Satan’s High Holy Day?
Halloween
– Innocent Fun or Ghoulish Horror?
Is Halloween merely innocent merry-making or a celebration
of the “dark side” -- sinister forces and occult powers that exist
on the earth? What is the truth about this fascinating holiday
and people’s captivation by it? Where did it come from?
Should God’s people celebrate it today?
William F. Dankenbring
What is the truth about “Halloween”? Is it really so innocent and full of fun? Why does the whole western world celebrate this day – second only to Christmas in popularity?
Take a good look at the present day celebration of Halloween. The whole theme one of darkness, death, fear, threats, destruction and evil. There are witches, broomsticks, bats, owls, ghosts, skeletons, death, and monsters. People dress up their children as demons and witches and ghouls and monsters and werewolves and send them out into the street in the darkness to “trick or treat.” But where did this custom come from?
At Halloween there are parties where people masquerade, dress up as bizarre monsters, freaks, or weird figures. There is apple bobbing, divination, fortune telling, haunted houses, candles lit and spirits called up. There will be seances and ouija boards in the name of “fun” and excitement.
And,, on the part of some, there will be sacrifices of dogs, cats, rats, chickens, goats and – believe it or not – even humans!
The Mystery of
Halloween
October 31 is the most important day in the satanic year. [Some say it is known as the devil's birthday.] It marks the Celtic new year. It was the end of the growing season. It became a festival of death. On this day, the god of the Celtics was to have called up the spirits of the wicked dead who had died during the past year. At the same time, other evil spirits arose and went about the countryside harassing the people. On October 31, the Celtics expected to be harassed by ghosts, evil spirits and demons; and it was no fun and games to them. They would light bonfires to guide the spirits to their own town and to ward off evil spirits.
We
read in USA Weekend,
“Rooted in pagan traditions
more than 2,000 years old, Halloween grew
out of a Celtic celebration
marking the onset of winter’s gloom.
Called
Samhain (pronounced sow-in
or sow-een), it combined the Celt’s harvest
and New Year festivals, held
in late October and earlly November by
people in what is now
This ritual was tied to the
seasonal cycles of life and death, as the last crops
were harvested and livestock
were brought in for winter or for slaughter.
“The Celts saw Samhain as a
fearful time, when the barrier between the
world of the living and dead
broke and spirits walked the Earth.
Going
door-to-door, children
collected wood for a sacred bonfire that provided
light against the growing
darkness. During this fiery festival,
the Celts
wore masks, often made of
animal heads and skins, hoping to frighten off
spirits. As the celebration ended, families carried
home embers from
the communal fire to relight
their hearth fires.” (“Don’t Know Much
about
Halloween,” Kenneth
The author continues:
“Christianity took a dim
view of these ‘heathen’ rites, attempting
to replace the Celtic
festival of the dead with a church-approved
holiday, the seventh-century
Pope Boniface IV designated Nov.1
All Saints’ Day to honor
saints and martyrs. Then, in 1000 A.D.,
the church made Nov. 2 All
Souls’ Day, a day to remember the
departed and to pray for
their souls. Even still, people
continued
to celebrate holy days like
Samhain, costumed as angels and devils,
with bonfires and
parades. Together, the three
celebrations (All
Saints’ Eve, All Saints’ Day
and All Souls’ Day) were called
Hallowmas, and he night
before came to be called All-hallows
Evening, eventually
shortened to ‘Halloween.’
“Merged with Christianity,
these Celtic rituals held sway in
for centuries. And when millions of Irish and Europeans
emigrated
to
“Halloween, in other words,
is deeply rooted in myths – ancient
stories explaining the
seasons and the mysteries of life and death”
(ibid.).
The World Book Encyclopedia states, under “Halloween,”
“HALLOWEEN is a festival that takes place on October 31. In the
treating. Many carve jack-
o’-lanterns out of pumpkins. At Halloween
parties, people enjoy such
activities as fortunetelling, hearing stories about
ghosts and witches, and
bobbing for apples.
“Halloween developed from
ancient new year festivals and festivals of
the dead. In the A.D. 800's,
the church established All Saints' Day
on November 1 so that people
could continue a festival they had cele-
brated before becoming
Christians. The Mass that was said on this day
was called Allhallowmas. The
evening before became known as All Hallow
e' en, or Halloween.
