A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF HALLOWEEN
David R. Manriquez, A Voice In The Desert
THE ORIGEN OF THE EHALLOWEEN TRADITION
Many people celebrate holidays such as Halloween, without knowing of their origin, meaning or purpose. For example, did you know that the basic elements of Halloween originated with the ancient Babylonians and with the Druid’s annual fall festival to their god Samhain? It is therefore impossible to separate our present day celebration from Druidism. How could the 4th. of July possibly mean anything else but freedom, regardless of how it is celebrated?
THE BABYLONIANS AND BAAL
The ancient city of Babylon was in what we now know as Iraq and ts name means confusion. The city of Babylon was founded c 2300 BC by Nimrod, a nephew of Noah. (Genesis 10:8,10). His name means; “the one who rebelled.” (Against God).
Upon Nimrod’s death, his wife, Semiramis, canonized him, “Baal”, which means, the “sun god”. The Bible says, “…for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light”. (2 Corinthians 11:14). Baal’s holiday was held on December 25th. In 394 A.D. the church of Roman chose this same date to celebrate the birth of Christ. Baal was also the name of the Phoenician’s chief male god and is also a common name for a fertility god. The word Baal means; "lord, possessor and master. Baal’s annual festival was a time of wild parties, drunken revelry, orgies, fortune telling, witchcraft, and human sacrifices, especially of children. ( New Unger's Bible Dictionary)
THE BARBARIAN CELTS
More than 2,000 years ago in what is now Italy, Britain, Ireland, and France, there lived a barbarian clan called the “Celts”. The Celts had no biblical principles, no moral values or social refinement. Their life revolved around brutality, drunken brawls, sex orgies, superstition, witchcraft, and the shedding of innocent blood. Human life was of no value.
BUT THEY HAD “RELIGION”
The Celtic religion was called “Druidism”. Their religious beliefs were deeply rooted in the old Babylonian system of fear, superstition, witchcraft, idolatry and human sacrifices. Their principle deities were “Baal”, the sun god, and “Samhain” the god of death, to whom they celebrated a yearly festival on October 31.
CELTIC SUPERSTITIONS
The Celts believed that on the evening of October 31st. Samhain would allow the souls of the wicked dead, (ghosts) to roam the earth to terrorize the living. The Celts also believed that on this night witches worshiped the devil to appease his anger. The practices of Halloween were born in response to these superstitions.
THE ORIGIN OF THE TRICK-OR-TREAT TRADITION
The Celts were so afraid of the ghosts that would come on the night of October 31st. that they prepared food for them, hoping to please the demons so they would not harm them.
The Celts would leave food on their tables and go to their festival. When they returned home they found that the food was gone, but so were all their valuable household goods. After repeatedly losing their household valuables to the demons, the Celts finally got smart and started leaving the food on their porches, but since the brazen larceny did not stop, the Celts began to leave the food on the ghost’s own front door; the grave site. Today the practice of “Trick-o-treat” is keeping this old tradition alive.
FEAR CAUSES PEOPLE TO DO STRANGE THINGS
Because of their fear of ghosts, the Celts tried wearing animal skins and grotesque masks of whatever they thought the demons looked like. This was done to confuse the demons into thinking they were one of them and not be harmed by them. (If you can’t beat them, join them).
BURN BABY, BURN!
On the eve of their harvest festival, the people would turn off their fireplaces at home. The Druid priests would then start a huge bonfire in the middle of the village in which they burned the “tithe offerings” of their harvest to their god Samhain. These sacrifices often included animals and even humans.
FORTUNETELLIING
At the end of the sacrificial offering ceremony, the priests would gather ashes from the fire and tell fortunes from them. At the end of the festival, everyone would light a stick from the bonfire and relight their own hearths at home.
DEATH
The symbols of death are; skulls, bones, blood sucking bats, bloody daggers, coffins, vampires, ghosts, etc. these were an important part of the Celtic celebration. Since the Celts did not value human life, they thought nothing of killing another human being in; revenge, in barbaric acts of war, or in sporting contests.
WHO IS THE GOD OF LIFE AND WHO UIS THE GOD OF DEATH?
Jesus said. “I am the resurrection and the life…” “I have come that you might have life…” “He who believes in me thou he be dead yet shall he live”. If Jesus is the God of life, then who is the God of death?
Jesus said, “Your enemy, the devil, has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy”.
