(This is a special post
added this week. For those of you looking for the latest installment about
defeating depression, see the Monday, October 28 post!)
Whether therefore
ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Halloween is BIG
business. Worldwide, it’s a celebration that attracts all ages and ranks
second to Christmas for dollars spent. With consumer spending expected to be
around $6.9 billion dollars, it’s a retailers delight. Pet owners will spend
over $330 million on pet costumes. It also gives retailers a kickstart to the
upcoming Christmas season.
As a recent AOL
article stated: “For many people, Halloween has become a much-needed escape from
reality. ‘For adults, you can put on a Halloween costume and forget about work,
the bad economy, and other pressures,’ said Kelly David, Spirit Halloween
spokesperson.”
When I was a kid, Halloween was
one of my favorite holidays. My mother spent weeks preparing the perfect,
award-winning costume for me. We’d troop down to the fabric store to locate the
must-have costume pattern and material. Then she’d measure, sew, fit and
complete my get-up, which I proudly, arrogantly, donned at school in front of
my envious classmates.
Then, as I
entered my late elementary and middle school years, my fascination with
Halloween altered. Gradually I became more drawn to the dark, occult side of
the holiday and started investigating séances, spells and Ouija board use.
Without going into detail, I can tell you how insidious and destructive those
practices were to me and to anyone who entered into them. They’re anything but
harmless, especially to a curious, impressionable youngster.
Do you love this
holiday and can’t imagine not celebrating it? Do you consider it all in good
fun? Do you have nagging questions about whether or not you should celebrate
Halloween? If you’re a Christian, do you wonder if you should take apart in it?
I have my opinion.
I have my opinion.
But before you
make a decision on whether or not to celebrate this holiday, let’s look at the
history and facts surrounding the festival.
What’s the History?
Celtic-Druid
Influence:
The
ancient Celtic empire encompassed France, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The Druids were Celtic priests. They had a yearly celebration called the
Festival of Samhain and gathered pumpkin and cornstalk leaves for decorating as the feasting and end-of-summer harvest celebration began.
That
all sounds innocent enough, until you learn what Samhain means. Samhain was the
lord of the dead, or the demon of death, and this celebration began the evening
of October 31. The Druids celebrated with bonfires, foretelling futures and
witchcraft. This is where the Halloween emphasis on death comes from, along
with its familiar symbols of coffins, tombstones, skeletons, skulls,
crossbones, ghosts, mummies and graveyards.
First,
it was believed that the dead rose from their graves that night in an attempt
to return to their former homes they occupied when living. In Druidism, the
evil, departed ones rise up as horrifying night creatures, decaying skeletons
and inhuman bodies. (Sound anything like the walking or “living” dead stories
everyone’s so enthralled with now?) Other souls, or spirits, moved on to inhabit other
humans. (Many people in
the 21st Century believe in soul transmigration, the idea that they
existed in a former life. Anybody remember actress Shirley McClain’s outrageous
claims and “channeling” back in the 90’s?)
Samhain
was also the supreme night of demonic jubilation and a celebration of oncoming
winter and darkness. Groups known as the hordes of hell roamed the earth in a wild
celebration of darkness and death, all in Samhain’s honor. The frightened villagers
did everything they could to try to appease these spirits, or avoid them altogether. If they had to be out on the road that night, they left fruits and nuts in the yards for the spirits to enjoy, or dressed in costume to avoid being seen or discovered.
Sometimes
Samhain called together wicked spirits to inhabit the bodies of animals.
Let’s Have a Bonfire!
The Druids were famous for using
bonfires under oak trees (a sacred symbol to them) in their worship. But the
‘bonfire” was actually a “bone fire.” Need I explain why it was called that? Their flames, smoke and
ashes were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers, and were also used
for divination—the practice of trying to foretell future events.
Where’d the Trick-or-Treat Candy Come From?
Mildred Arthur, in her book, Holidays
of Legend, wrote that the food given out at night to visiting spirits or
wandering people was given to placate those roving evil spirits. Later, in
Scotland, food was given to placate the youth who went around terrorizing neighborhoods.
