Holidays

Halloween and Christianity, Darkness and Light

by Christopher Combs
10/17/10
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The term 'Halloween' is a 16th-century Scottish variation of the Old English term All Hallows Eve that takes place on October 31st.

The Celts were a group of people inhabiting Ireland, Scotland, and the British Isles. The Celts believed the last day of the year was October 31st and that November 1st was the first day or beginning of the New Year.

The name Samhain, pronounced (Sow-Wen), is an Old Irish term and roughly means 'summer's end'. Samhain was one of four, fire festivals celebrated by the Celts and Druids. Later, the Roman Catholics changed the name of this pagan holiday called Samhain to All Hallows Eve or Halloween. To the Celts, fire represented their sun god; it was a symbol of divinity, beauty, holiness, and truth. Samhain was held from October 31st through November 2nd with its roots in Celtic polytheism, the worship of many gods.

Samhain was the end of the harvest, the end of the long days of summer or the 'lighter half' of the year, and the beginning of the 'darker half' or winter time of the year, with shorter days and colder temperatures.

The pagan Celts of that time had no real religion but ignorantly believed there were many gods, numbering over 300. They believed that on October 31st the boundary between this world and the otherworld became thin. They believed the dead could reach back through the thin veil that separated them from the living. The Celts believed that the dead souls and spirits of those who had died could return to roam the countryside creating havoc and causing mischief.

To appease these 'dead souls' or spirits, the Celts would dress up like them so these spirits would not cause them any harm. The Celts would remember their dead and place a meal at the table for the soul of a loved one to return to on All Hallows Eve, or what we call Halloween.

The custom of wearing masks or costumes during the festival was an attempt to mimic the spirits and appease them. By disguising themselves with a mask, the Celts would hide their identity and try to fool the evil spirits.

Understand that these people were Pagans, who had no understanding of the one true God of the Bible and who were controlled by their old sinful natures and were at the mercy of the Devil's deceiving tactics. 

The word bonfire is derived from 'bone fires' and these fires were lit as a part of the festivities where the pagan Celts would cast their crops into the fires and cast the bones of their slaughtered livestock and smaller animals. Cats, dogs, horses, and goats were sacrificed in the bonfires and sometimes even live humans were placed in large wicker baskets, then sacrificed and cast into the flames. The screams of the animals and humans could be heard while the pagan Celts would dance around the huge bonfires wearing masks and costumes as they chanted. Communing with the dead or necromancy and fortune telling was also a common practice during the fire festival.

The Celts had a group of priests called the Druids who ruled over them through fear and ignorance of the truth. The Druids would perform rituals and offer sacrifices of animals and sometimes humans to appease the sun god in hopes that the sun god would allow the sun to return after the cold, dark winter months.

Modern Halloween celebrated today is derived from this ancient Celtic-Druid fire festival, also called the 'festival of the dead'. It is the second major holiday celebrated by Satanists today.

Here is a quote from Anton Szandor LaVey, a Satanist, from his book called 'The Satanic Bible'. "After one's own birthday, the two major Satanic holidays are Walpurgis Night and Halloween". Walpurgis Night is a spring fire festival that involves dancing and bonfires, it is held each year on April 30 or 1 May in central or northern Europe. The Satanists consider Halloween to be one of their major holidays.

The definition of 'celebrate' is "to honor (as a holiday) by solemn ceremonies, to observe a notable occasion with festivities, to extol or to praise".

Should we who are Christians participate in the celebration of Halloween? Who or what are we honoring or praising? (3 John 1:11) "Beloved follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God."

Then in (2 Corinthians 6:14) "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness"?

Halloween is filled with darkness and death. with devils, demons, ghosts, goblins, evil spirits and witches. To the Celts, goblin symbols in Halloween or Samhain represented the souls of the dead rising up from the ground.

To the Celts and Druids, the carved-out pumpkin, Jack O Lantern, with the candle inside represented, the damned lost soul of a poor human.

The broomstick of the witch represents to modern pagans and witches today, astral projection or spirit travel.

The pointed black hat of the witch represents to them, the 'cone of power' in which powers of demons and darkness would be funneled to the person wearing the hat. It has the crescent moon and star symbol on it, the crescent moon to witches represents the Roman goddess Diana, the goddess of fertility.

If a real witch wears that hat, it says that they are practicing sorcery, it's saying that they are seeking power. The modern-day witches, and warlocks, today who are in the cult and practice the craft are in prayer against Christians for months in advance, long before their holy night of Halloween even arrives on the 31st of October.

Halloween represents darkness but Christianity represents the light. (Ephesians 5:8 and 11) says: "For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:" verse 11: "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them". We who are Christians must separate ourselves from these evil practices and should have nothing to do with the celebration of Halloween. (2 Corinthians 6:17) "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"

The Lord God has warned us not to fool around with these occult evil practices. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14) "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God. For these nations, which thou shalt possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do".

Should Christians today have an alternative holiday such as a harvest festival? The word alternative implies 'a substitute'. It assumes that our Christian children need a substitute for Halloween since they will not be participating in it. It is assumed that they are missing out on something, but that is not true.

We should, instead be teaching our children what the Word of God has to say. In (1 John 2:15) it says "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him".

What are some reasons why Halloween should not be substituted with a harvest festival?

1) Halloween or Samhain is a Celtic-Druid celebration, one of four fire festivals also called 'the festival of the dead'. These people did not believe in the one true God of the bible. The Celts and Druids believed in over 300 different gods.

2) Halloween is a pagan holiday. The pagans were people who did not acknowledge any major religion and did not acknowledge the God of the Bible, Torah, or the Koran. A pagan is heathen. A pagan is someone who is a polytheist or pantheist.

3) Halloween promotes divination, witchcraft, and sorcery.

4) Satanists celebrate this day as their second-greatest holiday. We should teach our children the truth about Halloween and its origins, the history of how it all started.

Why do we need to celebrate Halloween specifically on the night of October 31st which is a major satanic holiday? Why do Christians need a substitute for Halloween at all? By celebrating Halloween we are keeping this satanic tradition alive.

In (1 Thessalonians 5:22) it says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil". The world today should see Christians as being completely against this satanic day. We as Christians should not celebrate anything even remotely similar to Halloween on the 31st of October and we should be against anything that resembles Halloween.

If we change the name of Halloween to Harvest Festival, it does not change what this day truly is and it gives the wrong impression to others. Should we try to Christianize other pagan days just so we can fit in with the world? Absolutely not!

We should cast them away just as it is written in (Romans 13:12) "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light." Should we make up alternatives to the world's wickedness? Absolutely not!

We as Christians must remember that we are in a War. Christians are in a spiritual battle against the powers of darkness. Good against Evil. The Light against the Darkness.

(Ephesians 6:10-12) "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places".