'Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I [am] the LORD your God. - Lev 19:31 NKJV
It is estimated that Americans spend up to $6 billion on Halloween each year! Can you imagine what could be done with that kind of money to help humanity or to feed the hungry? Halloween has just about passed the revenue of Christmas, and that is such a sad thing.
Perhaps you are not aware of what Halloween is all about, or maybe you are and do not care. If you have made up your mind, as a Christian, to continue to celebrate this "holiday," then you will probably not care about what I write here. However, if you are willing to open up to some biblical and historical truths, maybe you will relent from partaking any further in this night.
My heart is not to make anyone feel bad about celebrating Halloween, but I do want to give you some information that you can take or leave. I was into Halloween in such a way as allowing my child to trick or treat, frequenting haunted houses and occasional costume parties. I always knew since childhood that I didn't feel right during this time of year, but because everyone else did the Halloween thing, I did as well. After all, it is just harmless dress up that one would not do on any other night of the year. Right? Or is it something else?
What are We Teaching our Children
The Bible tells us to instruct our children in the ways of the Lord, and they will not depart. Anytime we do something with our children, they are learning from our actions and words. When we tell them not to do something because it is "bad," but we do it, we are teaching them how to be a hypocrite. We are essentially telling them two different things and are speaking out of both sides of our mouths; a forked tongue invents many lies.
As Christians, we should emulate what Jesus Christ did as well as what He would do under the circumstances of today's world. Jesus would not dress up as a warlock and gallop around the countryside seeking candy from strangers all in the name of "fun," nor would He condone it. I have heard every excuse imaginable for why Christians take their children trick or treating and why they choose to celebrate it.
I am speaking from a position of conviction; I once celebrated Halloween and all the devil's glory too. I then heard the backstory on this atrocious night, and my sacred cow was tipped. Does this make me religious or a hypocrite? I don't think so, but I did mature in my understanding. Apostle Paul said, When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 1Cor 13:11 NIV. The ideas of a child are uninformed and uneducated about most things because they are learning; good things and not so good things are being learned.
The Bible teaches us to come out from among the world, don't do as the Pagan (non-believer) does, and be holy because God is holy. No place in the word of God will we find an acceptable feast of the Lord as being one that celebrates the night of the dead!
Halloween is Samhain
The name Halloween is a derivative of All Hallows Eve, meaning the day before All Hallows Day, which is also known as All Saints Day. In the 8th century, Catholics turned Halloween or Samhain as the witches call it, into All Saints Day. November 1st was a day to commemorate the Catholic saints and martyrs observed since the Middle Ages on. All Saints Day and All Souls Day are considered days of prayer for the souls of the deceased. Why would anyone pray for the dead or to the dead? We are commanded not to do such things, and yet tradition still exists even within the Catholic church.
Though the Catholics may have made this popular among Christians, it goes back to a darker time and to a pagan festival of ancient Ireland known as Samhain. It was first considered that from October 31st through November 1st, thousands of Wiccans, Witches, Druids, and other pagans across the world observe Samhain. However, we see some celebrating this as early as the end of September.
Samhain is a Celtic solstice celebration marking the end of summer and the onset of winter. It began as a summer sacrifice to appease the lord of evil spirits and the dead. It is one of the most sinister calendar festivals of the year. It is celebrated with feasting, bonfires, sacrifice offerings, and tribute to the dead. The Celtics believed that the dead returned as ghosts, so they left food and wine on their doorsteps to keep spirits away, and when they went out, they would wear masks so the spirits would think they were fellow spirits.
Can you see the connection between the Celtics appeasing the dead and the Catholics venerating them?
Samhain, also held on November 1st, is a time when the world of the gods (demons) was believed to be made visible to humans as the veil in the spiritual realm between the worlds of the dead and living is at its thinnest. This thin veil makes it easier to communicate with lost loved ones.
People played tricks on others, and the celebration was filled with danger, charged with fear and full of supernatural manifestations. Sacrifices and accommodations of every kind were a must because the Celts believed they would not overcome the perils of the season or counter the activities of the deities without them.
One of the earliest customs of this Celtic practice was to go "souling," which was the practice of going door-to-door, offering prayers for the dead in exchange for soul cakes and other treats. In another tradition known as guising, young people would dress up in costume and deliver jokes, singing, or telling poetry in exchange for food, wine and even money. Whether the practice of trick or treating evolved from the Celtic traditions of souling is still under debate, but we can definitely see the connection.
However, the people in Ireland celebrated this time of year to the memory of the dead by prayer, communal feasting, sacrifices, and playing such divination games as bobbing for apples. Some believe that in the 19th century, the Irish and Celts revived these traditions of Samhain, and it became trick or treating.
Satanic in Nature
Let's look at Halloween from what Anton Levey, founder of the Church of Satan and Satanic Bible, has to say about it. Anton LaVey died in the late '90s, but he said, "I am glad that Christian parents let their children worship the devil at least one night out of the year. Welcome to Halloween." Yet on their website where one can find out about all of their beliefs and practices, they say they don't believe in Satan or demons. They say they are atheists trying to become "I-theist." Satanists worship self and claim they are a god.
