Halloween What It Is From A Christian Perspective Many Christians will allow and even enco

Halloween
What It Is From A Christian Perspective


Many Christians will allow and even encourage their children to pay
respect to the devil on October 31 without knowing they do so.
Churches will fully sanction the event with parties that will be
decorated with witches, cats, brooms, jack-o-lanterns and bobbing
apples.  What is the harm?  How did the originate?
The custom of Halloween is traced to the Druid festival of the
dead.  Then the Roman Pantheon was built by Emperor Hadrian in 100 A.D.
as a temple to the goddess Cybele and other Roman deities.  It became
the principle place of worship.  Roman pagans prayed for the dead.  Rome
was captured and the Pantheon fell into disrepair.  Emporer Phocas
captured Rome and gave the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV in 609.  He
reconsecrated it to the Virgin Mary and resumed using the temple to pray
for the dead, only now it was "Christianized", as men added the
unscriptural teaching of purgatory.
In 834 A.D. Gregory IV extended the feast for all the church and it
became known as All Saint's Day, still remembering the dead.
Samhain, a Druid god of the dead was honored at Halloween in
Britain, France, Germany and the Celtic countries.  Samhain called
together all wicked souls who died within the past year and that were
destined to inhabit animals.
This celebration of the dead honored the god of the dead on this
particular night.  Druids believed that souls of the dead returned to
their former homes to be entertained by the living.  Bonfires were built
atop hills so they might find their way.  Suitable food and shelter was
provided for these spirits or else they would cast spells, cause havoc,
steal infants, destroy crops, kill farm animals and create terror as
they haunted the living.  The spirits demanded placating by giving them
a type of worship and offering.  This is the action that
"Trick-or-Treat" emulates today.
The Samhain celebration used nuts, apples, skeletons, witches and
black cats.  Divination and auguries were practiced as well as magic to
seek answers for the future.  Black cats were considered to be
reincarnated beings with the ability to divine the future.  During this
festival supernatural beings terrified the populace.  Even today
witchcraft practitioners declare October 31st as the most conducive time
to practice their arts.
The Christian church tried to eliminate the Druid celebration by
offering All Saint's Day as a substitute.  As Christianity spread over
Europe and the British Isles, it attempted to replace the pre-existing
pagan cult worship of Apollo, Diana or Ymir, but to no avail.
Although the outward forms of such worship disappeared, the belief
in these deities did not.  They found an outlet during the Middle Ages
in the open practice of witchcraft which is presently enjoying a revival
in many countries, including the U.S.  In Germany the occult is
considered more prevalent than in the Middle Ages.  The deistic cults
held periodic meetings known as witches sabbaths, and it is the same
today with October 31st being of more importance.
Pranks and mischief began to by played out to represent the
mischievious behavior attributed to witches and the fairies.
Trick-or-Treat came from and ancient Druid practice.  One of the basic
tenets in witchcraft is to control the will of another by use of fear.
Even in jest, when one threatens to punish if a treat or offering is not
given, they are imitating an occult practice of controlling the will of
another by use of fear.
Prosperity was promised to all who were generous donors, and tricks
to all who refused during the Irish Druid event of trick-or-treat.  The
contributions demanded were in the name of Muck Olla, and early Druid
deity.
Traditional Halloween symbols appeared in the U.S. during the late
1800's. Witches, black cats, death's head cut from a pumpkin, candles,
masks, parties and pranks were used.
In rural areas, aggravating and destructive acts were done, such as
removing gates and placing them atop barns.  The same was done with
outhouses and wagons.
The uninformed Christian has no idea that there truly are demonic
spirits which are contacted and activated as people call out to them in
jest or in seriousness.  Every act around Halloween is in honor of false
gods, which are spirits in the realm of the Satanic.  Those who have
been deeply involved in witchcraft and who are now free, declare that
even those who say they worship spirits of nature are in actuality
contacting the Satanic realm without knowing it.
To pray for the dead is against scripture.  If one knows Jesus
before death, their spirit is already with the Lord.  Paul says to be
absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord,  II Corinthians
5:6.  If one is an unbeliever at death, the scripture says there is no
second chance as it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the
judgment.  Therefore, prayer for the dead is in opposition to God's Word
and a pagan practice that became "Christianized".  While living, one
must make a choice "for" or "against" Jesus and that determines the
destination at death of the spirit.  No amount of prayer can reverse the
decision made on earth by the person concerned while they were alive.
The Bible instructs us to have nothing to do with the deeds of
darkness.  Both Christian and Jew are forbidden to participate in the
occult practices listed in Deuteronomy 18:10.  Necromancing is the
delving into contacting the dead.  God said all such practice was an
abomination to Him.
Some may reply, "But we only do this in fun...we don't practice
witchcraft."  That which represents Satan and his domain cannot be
handled or emulated "for fun".  Such participation places you in enemy
and forbidden territory and that is dangerous ground.
Through the ages, Halloween has gone by various names but all have
been tributes to the same dark force, Satan.  There is no place in the
life of the Church or the Christian for such participation.