I double that it stopped their behavior. I knew kids who skipped the treat and went straight to the nasty trick just “for fun.”
I double that it stopped their behavior. I knew kids who skipped the treat and went straight to the nasty trick just “for fun.”
When I was in junior high and high school, I knew youth who went around
terrorizing neighborhoods, damaging personal property and wreaking havoc on
Halloween night. Nothing could placate them! Food wouldn't have appeased them. They were bent on destruction. There were
certain neighborhoods we knew we needed to avoid that night, out of fear of
physical threat or possibly being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Contrary to popular opinion, Halloween has never been a night of “harmless
fun” for many.
Who’s
Jack?
Symbols familiar
to us actually developed over time. Jack-o’-lanterns (which were actually
turnips, not pumpkins) were carried by people on Hallow’s eve in order to
frighten evil spirits. A popular Irish folktale is told to represent a soul
denied entry into both heaven and hell. It goes like this:
“On route home
after a night's drinking, Jack encounters the Devil who tricks him into
climbing a tree. A quick-thinking Jack etches the sign of the cross into the
bark, thus trapping the Devil. Jack strikes a bargain that Satan can never claim his
soul. After a life of sin,
drink,
and mendacity, Jack is refused entry to heaven when he dies. Keeping his
promise, the Devil refuses to let Jack into hell and throws a live coal
straight from the fires of hell
at him. It was a cold night, so Jack places the coal in a hollowed out turnip
to stop it from going out, since which time Jack and his lantern have been
roaming looking for a place to rest. (Encyclopedia
of Death and Dying (Glennys Howarth, Oliver Leaman), Taylor & Francis, page
320)
North American immigrants used the native pumpkin. Because of its softer structure, it’s easier
to carve than a turnip. This pumpkin carving tradition first started in 1837 to
commemorate harvest time. It did not become specifically connected to Halloween
until the mid-to-late 19th century.
Like That Orange, Black and Red Color Combo?
A Good Housekeeping Book of
Entertainment once contained the passage, “Orange, black, and red, the Devil’s
colors, are the colors associated with Halloween.” (Don’t know where Good
Housekeeping got the idea that those colors represented the Devil, but it seems to be the accepted color scheme. And when you see orange worn with black, Halloween is usually what comes to mind.)
Christian influence Over Modern Halloween
Today's Halloween customs seem to have been
influenced by Christian practices and beliefs. The word “Halloween” is a modern
translation of “eve before all Hallows Day, a Christian holy day also known as
All Saints’ Day or Hallowmas. This was a time for honoring all the saints who had already gone on to their heavenly reward. The day was introduced in May of 609 AD. Pope Gregory IV had it switched
to November 1, 835, possibly to compete with, or satisfy people who still wanted
to recognize the Festival of Samhain.
The American Puritans strongly disapproved of
it. But when the Irish and Scots brought the celebration with them during the
19th century mass immigration to America, the celebration was
accepted into society and become an American holiday celebrated by people of
all ages, races and religions.
Many Protestant churches celebrate the day as
Reformation Day because it was the day Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five
Thesis to the door of the All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany. Evidently
he selected this day specifically because so many visitors would be there to
celebrate All Hallows’ Eve.
Category Development Officer,
Retail
Satan Worship and Halloween
We can’t overlook the reality of
Satan worship associated with Halloween, particularly since it’s become more
prevalent. Most recently I had the pleasure of grocery shopping at the same
time a family of Satan worshipers shopped. It seemed that every time I entered
the store they were there. The father always wore the same black t-shirt emblazoned with a huge white pentagram, Satan worship symbols and words. His skin
bore Satanic artwork. Just being in their vicinity gave me the creeps.
People have attested to
participating in and observing human sacrifices while practicing Satanism. A
November 1, 1997 Orlando Sentinel article talks about the testimony of one man
who claims to have had a “profound psychic experience” while he was out
trick-or-treating as a young boy. That led him into the occult and kept him
oppressed for dozens of years. He sank deeper and deeper into the occult until
he was “swallowed by it.”