Do Satanists Celebrate Halloween?
Satanists say, "Since Satanism is a self-centered religion, the highest holiday of the year would be the Satanist's own birthday, which needs no ritual but should be spent in doing things a Satanist would enjoy." "Since Satanism embraces Nature, the other holidays a Satanist might choose to celebrate would be the seasonal turning points marked by the equinoxes and solstices—the dates of which vary from year to year, as well as the midpoints between these which can be recognized as the climaxes of each season. In particular, April 30th, called Walpurgisnacht, is the Spring climax and the anniversary of the founding of the Church of Satan.
Halloween, October 31st, is the Fall climax and may be celebrated as a time when one's inner-self might be explored through the use of a costume, or one might recall those of importance in one's life who have died - as was done on that night in the European tradition." (Quoted from the Church of Satan's website).
How Important is Halloween to Satanists?
Supposedly, they see Halloween as a night when ordinary people try to "reach down inside and touch the "darkness," which for Satanists is a daily mode of existence." "Particularly in the United States, Halloween is a time for celebrating monster films, wearing costumes of a macabre nature, and evoking the thrill of "fun fear." Children (of all ages) can indulge their fantasies by donning costumes that allow for intense role-playing and the release of their "demonic cores," the parts of their personalities often hidden from their friends, co-workers, and families."
Satanists embrace what this holiday has become, and do not feel the need to be tied to ancient practices even though they admittedly are. They confess that on this night, they smile at the amateur explorers of their own inner darkness because they know that people enjoy a brief dip into the pool of the "shadow world." Satanists say that they encourage others to partake in dark fantasies, overindulge in candy, as well as the wide-ranging evocation of their aesthetics, even if it is but once a year.
Satanists have no problem making the connection to the celebrated "All Saints Day" and the practice of Samhain and Halloween. To be blatantly honest with the reader of this message, I believe that some Christians are quicker to honor the devil than the Savior, Jesus Christ. We see it every day in the church and on the streets, at festivals and holidays as well.
Christians dress up as witches, devils, and other demonic characters and do the same for the children.
Christians rarely keep the feasts and festivals of the Lord, but they are quick to celebrate those that are rooted in pagan beliefs.
Christians put tattoos on the bodies in forms of words or crosses and call it "Christian body art, " yet we are told our bodies are not our own but are the temple of the living God.
Christians worship Hindu gods in the form of Yoga and call it "Holy Yoga" or "Yeshua Yoga" or some other "Christianized" name and believe it to be good.
When Halloween arrives, people are quick to paint their faces, wear "innocent" costumes, dress up their doorways, and even their churches with pumpkins, scarecrows, and other fall festival items. What they are really saying is "welcome Satan" we are open for your presence! For those who can see in the spiritual realm, there are many demons present at these functions. One time there was a person who saw spiritually, several demons hanging from the cross of a church the day after they served the people in celebration of Halloween under the guise of "trunk or treat."
Just because we don't participate in demonic rites and rituals such as killing an animal or a person nor chanting and casting spells does not mean we are not empowering the dark realm. One might say, "oh, that's ridiculous; it's just innocent fun." I would say you are severely mistaken and need to allow the Holy Spirit to cut to your heart and bring the truth of the Holy God we serve because He would not allow this type of celebration for those He has called out of the darkness so that they could proclaim His praises!
To a Satanist, according to John Ramirez, who is a former Satan worshiper, Halloween is the equivalent of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday! We invite non-believers to these special services every year, would you go to a satanic Halloween service if you were invited? Well, that is what we are doing when we partake in this night.
Now that you have seen Halloween from a Satanist point of view, let's look at some other viewpoints you may not be aware of.
For Pagans and Wiccans, Halloween is celebrated as Samhain, an opportunity to celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth. Many Pagans and Wiccans celebrate by decorating an altar with symbols that represent death, the harvest season, and tools of divination. They add some Samhain prayers into the rituals and quietly meditate on their dead ancestors. In addition to this, they may perform rituals to gods and goddesses that mark the cycle of life and death. They may also visit a cemetery. You may be familiar with this practice when the celebration of Day of the Dead or Dia de Los Muertos in Spanish, is portrayed all over the media. The bottom line is that this is the worship of the dead, not remembering them in our hearts but venerating them with ancestor altars.
The Bible says, "And when they say to you, "Inquire of the mediums and necromancers who chirp and mutter," should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living?" Isa 8:19 ESV and For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. Ecclesiastes 9:5-6
Halloween is a sacred cow to many and one that they don't want to give up. Little do people know that this does nothing to evangelize a lost nation to the truth of a God who calls His people to be holy. If, by some chance, a person comes to the knowledge of Jesus Christ via a trunk or treat festival, they will likely struggle with the message of the entire Bible, the one that says to come out from among them, the Pagans.
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. 1Cor 10:21 NIV