History Of Halloween

During the month of October, the haunting sights of Halloween permeate the minds of children and adults every where, glorifying death, darkness and demons of the underworld. Sounds of horror pierce the night, bringing to life spirits, spooks, goblins and ghouls. A common fascination, these witches, black cats, skeletons and skulls produce an eerie and sinister atmosphere of evil. What lurks beneath the surface of this pagan holiday that has captured the sinister imagination of humanity and extols the deeds of satan? Is it just a harmless day of celebration, or another deception by this great deceiver to lure its victims into his realm of evil disguised in the garb of innocence? Have we become so complacent and accepting to the ways of the world that we no longer sense any danger in what we celebrate or believe? Perhaps we have skirted the edges of sin for so long, that we no longer recognize the signs of its presence in our life and have fallen into an attitude of complacency and compromise. With little or no conscience we tamper with these deeds of darkness unaware and unconcerned that they may dishonor or displease our creator.

Hidden deep in the heart of Halloween, disguised by fun, fantasy and frolic, are pagan rituals, mystic rights, and goulash satire, all in opposition to the light, life and love of Almighty God. Can we honestly look into the horror of Halloween with its gruesome and grotesque characters and see the beauty of God? We may shrug our shoulders and laugh it all off with a casual or flippant attitude of “its all in fun, no harm done”, but herein lies the trap of Satan. With our minds desensitized to the background of this celebration, we leave our children and ourselves open to the dangers of experimenting with witchcraft, Satanism, the drug-culture, spiritism, necromancy and other forms of divination and occult practices. Witches lose their repulsiveness, communicating with the dead seems less horrifying, and demonic entities less threatening. Movies and books glorify this wickedness and entice us to lose our fear of the occult and demons. It is important to understand that any occult connection is dangerous and, in a Christian context, intolerable.

The word occult means “hidden”. Included in a list of occult practices are the following: divination, astrology, spiritualism, numerology, yoga, demonology, divining with a rod or a pendulum, taro cards, tea leaves and many others. All thrive on their “mysterious” nature. The Feast of Samhain among those occult festivals celebrated annually in antiquity, became absorbed by the Roman Catholic Church and titled “All Saints (Hallows) Day”. It was celebrated each November 1, but the evening before became known as All Hallows eve. For the Celts, this marked the passage from a season of growth, harvest, and warmth to one of death, darkness and cold. Each October 31, Samhain, lord of the dead, supposedly assembled the souls of all those that had died during the previous year. The spirits of the dead left their graves and roamed the earth or visited their former homes and families. Known as the Vigil of Samhain, all sorts of goblins and spirits were thought to roam the earth. To pay for their sin, these souls were put into the bodies of animals. To celebrate this annual and seasonal passage, the Druids built huge bonfires. These fires served double duty, they warded off demons, but they also provided for a sacrifice to the sun god. In enormous wicker baskets, they caged both humans and animal sacrifices and burned their victims alive. By observing the way they died, the priests predicted good or evil for the future.

Other practices which find their origin in the celebration of this pagan holiday can be seen in our Halloween customs today. For the sake of their safety, people put out sweets and other goodies to pacify the evil spirits and keep them from causing harm. Hoping to fool the demons, many disguised themselves as evil spirits and roamed around committing malicious pranks, until dawn sent the ghosts back to their place of unholiness. Jack O’lanterns represent a damned soul, the colors orange and black are used in masses for the dead, dunking for apples is a form of divination, cats are said to represent incarnate humans. All in fun or should we take a better look?

Later in the year, when the sun began a northward trek in the sky, and days began to grow longer again, the Celtics celebrated the winter solstice with the burning of the Yule log. Since the sun had reversed itself and was now rising higher in the sky, it indicated the sun god’s acceptance of the sacrifices at Samhain. This celebration took place at the time of our Christmas celebration and, like other pagan practices, became absorbed and intertwined with it. There is more to these holidays than meets the eye. The question is, should a Christian participate in such practices? Ephesians 5:11 states, Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. When we celebrate the powers of darkness by masquerading as evil creatures or decorating our homes, offices, schools or churches with occult symbols, satanic power is glorified. While we may participate “all in fun”, be assured, Halloween is serious business for Satanists and witches. This is the night when the veil between the living and the dead is the thinnest. Is that “veil” separating us from Christ?