“The Celtic Festival of Samhain is probably the
source of the present-
day Halloween celebration.
The Celts lived more than 2,000 years ago in
what is now
began on November I. A
festival that began the previous evening honored
Samhain, the Celtic lord of death.
The celebration marked the beginning of
the season of cold, darkness,
and decay. It naturally became associated
with human death. The Celts
believed that Samhain allowed the souls of
the dead to return :to their
earthly homes for this evening.”
What is the real truth about “Halloween”? Why does the whole western world celebrate this day – of witches, ghouls, goblins, demons, and skeletons? Why is it second only to Christmas in popularity?
Obviously, Halloween is not Christian in origin nor is it mentioned directly anywhere in the Bible. On October 31, the druids went from house to house demanding certain foods, and all those who refused were cursed. The people were tormented by means of magic. As they went, the druids carried large turnips which they had hollowed out and on which they had carved demon faces as charms. Each one was believed to contain the demon spirit that personally led or guided that priest: his little god.
Continuing
in the Worldbook Encyclopedia::
“On the evening of the
festival, the Druids, who were the priests and
teachers of the Celts,
ordered the people to put out their hearth fires.
The Druids built a huge new
year’s bonfire of oak branches, which they
considered sacred. They
bummed animals, crops, and possibly even
human beings as sacrifices.
Then each family lit its hearth fire from the
new year’s fire. During the
celebration, people sometimes wore
costumes made of inimal heads
and skins. They told fortunes about the
coming year by examining the
remains of the animals that had been sacrificed.
“The Romans conquered the Celts in A.D.
43 and ruled what is now
autumn festivals were
combined with the Celtic festival of Samhain. One
of them, ::alled Feralia, was
held in late October to honor the iead. The
other festival honored
Apples probably became
associated with Halloween because of this festival.
“All Saints’ Day. Many of the customs of the
Celts survived even after
the people became Christians.
During the 800’s, the church established
All Saints’ Day on November 1
(see ALL SAINTS' DAY). The people made
the old pagan customs part of
this Christian holy :lay. The church later began
to honor the dead on November 2. This day became
known as All Souls’
Day.
“Regional Halloween Customs developed among various groups of Celts.
In
honored Muck alla, a god. The leader of the parade wore a white robe
and
a mask made from the head of an animal. In
paraded through fidds and villages carrying torches. They lit
huge bonfires on hillsides to drive away witches and other evil spirits.
In
The people believed that if a person’s stone was missing the
next morning, he or she would die within a year.
“In
Apple Night. Families sat by the fire and
told stories while they ate apples
and nuts. an All Souls' Day,
poor people went a-souling (begging).
They received pastries called
soulcakes in exchange for promising to say
prayers for the dead” (Worldbook
Encyclopedia, vol.9,
p.25).
Origin of
Halloween
David J. Meyer, a former witch who
converted to Christianity, writes of Halloween:
“Where
did it all come from? October 31st is a day of ghosts, witches,
goblins, and
grotesque creatures. It is also a day of orange and black, of candles and jack-o-lanterns.
Costume parties and strange customs occupy the
minds of western civilization, and all of this seems to be intensifying every
year. Children wearing every kind of costume imaginable, and some unimaginable, have been going for
door to door for years at the end of October
saying ‘trick or treat’ and collecting bags full of treats. In recent years, many people have
been decorating their yards as cemeteries and making their houses look spooky.
Even churches have Halloween parties and
set up "haunted houses" as fund raising projects. Where did it all
come from, and what does it all mean?
Most people would say it is all harmless fun.
Some would venture to say, ‘If there is any witchcraft in it, it is white witchcraft.’ In order to truly answer
both of the questions where did it come from
and what does it mean, we must go clear back to the origin of it all.”
“Halloween has its
origin in the
“Eight times
each year, the witches celebrated a sabat and the ritual work and spell casting was always done on
the eve of the sabat. The sabats are Imbolc
on February 2nd, the spring equinox on March 22nd, Beltaine on May 1st, the summer solstice
on June 22nd, Lugnahsaid on July 31st, the fall
equinox on September 22nd, Samhain on October 31st, and the winter solstice on December 22nd, which is also
known as Yule.