The Celtics may not have believed in Jesus Christ, but they sure believed in the Devil and they tried hard to appease his anger through many of their religious practices, superstitions, and celebrations.
IRISH CONTIBUTIONS TO THE HALLOWEEN TRADITION
Irish tradition tells us that a very wicked man named Jack died and went to heaven. Arriving there he knocked on the pearly gates but St. Peter would not let him in because he had been so evil during his lifetime. Jack inquired of St. Peter where he might go, to which St. Peter responded, “Go to Hell!”.
Jack dismissed himself from St. Peter and descended into Hell. The Devil came to the front gate and asked Jack, “What do you want here?” To which Jack replied, “I just died and went to heaven but St. Peter wouldn’t let me in. He told me to come here,” to which the Devil replied…“WELL, I DON’T WANT YOU EITHER!” “Go roam the darkness of the underworld until Judgment Day. I don’t have to let you in until then”.
But Satan felt sorry for Jack and he took a large turnip, carved out a pair of frightful looking eyes and a mouth, took burning coals from the bottom of the Lake of Fire and put them in the turnip so that Jack could scare off any demons that would want to harm him. The pumpkin eventually replaced the turnip because it was easier to work with,
ALL SAINTS DAY
In the 9th. Century, Pope Gregory III incorporated this Celtic festival into the church celebrations in a futile effort to Christianize the Celts, while allowing them to continue celebrating their pagan festival. The Pope changed the name of the Celtic festival to All Saints Day in honor of Ist century martyred Christians and moved it to November Ist. This is why it is now called “Hallow-een”, or “Holy Evening”. WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The name “Halloween” is an old Anglo Saxon compound word. The first word, “hallow” means “holy” and the second word “een”, means evening. Translated from its original meaning we have, the phrase; “Holy Evening”. SOMEONE PLEASE TELL…What is so holy about skeletons, witches demons and angry black cats, poisonous spiders, blood sucking bats and insomniac ghosts that roam through the night looking for someone to bite.?What is so holy about Satan and magic and premature or violent death, crystal balls, vampires and raging bon fires?
HALLOWEEN CROSSES THE OCEAN
In the year 1844 there was a terrible famine in Ireland and hundreds died from starvation. Seeking to save their lives many Irish came to America; the land of plenty. They brought what little belongings they had and you guessed it; their cultural traditions including their Halloween Festival.
DRUIDISM LIVES ON
Today, 90% of the families in the United States with children fewer than twelve years of age unknowingly participate in this ancient Celtic religious tradition and celebrate to Samhain the god of death. More than fifty million adults will spend over three hundred million dollars this year in Halloween costumes, candies, decorations and parties. If you were God, would this please you? The Bible says that we must “abstain from all appearance of evil”. (I Thes. 5:22)
THE ICONS OF HALLOWEEN
Traditionally, the icons of Halloween are; Witches, black cats, poisonous snakes and spiders, haunted houses, ghosts, goblins, skeletons, death, fear, Satan, fortune telling, trick-or-treating scary costumes, idolatry, and gory masks. Not the cross of Jesus, not His saving blood, not His love, joy, peace, heaven, or life.
WHAT KIND OF CELEBRATION IS HALLOWEEN?
If you look for information about Halloween you will find it under “Christian holidays”. But what is so Christian about Witches, black cats, poisonous spiders and slimy snakes, haunted houses, creepy music, cob webs, ghosts, goblins, skeletons, death, fear, Satan, fortune telling, trick-or-treating, goblins, and gory masks?
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The name “Halloween” is an old Anglo Saxon compound word. The first word, “hallow” means “holy” and the second word “een”, means evening. Translated from its original meaning we have, the phrase; “Holy Evening”.
SOMEONE PLEASE TELL…
What is so holy about skeletons, witches demons and angry black cats, poisonous spiders, blood sucking bats and insomniac ghosts that roam through the night looking for someone to bite.?What is so holy about Satan and magic and premature or violent death, crystal balls, vampires and raging bon fires?
A MISNOMER
By strict definition, a nything or anyone that is called “Christian” must have something to do with Christ. Therefore, in order for a celebration to qualify as a “Christian holiday” it must meet this criteria. Examples: Christmas, Resurrection Sunday, Pentecost Sunday, Holy Communion, Thanksgiving, Worship services, etc. (Hello! What does Halloween have to do with Christ?)