Mrs. Gloria Phillips
published at
Bay View Church
P.O. Box 9277
Moblile, AL 36691
205/661-8214

(used with permission)

Bibliography:
Encyclopedia Americana
Encyclopedia Brittanica
*Christian Life, October 1980
World Book Encyclopedia
The Standard Dictionary of Folklore
*Babylon Mystery Religion
*The Satan Seller, Mike Warnke
*Freed From Witchcraft, Dareen Irvine
Time Magazine, June 19, 1972
The Supernatural, Grolier Enter., Inc.
*Christianity Today, Oct. 21, 1977

*Ed. note...sources so marked have Anti-Earth Religion bias, and
therefore should be regarded as unreliable. MK-H

This was posted as a post on the Cult Monitor BBS. Replies
to this post as of 7-1-88 are included below.

<*>Replies
Msg#: 8589 *BULLETIN BOARD*
07/01/88 22:19:00 (Read 0 Times)
From: ROWAN MOONSTONE
To: MATTHEW DUNHAM (original poster--Ed.)
Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 8583 (RE: TRICKS)
Oh boy, have you just pushed some buttons.
Item # 1 There is NO SUCH PERSON AS SAMHAIN!!! The word is an Irish Gaelic word
comprised of Samrdh( meaning summer) and Hain meaning end.
Thus, the literal meaning of it is the end of summer. The Celts reckoned their
new year from Oct 1. The word Samhain does not now, nor has it ever referred to
a person or a deity. Yes, we call the night of Halloween Samhain, but I have
studied all of the works of Celtic scholars for this century and for the last,
making it somewhat of a passion of mine, and there is NO mention of this deity
in any surviving Celtic literature. Archaeologists have found no altars
dedicated to this deity, although altars to as many as 300 gods have been
found. I have likewise found very little on the Druids and their beliefs, and
nothing related to black cats and their being the reincarnation of people. The
Druids passed on their lore in an oral tradition, and when the Romans conquered
a great portion of the British Isles, many of their traditions and religious
teachings died with them. People have tried for centuries to recreate the
Druidic faiths, with varying degrees of success, but nowhere in all the vast
collection of Celtic research books that I have read have I ever heard of any
such thing. I would be happy to provide anyone with a reading list and let them
see for themselves, but be warned, the list is almost 75 books long, and YES, I
have read them all, and own most of them. The dictionary put out by the Irish
Texts Society in Dublin and considered the definitive work on the Irish
language defines Samhain in the following manner."
"Alhallowtide, the feast of the dead in pagan and Christian times, signalising
the close of the harvest and initiation of the winter season lasting till may.
" p 937. The nuts and fruitswere used on the altar( and still are) in token of
the harvest. Nothing more, nothing less.
Now for Muck Olla, I have found reference to this being in  some of my books.
However, I cann ot seem to find references to it right now. I thought I knew
which book it was in, but it's not there. As near as I can remember it, Muck
Olla is a local custom in I believe it's Yorkshire. He is associated with
certain fall customs, but no one seems to really know where the reference comes
from .  I will dig into the books and post the references when I find them.
Now, let me make something clear here. Witchcraft is NOT about manipulation of
the will of others. As a matter of fact, that is the thing we have the
STRONGEST prohibition against. We are not even allowed to do HEALINGS for
anyone if they do not request them. Recently we had to go through a really
difficult time with a member of our coven whose father had cancer. He was a
Christian and had not requested healings to be done on him. We respected his
wishes in this matter, although it was difficult. I'll read the original post
again and coment more when I refresh myu memory. BB Rowan
* Origin: Rock Island (on) Line - Newalla, Ok.- (405)391-9488 (1:147/3)

Msg#: 8590 *BULLETIN BOARD*
07/01/88 22:28:00 (Read 0 Times)
From: ROWAN MOONSTONE
To: MATTHEW DUNHAM
Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 8589 (RE: TRICKS)
Ok a few more points here. The pagan gods mentioned had little to nothing to do
with the Celts. Ymir is Norse, and Apollo and Diana are Roman. This piece is
really badly informed on the Celts. I have no problem with people objecting to
Halloween on theological grounds, but they could at least get their facts
straight!!!
--- QuickBBS v2.01
* Origin: Rock Island (on) Line - Newalla, Ok.- (405)391-9488 (1:147/3)

Msg#: 8591 *BULLETIN BOARD*
07/01/88 22:31:00 (Read 0 Times)
From: ROWAN MOONSTONE
To: MATTHEW DUNHAM
Subj: REPLY TO MSG# 8590 (RE: TRICKS)
An, I know what else I meant to say. What was called "Witchcraft" in the middle
ages was anything but. It was a nasty little fantasy dreamed up by the
Inquisition. The Burning Times, as we called them were a socio-political and
economic phenomenon, not a religious one. One of the most excellent studies of
this is Trevor  Davies book "Four Centuries of Witch Beliefs". Michael
Harrison's "Roots of Witchcraft" is another excellent example. Both of these
are available through interlibrary loan. RESEARCH this Halloween thing for
YOURSELF. Dont just take someone else's word for it!!!!! BB Rowan
--- QuickBBS v2.01
* Origin: Rock Island (on) Line - Newalla, Ok.- (405)391-9488 (1:147/3)