Do we scoff, dismiss or shake our
heads at these stories?
Police departments don’t scoff.
Many have developed a new investigative field dealing with the reality of
gruesome Satanic sacrifices. Vandalism increases on Halloween. Many hospitals
offer free x-rays of candy to make sure your tyke doesn’t bite into a razor
blade.
Anyone remember the Night Stalker
who terrorized California in the 80’s by slinking into open windows at night, to butcher people and decorate the walls with pentagrams and Satanic messages
written in his victims’ blood? I lived through that, and all of us living in Southern California took this guy very seriously. No one knew where or when he’d strike next, and for months we were badly shaken.
As a police detective patient of
mine commented back in the 80’s, “If you don’t think Satan worship and
sacrifice are alive and well, then you can join me on my nightly rounds of
inspecting freeway underpasses and orange groves. The things we find are
unbelievable, like animal torture and sacrifices, for a start.”
In our area of Southern California, it was common knowledge that you should avoid the orange groves in a particular nearby town at night, where witches, warlocks and Druid priests gathered for bonfires, worship, sacrifices and divination practices.
In our area of Southern California, it was common knowledge that you should avoid the orange groves in a particular nearby town at night, where witches, warlocks and Druid priests gathered for bonfires, worship, sacrifices and divination practices.
On Halloween many witch covens hold
their annual worship service and offer a blood sacrifice to Satan. Other
Wiccans find the celebration of Halloween disrespectful of the deceased soul
worship they promote, so they choose to abstain from worship services during
this time.
Throughout the year Satanists
sacrifice cats, dogs, and other animals. Word on the street is that during
Halloween they up the ante by finding a human sacrifice. Where do they find
humans to sacrifice? There are plenty of homeless drug addicts that could
disappear unnoticed. And children born without birth certificates are another
source. (On a side note, my overactive mind wonders if some of our missing
children might have been snatched for just this purpose.)
Newscasters in numerous cities warn
viewers to guard their animals on Halloween night (actually, a week prior to
and a week after Halloween are the best recommendations, which we have followed
for years). Many animal humane societies won’t allow black cats to be adopted
around this time. Farmers sometimes find mutilated remains of their ritualistically
slaughtered farm animals.
So Now What Do You Do With All of This
Information?
Eighteen years ago, after learning
the history and facts, Halloween no longer appeared to be such a cute, harmless
holiday to me. It seemed as though God pricked my heart and said, “Can you
really reconcile worshiping Me and celebrating this day, in that way? Aren’t
you treading in dangerous water?”
Then I wondered, If Jesus suddenly
appeared before me in the flesh, would I be comfortable getting dressed up in
some ridiculous, compromising costume and inviting him along to the party as my
date? (That’s what I’d be doing since He goes everywhere with me.) And
what kind of look would He give me when he saw the costumes I put on my
children in order to go door-to-door begging candy?
Do we unconsciously, ignorantly
approve of such worship when we participate in it? When the rest of the world
sees Christians celebrating this holiday, what do they think of us? We need to
think and pray seriously on such matters since we’ll be called to task for
leading someone—most especially a child—astray. (Jesus said it would be better for someone to have a millstone hung around his neck and to drown in the sea than to lead one of the little ones astray. That passage has always caused me to shiver.)
If, after fervent prayer and
reasoning, you think you can celebrate Halloween and simultaneously glorify
God, then go for it. (If you do, please write me to tell me how your spiritual
life’s going for you.)
It’s just difficult for me to
believe it’s possible to wear the devil’s colors while holding a ghoulishly
carved pumpkin, donning a spidery Black Widow costume, hoping the youth don’t
terrorize my neighborhood or vandalize my property, knowing someone’s precious
cat got snagged for the purpose of being sacrificed to the ruler of evil, and
think that’s all harmless and God doesn’t really care and will turn a blind eye
to my “fun.”