“Witches have special ways of celebrating
for each sabat, and even though they do not believe in Satan, it is Satan who
gives them the experiences they have
and deceives them into thinking it is the forces of nature they are tapping into. Halloween is the most
important of the eight sabats in witchcraft and is known to the witches by the
Scotch-Gaelic word ‘Samhain’, which is pro-nounced ‘SOW-EEN.’ It is believed that on that night, the
barrier between this world and
the next, known as the astral plane, becomes very thin. The witches believe
that this allows spirits of departed ones to travel freely back and forth
between the earth and the spirit realm. Thus, Halloween is the highest day in
Wiccan witchcraft. On that night for many centuries, witches would work their
magic and then have wild parties all through the darkness of that night. They
would play games, such as bobbing for apples, because witches regard the apple
as sacred. The witches would also tell stories from their personal diaries of
spells known as their ‘book of shadows.’ These ghost stories would start when
the hosting High Priest or Priestess would say, ‘A witches’ tale and a cup of
ale for the host of our guests unseen.’
“In those early
days in
“As darkness set
in on October 31st, the clan of Druids would put on their white robes and hoods. They would carry sickles and
Celtic crosses as they began a torchlight
procession. At the beginning of the procession, a male slave was killed and dragged by a rope fastened to his
left ankle. The Druids would walk until they
came to a house or a village where they shouted the equivalent of ‘trick or treat.’ The treat was a slave girl or any
female to be given to the Druids. If the people
refused to a girl as a "treat", blood was taken from the dead slave
and used to draw a hexagram or
six-pointed star on the door or wall of the village. Spirits of the ‘horned hunter of the night’ were
invoked by the Druids to kill someone in that
house or village by fear that night.
“If the house or
village gave a girl as a "treat", the Druids put a pumpkin with a face carved in it in front of
the door or gate of that place. Inside the pumpkin was a candle made of human tallow to keep
evil spirits away. Thus, the Jack-O- Lantern
was and is a sign that you have cooperated with Satan.
‘The treats or
female victims were taken to
Should We Celebrate Pagan Customs?
Clearly, Halloween is a pagan holiday, pagan
to its rotten core! It is a filthy
abomination to God and no Christian should have anything to do with this
Satanic holiday!
Halloween is not mere harmless fun or
merry-making! It’s roots are far ore
sinister than that!
The apostle John declared, “that
serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan . . . deceives the WHOLE WORLD”
(Rev.12:9). He wrote, “The whole world
lies under the sway of the wicked one” (I John
Satan has people in our modern era
mimicking the witches and Druids of old. We live in a time when witchcraft is
being revived. Movies are filled with witchcraft and
numerous television programs are teaching witchcraft to millions. The
Harry Potter books are furthering the cause of Satan!
Halloween is not harmless fun! This evil
holiday has its roots in Satanic practices and should be no part in the life of
a Christian. The Roman Catholic Church tried to “baptize” this evil day and
make it “Christian,” but you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear!
What does Almighty God say about
observing such days, or participating in their frivolities? Should
Christians today celebrate this ancient festival? Many today may think it is all right, but the
opinions of men are not our standard or authority. What does the Word of God itself say about
this matter? It is a very serious
question.
Is it all right in the sight of God for men to
take pagan customs and traditions, and to observe them, calling them
“Christian”? Is it all right to merge
and combine PAGAN practices with
the truth of God?
According to the prophet Malachi,
God does not change (Mal.3:6). His laws
and commandments are eternal (Psa.111:7-8).
Does God say it is all right to observe the traditions and customs of
the pagans?
God commanded ancient
God hates idolatry! He detests it with vehement passion. He tells us, “. . . Be careful not to be
ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve
their gods? We will do the same.’ YOU must NOT WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD IN THEIR
WAY, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of DETESTABLE
THINGS the LORD HATES” (Deut.12:29-31).
God’s Word thunders: “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled, so I punished it for its sin, and the land VOMITED out its inhabitants . . . Anyone who does any of these DETESTABLE THINGS -- such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep my requirements and do NOT follow ANY OF THE DETESTABLE CUSTOMS that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God” (Lev.18:24-30).
God tells us plainly: “Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: Thus saith the Lord, LEARN NOT THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the CUSTOMS of the people are VAIN [futile, empty, useless, worthless]” (Jeremiah 10:1-3).
Truly, the whole world has been
deceived by Satan the devil and his clever masquerades and machinations
(Rev.12:9). God Almighty thunders: “Wherefore say unto the house of
Jesus Christ and the early Church
never observed Halloween, or anything remotely resembling it!
