Halloween not allowed? Why not you ask? It seems like a perfectly innocent day filled with laughter, gaiety and treats for the kids. What could be the harm in that?
Imagine, if you will, that we are in the South of Britain; it is a cool, late autumn evening. Our time period places us about 300 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. The Celtic civilization is in full swing; they are spreading their bloody conquest from the British Isles through Scandinavia, Europe and all the way to Asia Minor. These people are completely pagan, worshipping many gods, and although they profess to be ruled by kingships, the real power is in the hands of the Druids. This secret priestly society is ruled by terror and by sorcery. Even the kings are afraid of the mysterious, unremitting Druids. We all know that when the king becomes too old to lead battles or father children, they will sacrifice him to their gods, cutting open his body while he is still alive and using his internal organs for divination and other magic….
Spiritual darkness covers the land, overshadowing every aspect of our lives, robbing even the laughter and play of the innocence (children) with its horrendous presence. Life is very hard; it always has been for us peasants. The nearness of the mysterious, unconquerable silent Druids is a constant threat to us. It looms over us with its grave, repulsive presence, always felt but never really understood. We know to keep away from them… and to pray… Dear Lord, cover us with your protection.
As the day approaches that we fear more than any other, our trepidation escalates. It is the day that we’ve dreaded all year long. It is October 31st, the festival of Samhain, the Festival of Death. Samhain is their God of Death; he is their most powerful god. The people believe that on this day, the old year dies and the New Year begins. It is the Celtic New Year, as well as the Festival of Samhain, the Festival of Death. They honor this pagan god on this night, but the great climatic moment will commence at midnight. Darkness, fear, and death will prevail. Many human sacrifices will be presented to Samhain. Divination, spirits, and sorcery will be practiced tonight. Blackness and evil is deepest and death more sovereign tonight than at any other time of the year and midnight will be the climax…
As I sit looking out of the window of my home the sun is setting over the not too distance western hills and darkness moves swiftly into the valley. I must arise and hastily complete my chores for with the darkness comes the time of the Druids. An uneasy hush falls over the land; people have become quiet, saying very little as they hurry off the streets. Shops are closing early, lamps are extinguished and children called to be held close.
As the darkness deepens you can see fires blazing on the surrounding hills and strange cries are heard, with other sounds too eerie to identify. Chanting can be heard and bizarre figures can be seen leaping through fires. Listen…to the screams. A wave of paralyzing fear rises and falls…. out of the darkness they come…the Druids.
Shrouded in robes with mysterious, magical markings, they come…each carrying slung over his shoulder a hollowed out turnip with an oil lamp burning inside. Carved into the side of the hollowed out turnip is an evil, hideous face in the likeness of the demon that is said to dwell inside. (The people of the New World began to use pumpkins, because they were much easier to carve than turnips-they were called “Jock/Jack of the Lantern”; it has now been shorten to jack-o-lantern) The demon is the Druid’s spirit guide, his personal little god, who directs and empowers his life.
We, who are inside of our homes, tremble in silence, barely breathing, hoping the awful Druids will pass on by and go on to another thatched-roof house. Then comes the thumping on the door… the unnatural moaning chant. They aren’t going to pass us by; oh, no….they are here! (Oh God, in Heaven, help us!) My husband opens the door, with a trembling hand (for open the door you must!), and there stands the Druids spokesman’s demanding certain foods. (The Druids have a strange diet and on the night of the Festival of Death, they go from house to house demanding peculiar foods. If you give them these foods they go on in silence, but if you don’t the people in the house are cursed with trouble, sickness, and death.)
The fires roar upwards, summoning and guiding the spirits of the wicked dead, witches and evil spirits go forth over the land. Lawlessness increases. Cats can be heard screeching and howling, the Druids believe them to be reincarnations of the wicked dead, possessed with supernatural knowledge and power. It’s a night of raw, sickening horror As the midnight hour approaches, the madness increases; humans are ripped open, hearts tore out from peoples while still beating; the internal organs are spilled on the ground and are used for divination. Other atrocities are performed too revolting to be described. Woe, to anyone who is found outside his or her home. Babies are thrown into fires while they scream for their mothers; wicked celebrants are dancing and howling around fires in drunken-demonized fits of orgiastic licentiousness.