A CHANGE IN SPIRITUAL VALUES
The founding fathers of the United Sttes of America refused to allow the observance of Halloween because it was a pagan holiday? Halloween was not widely celebrated in the U.S. until about the early1900’s when the spiritual climate of our country began to change?
WHO PRACTICES THESE ANCIENT PAGAN R ELIGIOUS TRADITINS IN THIS ENLIGHGTENED AGE?
Today, some of these same ancient religious practices are observed in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Japan, the Bahamas, the United States, in Australia and in Sweden in the holiday known as Halloween. In Latin American countries it is known as noche de las brujas, o de los muertos. (Night of the witches, or of the dead). (See Commandment #1 in the Bible).
SOME WELL MEANING PARENT’S RATIONAL.
“But it’s only an innocent children’s holiday”. Webster’s Dictionary describes innocent as; free from evil, sin or harmful effects. Is Halloween free from evil or harmful effects? The very icons of Halloween are representations of every kind of evi. Every year we hear of kids biting into apples with needles and razor blades embedded in the fruit or eating what they thought was a chocolate candy only to discover that what they actually ate were ex-lax tablets.
STILL OTHERS WILL ARGUE..
“But it’s Only a Tradition”. True, It is a pagan tradition .“But it doesn’t mean the same anymore!”. Father Frank Weiser, Professor at Emmanuel College in Boston Mass. Says; “Halloween is a tradition of pre-Christian times that has retained its original character in every way and meaning”. Yet, some people still practice those ways today?
God told the Israelites; When you come into the land which the LORD your God gives you,
you shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found
among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, (human
sacrifices), or that uses divination, (fortune telling), or an observer of times, (Astrologer,
Horoscopes), or an enchanter, (sorcerer), or a witch, (black magic), or a charmer, (to endow
with or as if with supernatural powers by means of charms; also : to protect by or
as if by spells, charms, or supernatural influences ), or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a
wizard, (a sage), or a necromancer, (conjuration of the spirits of the dead for purposes of
magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events. 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 you. Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel… Ask “me”
of things to come… (Isaiah 45:11)
If God forbids the practice of these arts, it stands to reason that He also forbids us from
consulting such practitioners.
SOME PEOPLE CONFESS;
“But I don’t see anything wrong with it” That is a sad confession because; the only ones who cannot see are…THE BLIND! In this case it is spiritual blindness, insensitivity to the Spirit of God and a lack of spiritual discernment.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT…
- GHOSTS…The spirits of the dead?
“…between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from here to you cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from them. (Luke 16:26)
- FEAR, A MAJOR PART OF HALLOWEEN?
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (Rom 8:15). Fear NOT for I am with you…(Is. 43:5)
- DEATH?
“…though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”. Ps 23:4
Jesus said…“I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever lives and believes in me willll never die. DXo you Believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
- THE DEVIL AND DEMONS?…
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils…”; (Mark 16:17)
- OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORLD?
Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him (I Jn 2:15-18)
“… what business does righteousness have with unrighteousness, or light with darkness, or Christ with Belial?...And what does the temple of God, (You and I,) have to do with idols?... “you are the temple of the living God…So, COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, and be separate…and I will receive you, and be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty”. (2 Cor. 6:14-18)
GUILTY BY ASSOCIATION?
Many children, and adults, participate in this yearly holiday without knowing that it is really a celebration to an ancient pagan god. Does that mean that we are still guilty by “association”, or is ignorance an excuse? Try explaining to the police that you did not know the gun was loaded.
IS THIS SOMETHING YOU WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO BE A PART OF?
YOU BE THE JUDGE. Does Halloween honor God? (No), Who does it honor? (The devil and all that is evil). Does what the Bible say about the elements of Halloween apply to us today? (Yes it does). Does God approve of us participating in a festive that honors His arch enemy? (Absolutly not). Then, should we celebrate with the rest of the world that is dishonoring God? (Absolutely not... to be a friend with the world is to be an enemy of God)
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. John 8:32 Now that you know the truth, How will you celebrate Halloween this year?
References:
Celebrations-The Completer Book of American Holidays, Robt. J. Myers, (Doubleday & Co., 1972).
The Famous Druids, A.L. Owens, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1962).
The American Book of Days, George Wiliiam Douglas, (H. W. Wilson Co., (1948).
The Two Babylons, Rev. Alexander Hislop, (Loizeaux Brothers, 1916).
The Holy Bible