Jesus Christ said to His disciples,
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will KNOW THE TRUTH, and the truth
will set you FREE” – free from the shackles of error, superstition,
mythology, and pagan deception! (John
8:32, NIV).
Christ also warned about observing
“traditioins of MEN.” He declared, “Why
do you transgress the commandment of God because of your TRADITION?”
(Matt.15:3). He warned, “These people
draw near to Me with their mouth,, and honor Me with their lips, but their
heart is far from Me. And IN VAIN they
worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (verses 8-9).
Search through the Bible and you
will find no evidence that either Christ, the apostles, or the New Testament
Church ever observed “Halloween”! It is
a HUMAN custom, a “tradition of men,” and even worse – it is connected closely
with WITCHCRAFT, and the Word of God condemns ALL “witchcraft”!
The prophet Samuel declared to king
Saul, “Behold to OBEY [God’s law] is better than sacrifice, and to HEED than
the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the
sin of WITCHRAFT, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry” (I Samuel
Halloween celebrates witchcraft,
demons, familiar “spirits,” and the occult forces of darkness. God declares in His Holy Word: “Give NO REGARD to mediums and familiar
spirits [demons]; do NOT seek after them, to be DEFILED by them: I am the LORD your God” (Lev.19:31).
God warns severely, “And the person
who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I
will set My face against that person and CUT HIM OFF from his people”
(Lev.20:6).
God commands His people, “And you
shall be HOLY to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have SEPARATED you from the
peoples, that you should be MINE” (Lev.20:26).
King Solomon was
inspired to write: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs
Taking pagan
practices and celebrating them as “harmless fun” is making light of these
serious warnings of God, and tantamount to inviting the devil into your house
and home – and heart! You cannot justify
observing pagan practices and calling them “Christian”! If you say, We are delivered to do these
things,” then the Word of God says He will cut you OFF from among His true
people!
“The wages of
sin is DEATH” (Romans
Should you
simply go along with the crowd and celebrate this popular holiday of Halloween?
God says: “Do NOT be unequally yoked together with
unbelievers. For what fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what
communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an
unbeliever? And what agreement has the
God sent ancient
The question is
whether or not we are willing to trustfully obey God, even if we do not fully
understand why He tells us to do something. To learn this kind of obedience
based on faith is of decisive importance not only for our life here and now,
but also for all eternity.
Whether or not
we observe pagan customs labeled “Christian” makes a great deal of difference
to God. Therefore, let's get back to the pure, unaltered and unadulterated
faith which was once delivered to the saints.
Halloween is utterly pagan. There is no doubt about it.
The question is: What are you going to do about it? May God help you to make the right decision,
so you can inherit eternal life, and reign with the saints forever
(Rev.2:26-27;
HALLOWE’EN
Trick?
or Treat?
Millions of people
observe Hallowe’en as a time to have fun,
kick up their heels, go
to costume parties, dress up as ghosts,
mass murderers, goblins,
ghouls, witches, warlocks, demons,
and send their children
“trick or treating.” But WHY? What
is behind this major
holiday, whose commercial importance
grows year by year? Is it all so innocent as millions assume?
What does the Word of
the Living God say about it?
William F. Dankenbring
According to the comic strip “Cathy,” in the
Good questions!
Where did Hallowe’en come from, anyway?
Why do so many people enjoy it, and dressing up in bizarre, ghoulish,
and grotesque costumes? Is it all just
innocent fun and games, and nothing to worry about? Or is there an occult, sinister, dark side to
Hallowe’en that few people today suspect, or know anything about?
In the November issue of a religious magazine called The
Plain Truth (I call it the “Plain Trash”), there is an article on
Hallowe’en in a section called “Questions.”
The question they attempt to answer is:
“How should a Christian view Halloween?”
Notice how they tippy-toe around this question in their answer. First of all, they admit:
“Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, falls on Oct.31. It immediately precedes
All Saints’ Day
on Nov.1. All Saints’ Day celebrates the
memory of Christian
martyrs who
suffered and died for the sake of the gospel [sounds like they are
endorsing its
observance, doesn’t it?]. . . the Roman Catholic Church did not
order the
UNIVERSAL OBSERVANCE of All Saints’ Day on Nov.1 until
the ninth
century.
“In ancient
pagan Celtic
festival of Sambain (sic, it should be “Samhain”). . .