Of course, Satan’s help is invoked as many forms of magic, witchcraft, and sorcery are performed. Much guidance and information about the coming New Year is sought. It goes on all throughout the night, but the madness reaches its climax at midnight and gradually diminishes. By daylight, we are exhausted from being tense and terrorized all night. But gradually each of us begins to cautiously move about. On the hillsides the fires have died down and nothing but ashes are left and the bones of those who were sacrificed. We call them “bonfires” and avoid going too near them, for the smell of death and the presence of evil heavily permeates. We are weary and relieved that by God’s grace we have survived.
As I embrace my husband and children I tearfully thank God that we have survived another Festival of Death.
Ridiculous you say? Another fairy tale you think? Well, just bear with me a moment longer while I explain to you how this hideous ritual has been incorporated into our lives today.
As the centuries passed and the Druids, under Roman domination, declined in numbers and power, the common people entered more and more into the practices of Samhain. They particularly practiced many forms of divination for “good luck”. Since Samhain, was the beginning of the New Year, they begin these practices of good luck, (which entailed finding favor with the evil spirits). One popular form of this was to kneel around a tub of water filled with apples floating in it, and the first one who could get one without using his hands, (only using his teeth), would have favor, good favor with the spirits in the coming new year. We call this bobbing for apples and consider it harmless fun. Then each would peel his or her apple, trying to peel it off in one piece (which gave the peeler particular power and gained favor with the spirits.) The peeling was thrown over the left shoulder, to show an apparition (ghostly vision) of the one who would become your sex partner or spouse, depending on the local custom, during the coming new year. Sound familiar? Many superstitious customs developed as time passed, and became ingrained in the people’s lives.
In the eight century, the Pope, in an attempt to get the people to abandon the Festival of Samhain, and all its evil occult, idolatrous practices, established All Saints Day on November 1st. This holy day was to be the day for honoring the Christian Dead, particularly those who died as martyrs in the terrible Roman persecutions. He hoped that the people would substitute All Saints Day for the Festival of Death. It didn’t work. This attempt to end Samhain has caused trouble to this very day. Its location on the calendar has led many people to believe that Samhain is a Christian day. How did this happen?
In the British Isles, All Saints Day came to be called “All Halloweds” since it was a day to honor all the “hallowed ones”, (hallow means holy or sacred), and the Christian dead. Since Samhain occurred the evening before All Halloweds, it came to be called “All Halloweds Evening” or just “Hallows E’en” and finally, to “Halloween” as we know it. Because of the relationship in the names, and the adjacent dates, many today entertain the idea that Halloween is somehow a Christian holiday. This has made it easier for the ungodly festival to move right into the churches each October and flourish there, spreading its cultic poison. But we know the truth. This hideous holiday for devils had nothing to do with Jesus Christ and the Christian Church and it never has! Its origin began 500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, and is in every way an abomination to our Holy God, and a deadly enemy of the faith of the saints.
Today, there is a fresh outpouring of evil upon the Earth. There is the revival of witchcraft and all forms of Satanism. Halloween is still a dreaded night when the old, the weak, and helpless tend to turn out the lights in hopes that Halloween marauders will pass them by. It ‘s a night when the innocent children are in danger. Every year children disappear; some are killed in dark streets by cars, other by poisonous candy, (Hospitals kindly offer to x-ray the children’s candy free of charge but image the harmful effects of radiation over a period of time), some leave home dressed in demon, vampire, and witches costumes and never return. They are the principal targets. (Some people believe that costumes are donned so that a person may hide from the evil spirits on this night. We know that evil spirits are ancient; would they really fall for such a cheap trick?) We conduct parties for them where we frighten them with horror stories and contaminate them with divination and magic, then we send them out into the darkness, to reenact the Druidic “trick or treat*” rituals of Samhain. Some don’t ever come back.
The fact is that there is money in it. Think of the millions of dollars that are spent on costumes, decorations, and candy. As the years go by we can see a rise in the amount of “stuff” the retailers want us to purchase. Now, there are even Halloween socks, sweatshirts, and underwear. And guess what else? A Halloween tree of lights no less!
There can be no compromise with evil, even with the appearance of evil. “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” (II Cor. 6:14 NAS). My husband and I do not take our children trick or treating *nor buy them costumes. In our home,
Please consider the words of Joshua 24:15
“And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Sis. Rena Fisher
October 1997
Revised October 2000 AD
*Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia (CD-Rom Version)
Copyright ã 1994-1998 The Learning Company, Inc
*All material referenced from Holidays and Holy Days
by Tom C. Mckenney Kentucky: Words for Living, Ministries, Inc. 1995
* Funk and Wagnall’s New Encyclopedia–Copyright © 1995 by Funk and Wagnall’s, Corp.
