons. The company descriptions of their collection of characters include: headstrong, cross-dressing, ability to read minds, quibbling, hormonal, vindictive, obnoxious, troublemaking, evil gang, fashion conscious, jerks evolving, teleporting and wearing occultic symbols. Not exactly characters our children should be emulating.
Sweeping the nation is the Harry Potter craze. Books and website to learn and practice casting spells, also movies and clubs abound. Harry’s parents, a witch and a warlock, were killed on Halloween by an evil curse. In the books and movies animals become humans and humans have animal characteristics, adults are portrayed as stupid, the children get revenge and control people they don’t like by casting spells and using magic and crystal balls and bringing forth the three-headed hound of hell. I’ve heard the statement, “This is good magic.” There is no such thing. God condemns magic, wizardry, sorcery and divination, and the penalty for participating in these things is death. The publishers want it to look harmless on the outside, but investigation shows a deeper sinister nature.
What to Do?
Study Martin Luther, John Huss and the many other Christian Reformers using the Biographical Sketches learning project.
There are two sides, two kingdoms and two rulers. There is no middle of the road—you are either for God or for Satan. Relatives and friends may ridicule and disbelieve, but they are really fighting God, not you. Decide now which side you are on and live accordingly.
Read to the back of The Book (Revelation), and you’ll learn the outcome of history. JESUS CHRIST WINS, and He takes His faithful followers home to heaven!
- C 2001 Judy Shewmake