“At Sambain (sic),
the souls of the dead were thought to come back and visit
their
homes. Bonfires were lit to scare evil
spirits. Sinister figures -- witches,
ghosts, goblins,
and demons -- supposedly roamed about” (p.10).
It
almost sounds as if they are admitting that the origin of Hallowe’en is
distinctly PAGAN. But they also seem to
be admitting that it is a “Christian holiday,” now, and assert, “The pagan
practices gradually swayed the celebration of All Hallows Eve.” Is it all right, therefore, for Christians to
observe it? Or should all people steer
far clear of this pagan celebration? The
article concludes, in a weak-kneed, insipid, compromising stance, giving no
advice whatsoever and never answers the original question! Rather, the magazine says:
“Because of the pagan elements that long ago became attached to
the
evening, many
devout Christians choose to avoid trick or treating and
other Halloween
customs. Christian parents often
steer their children
away from taking
part is what they see as a celebration of darkness and
mischief”
(emphasis mine, throughout).
How
quaint. How sweet. The implication, of course, is that the
decision is yours to make -- that God’s Word says nothing really about it one
way or the other. The article concludes,
“A dedicated Christian will not knowingly celebrate evil. With this in mind, many Christians
avoid participation in the dark practices associated with the celebration of
Halloween” (ibid.).
Really? Is that
all there is to it? The idea seems to be
that you can celebrate it if you wish, so long as you avoid any purely “evil”
or “dark practices” connected with it, whatever they may be. The message I receive from this is that you
can go ahead, and have fun, but just “remember Christ” and don’t do anything that
would constitute a “dark practice.” I
suppose that means, don’t murder, rape or kill somebody, dismember, or hurt
anybody.
I found the Pasadena Star-News article far more
informative and helpful, in exposing the true origin of this popular holiday. In an article “Unmasking Halloween
traditions,” Christopher Nyerges writes:
“The roots of Halloween go back to the Celts. To the ancient Celts, there
were six
significant fire ceremonies during the year.
The greatest of these
were Beltane,
the first of May, and Samhain, the last day of October.
“The feast of
Samhain (meaning ‘summer’s end’), marked both their Feast
of the Dead and
the Celtic New Year. This time of the
year, half-way between
the autumnal
equinox and the winter solstice, was a time of decay and death
on the earth.
“Samhain ushered
in the darkest and most barren time of the year, a time fraught
with ghosts,
witches, demons, and fairies.
“Fire rites,
during which HUMAN AND ANIMAL SACRIFICES were made,
were performed in the belief that they’d
protect the crops and flocks from demonic
influence”
(Saturday, October 28, 1995).
The
Celts believed that on the Feast of Samhain, the spirits of their ancestors
would rise up from the cold fields and graves and come into the warm homes and
cottages of the people, and had to be greeted with decorations and festivities,
parties and acceptance, in order to get “protection” for the household from
evil spirits during the coming winter months.
Offerings were made to protect the household from malicious spirits or
demons. Says Christopher Nyerges:
“Thus, in its origin, the Feast of Samhain was a rite designed to
protect humans
from the ‘evil’
activities of the dis-incarnate. It was,
if you will, a BARGAIN
WITH THE DEAD so
they’d stay away and cause no trouble during the next year.”
The
World Book Encyclopedia describes the origin of this holiday in these
words:
“The Celtic Festival of Samhain is probably the source of the
present-day
Halloween
celebration. The Celts lived more than
2,000 years ago in what
is now
November 1. A festival that began the previous evening
honored Samhain,
the Celtic lord
of death. The celebration marked the
beginning of the season
of cold,
darkness, and decay. It naturally became
associated with human death.
The Celts
believed that Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to
their earthly
homes for this evening.
“On the evening of the festival, the
Druids, who were the priests and teachers
of the Celts,
ordered the people to put out their hearth fires. The Druids built
a huge, new
year’s BONFIRE of oak branches, which they considered sacred.
They burned
animals, crops, and possibly even human beings as SACRIFICES.
Then each family
relit its hearth fire from the new year’s fire.
During the
celebration,
people sometimes WORE COSTUMES made of animal heads and
skins. They told fortunes about the coming year by
examining the remains of
the animals that
had been sacrificed” (article “Halloween,” p.25).