As my husband cynically put it, "It's like inviting everyone to the Jewish synagogue for a Baal and Ashura dress-up party, in order to witness!" (If you know anything about Baal and Ashura—fertility god and goddess—and the kinds of sacrifices the Israelites offered them, and how God reacted to that, can you honestly imagine God blessing that kind of witnessing activity?)
As my husband cynically put it, "It's like inviting everyone to the Jewish synagogue for a Baal and Ashura dress-up party, in order to witness!" (If you know anything about Baal and Ashura—fertility god and goddess—and the kinds of sacrifices the Israelites offered them, and how God reacted to that, can you honestly imagine God blessing that kind of witnessing activity?)
Would it be better to compromise and participate or spend the night in prayer for the forces of evil in this world to be abated? To sing songs of praise and worship to God. To pray in thanksgiving for the departed saints of the faith—the men and women who have gone before us and received their reward. To pray fervently for more souls of men and women to receive a heavenly reward.
As my younger son would add with a shoulder shrug and eyebrow tilt, “I’m just saying…”
As my younger son would add with a shoulder shrug and eyebrow tilt, “I’m just saying…”
____________________________________
Many Christians question
Halloween’s nature, influence and fruit.
Many Christians fire back that
Christ made all things new, that they have “liberty” in Christ from “legalism.” That God has "made all things new." Or they simply regard it as innocent fun.
But is it just innocent fun?
Halloween is serious business for
Satanists and Witches. Do you really want to be even remotely associated with
these two groups, decorating your homes, business, work cubicles, classrooms
and churches with occult symbols? Did you ever think that you might be
glorifying Satan and the powers of darkness by participating?
While you and your child are out
traipsing door-to-door by flashlight, realize that those who oppose
Christianity and Christ are gathered together to try to cast spells, worship
demons and Satan, observe Satanic rituals, perform gross, sacrilegious acts, mutilate
animals and offer blood sacrifices to the evil one.
Warning: Graphic explanations in this paragraph
you might want to skip. Some of the rituals
are too ghastly, or shocking to believe: Drinking animal or human blood or
urine, eating entrails and organs, ritualistic orgies, substance abuse, and, yes, human sacrifice.
So while Satan worshipers, Wiccans
and the police are taking all of this very seriously, many of us lukewarm
Christians can’t abide the thought of spoiling our children’s fun during this
“harmless” holiday! What kind of message are we sending to our children when we
say this is all harmless fun?
Harmless? Really?
Are we deceiving ourselves? Can we
call ourselves children of Light while we masquerade around town during a celebration
that carries such blatant overtones of evil and darkness? Is it smart for us to
laugh at it?
Can we overlook the reality of the
ever-more-prevalent Satan worship associated with Halloween?
Does Halloween bear any good fruit, or hold any redeeming
value?
Does God wave aside everything He’s
said about occult worship and place a smiley face stamp of approval on our
events, just because we’ve euphemistically titled them “Harvest Festivals”
instead of Halloween? Do we really believe that the general, secular public
sees our celebration as anything else than a massive Halloween bash?
And if our houses of worship are
truly dedicated to God, how do we justify decorating them with occult symbols,
no matter how cute they are?
I’m not going to tell you what to think or do.
That’s between you and God. But before I sign off, I’ll leave you with some
words to think about…
“Learn not the way of the heathen…. For the
customs of the people are vain” (Jeremiah 10:2-3).
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works
of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).
“Abstain from all appearance of evil” (1
Thessalonians 5:22).
“Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness,
and let us put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:12).
“Ye are all the children of light, and the
children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians
5:5).
“For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness
and what communion has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with
Belial…. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, says the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15, 17).
Thanks for joining me!
I’ll be back again with my next
post on defeating depression on Monday, November 4.
Until then!
Blessings,
Andrea
(God instituted plenty of good,
wholesome, seasonal festivals. For ideas, be sure to look for my special
Thanksgiving blog in late November.)