This
Celtic holiday entered the
Says the Encyclopedia Britannica, eleventh
edition, of Hallowe’en:
“Hallowe’en and its formerly attendant ceremonies long antedate
Christianity.
The two chief
characteristics of ancient Hallowe’en were the lighting of bonfires
and the belief
that of all nights in the year this is the one during which ghosts
and witches are
most likely to wander abroad. Now on or
about the first of
November the
Druids held their great autumnal festival and lighted fires in
honor of the
SUN-GOD in thanksgiving for the harvest.
Further, it was a
Druid
belief that on
the eve of this festival, Saman, LORD OF DEATH, called together
the wicked souls
that within the past twelve months had been condemned to
inhabit the
bodies of animals. Thus it is clear that
the main celebrations of
Hallowe’en were purely
Druidical, and this is further proved by the fact that in
parts of
Shamhna, ‘Vigil of Samhan.’ On the Druid ceremonies were GRAFTED some
of the
characteristics of the Roman festival in honor of
end of November,
in which nuts and apples, as representing the winter store of
fruits, played
an important part. Thus the roasting of
nuts and the sport known
as
‘apple-ducking’ -- attempting to seize with the teeth an apple floating in a
tub
of water -- were
once the universal occupation of the young folk in medieval
survived until
recent years in the highlands of
embers it was
usual to place as many small stones as there were persons around,
and next morning
a search was made. If any of the pebbles
were displaced it was
regarded as certain
that the person represented would die within the next twelve
months”
(“Hallowe’en, p.857-858).
But
what happened? How did this ancient
Druid, Celtic festival in honor of the “Lord of the Dead,” and celebrated in
worship of the “Sun-god,” ever creep into the practice of the “Christian
Church”?
Hallowe’en
Enters “Christianity”
Many ancient pagan
practices became incorporated into the practices of the early Church, including
virtually every pagan festival known to the Romans and the inhabitants of the
“Many of the customs of the Celts survived even after the people
became
Christians. During the 800’s, the church established All
Saints’ Day on
November 1. THE PEOPLE MADE THE OLD PAGAN CUSTOMS PART
OF THIS
CHRISTIAN HOLY DAY. THE CHURCH BEGAN
TO HONOR
THE DEAD ON
NOVEMBER 2. This day
became known as All Souls’ Day.”
Writes
Christopher Nyerges, in “Unmasking Halloween traditions”:
“In the 700s, the Roman Catholic Church authorities accepted the
fact that
they had failed
in their attempts to eliminate the Samhain observations, which
were considered
‘PAGAN.’ Thus, as has often occurred
when New
Religion
clashed with Old
Religion, the names of the holy days were changed. Nov.1
became All
Saints’ Day, and the day before became the Hallowed Eve, or Holy
Eve, which we
today call Halloween. THIS WAY, THE
OLD RELIGION
PRACTICE OF
SAMHAIN COULD CONTINUE, BUT NOW IT WAS A
CHRISTIAN [sic]
HOLY DAY. As a result, the members of
the Catholic
Church
increased, everyone way happy and things went on as usual.”
How
blatant! How plain! How clever and odious! The Church could not conquer or stamp out the
paganism in the hearts and traditions of the people, so it did the opposite --
it embraced, and took to its bosom, the paganism of old, and “baptized” it, and
then called these pagan practices “CHRISTIAN”!
But what does Almighty God, and Jesus Christ, our
Saviour, say about this sort of thing?
Is it all right in God’s sight if any of His people worship Him with the
practices of ancient pagan religions? It
is acceptable with God if we follow pagan-derived practices and call them
“Christian”?
Christ never observed Hallowe’en. None of the apostles observed it. None of the early churches in the first
century observed it. It did not even
become an official “Catholic” holy (sic) day until the NINTH CENTURY --
over 800 years after the time of Christ!
The fact that Hallowe’en is making a huge successful
comeback, today, and is observed by MILLIONS around the world, shows that
paganism is itself making a tremendous leap forward under the guise of the
modern “Christian” religion. Should any
true Christian, or believer in the Messiah Yeshua, observe the popular
holiday?
What the Word of
God Says
Jesus Christ very
plainly said that man should not live by bread only, but by every word of God
(Matt.4:4; Luke 4:4). All Scripture is
given by God’s inspiration and is profitable for doctrine, correction, reproof,
and guidance in our lives (II Tim.3:16-17).
God’s Word is truth -- truth to live by (John 17:17).
What then does God’s Word say about adopting and
“baptizing” pagan practices and calling them “Christian” and following them?
Is it all right to combine PAGAN religion -- the “old
religion” -- with God’s truth? God’s
Word says: “Ye shall not add unto the
word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may
keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you”
(Deut.4:2).
God thunders in His Word:
“Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go
well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that
which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God. When the LORD thy God shall cut off the
nations [pagan nations] from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them,
and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; take heed to thyself that
thou BE NOT SNARED BY FOLLOWING THEM . . . and that thou inquire not after
their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
“THOU SHALT NOT DO
SO UNTO THE LORD THY GOD: for EVERY
ABOMINATION to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for
even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the FIRE to their gods.
“What thing soever I
command you, observe to do it: thou
shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it” (Deut.12:28-32).
The prophet Jeremiah plainly tells us in straight language
which brooks no compromise or misinterpretation: “Thus saith the LORD, learn NOT the way of
the heathen . . . For the customs of the people are VAIN . . .” (Jeremiah
10:2-3).
The pagan origin of Hallowe’en, no matter how the Roman
Catholic Church tries to whitewash it, or colorize it, or “Christianize” it, is
plainly obvious for all to see. The real
question is: Whom are we going to obey? The true God of heaven and earth, our
Creator? Or the “god” of this world,
Satan the devil, the real “god” behind the mask of Hallowe’en?
The Scriptures tell us forcefully that Satan is “the
great dragon,” “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD” (Rev.12:9).
He is the master of subtlety and deception. He calls good evil, and evil good. He says, “What’s the harm in observing
Hallowe’en, and having a little ‘innocent’ fun?” It is his purpose to delude, deceive, and
destroy mankind by leading them into sin, lawlessness, and disobedience to the
laws and Word of Almighty God.
When Caesar invaded Britain, he found the Druids leading
the Britons in the worship of the sun-god and his consort, the queen of
heaven. This was the same age-old
“mystery” religious system that originated from ancient Babylon and Egypt. Samhain, the “lord of the dead,” was none
other than that old idolatrous figure Nimrod.
Says Alexander Hislop in The Two Babylons:
“The Druidic system in all its parts was
evidently the BABYLONIAN
SYSTEM. Dionysius informs us, that the rites of
Bacchus were duly
celebrated in
the British Islands . . . and Strabo cites Artemidorus to show
that, in an
island close to Britain, Ceres and Proserpine were venerated
with rites
similar to the orgies of Samothrace. It
will be seen from the
account of the
Druid Ceridwen and her child, afterwards to be noticed --
that there was a
great analogy between her character and that of the great
goddess-mother
of Babylon. Such was the system; and the
name Dryw, or
Droi, applied to
the priests, is in exact accordance with that system. The
name Zero, given
in Hebrew or the early Chaldee, to the son of the great
goddess queen,
in later Chaldee became ‘Dero.’ The
priest of Dero, ‘the
seed,’ was
called, as in the case in almost all religions, by the name of his
god; and hence
the familiar name ‘Druid’ is thus proved to signify the priest
of ‘Dero’ -- the
woman’s promised ‘seed’” (p.81, footnote).
Hislop
further tells us:
“The worship of Bel and Astarte [Nimrod and Easter] was very early
introduced into
Britain, along with the Druids, ‘the priests of the groves’
. . . . From
Bel, the 1st of May is still called Beltane in the Almanac;
and we have
customs still lingering at this day among us, which prove
how exactly the
worship of Bel or MOLOCH (for both titles belong to
the same god)
had been observed even in the northern parts of this island
. . . every
year, at Beltane (or the 1st of May), a number of men and women
assemble at an
ancient Druidical circle of stones . . . They light a fire in the
centre, each
person puts a bit of oat-cake in a shepherd’s bonnet. One piece
has been
previously blackened, and whoever gets that piece has to jump
through the fire
in the centre of the circle, and pay a forfeit.
This is, in
fact, A PART OF
THE ANCIENT WORSHIP OF BAAL, and the person
on whom the lot
fell was previously burnt as a sacrifice.
Now, the passing
through the fire
represents that, and the payment of the forfeit redeems the
victim”
(p.103-104).
One
of Nimrod’s names under which he was worshipped as a god, was “Molech,” the god
of fire. Molech was the god of
barbarity, cruelty and blood. The name
itself is a form of the
Hebrew word ‘melek’ which
means “king.” Nimrod was the first man
after the Flood of Noah’s time to become a “king” and to carve out for himself
a “kingdom” on the earth (see Genesis 10:8-10).
At first he was worshipped as the “revealer of goodness and truth,” but
gradually his worship was made to correspond to the darker and more forbidding
side of his nature. The horrible rites
associated with the worship of this fiend have made the very name a symbol of
cruelty and terror, such as is associated with Hallowe’en. Only it was very read, not just pretend.
Says Hislop:
“In almost every land the bloody worship prevailed; ‘horrid
cruelty’ hand in
hand with abject
superstition, filled not only ‘the dark places of the earth,’
but also the
regions that boasted of their enlightenment.
Greece, Rome,
Egypt, Phenicia,
Assyria, and our own land under the savage Druids, at one
period or other
in their history, worshipped the same god and in the same
way. Human victims were his most acceptable
offerings; human groans
and wailings
were the sweetest music in his ears; human tortures were
believed to
delight his heart” (p.151).
Hislop
relates that the Druids “offered human sacrifices to their bloody gods.” He adds:
“We have evidence that they ‘made their children pass through the
fire to
Molech,’ and
that makes it highly probable that they also offered them in
sacrifice; for
from Jeremiah 32:35, compared with Jeremiah 19:5, we find
that these two
things were parts of one and the same system.
The god whom
the Druids
worshipped was BAAL, as the blazing Baal-fires show, and the
last cited
passage proves that children were offered in sacrifice to Baal. When
‘fruit of the
body’ was thus offered, it was ‘for the sin of the soul.’ And it
was a principle
of the Mosaic law, a principle no doubt derived from the
patriarchal faith,
that the priest must partake of whatever was offered as a sin-
offering
(Numbers 18:9, 10). Hence, the priests
of Nimrod or Baal were
necessarily
required to eat of the human sacrifices; and thus it has come to
pass that
‘Cahna-Bal,’ the ‘Priest of Baal,’ is the established word in our
own tongue for a
devourer of human flesh” (Two Babylons, p.232).
Thus
our word “cannibal” comes from the word “Cahna-Bal,” meaning originally “priest
of Baal.” Also, Molech, the name for
“King” Nimrod, another appellation of Baal, or Bel, was obviously connected
with the “bon fires” that were lit by the ancient Celts in their celebration of
“Samhain,” “lord of the dead.” Thus the
origin of the holiday we know as “Hallowe’en” is incredibly ugly, vile, and an
abomination in the sight of Almighty God, and Jesus Christ.
God Word says of this inhuman and vile pagan
religion: “And they built the high
places of BAAL, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their
sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I
commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this
ABOMINATION . . .” (Jer.32:35).
God thunders:
“They have built also the high places for BAAL, to burn their sons
with fire for BURNT OFFERINGS unto BAAL, which I commanded not, nor spake
it, neither came it into my mind:
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall
no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley
of slaughter” (Jer.19:5).
When we consider the horrible ancestry of this modern
celebration of Hallowe’en, and its gruesome and grotesque connection with
darkness and evil, how can a true Christian even imagine to have anything
whatsoever to do with this hideous, horrible, and macabre eve of pagan
glorification of Satan, witchcraft, demons, ghouls, sorcery, and diabolical
Satanic deception? What should a true
Christian do about such “holidays”?
God’s Word clearly commands and instructs us:
“Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for
what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness?
and what communion hath light with
DARKNESS? And
what concord hath Christ with BELIAL (Satan
the Devil)?
or what part hath he that believeth with an
infidel? And what
agreement hath the temple of God with IDOLS?
. . . Where-
fore, COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE YE
SEPARATE, saith the Lord, and TOUCH NOT THE
UN-
CLEAN THING; and I will receive you, and will be a Father
unto you, and ye shall be my sons and
daughters, saith the
Lord Almighty” (II Corinthians 6:14-18).
Make “no bones” about it.
Hallowe’en is an abomination in the sight of God, and any son or
daughter of His should have nothing whatsoever to do with this wicked, evil,
and despicable “holiday” which the world around us celebrates with fervor and
glee. God forbid that any of His
children should get involved in this wicked abomination! As the apostle Peter declared, “But as he
which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conduct; because
it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy” (I Pet.1:15-16).