Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Halloween: Behind the Mask
Good News Magazine ^ | Fall 2005 | Jerold Aust

Posted on 10/22/2006 10:37:57 AM PDT by DouglasKC

Halloween: Behind the Mask

Every year, on the evening of Oct. 31, millions of families celebrate a distinctly odd holiday known as Halloween. For your own good, you need to know what lurks behind the mask of Halloween.

by Jerold Aust

Halloween is undoubtedly one of the strangest holidays people celebrate, with its symbolism of witches, devils, skeletons, bats and black cats. Is it not a little bizarre that children are taught to dress up as ghosts and monsters to go from house to house demanding "trick or treat!" (with the threat of a trick or prank constituting a playful form of extortion)?

While tricks are no longer the norm in most places, it used to be common in many areas that refusal to give trick-or-treaters candy invited minor acts of vandalism, such as having one's windows marred with a bar of soap, trash dumped on the lawn, toilet paper unrolled across tree limbs, and raw eggs thrown against the house and car.

Where, how and when did such strange customs begin? And why do they continue?

Many parents encourage their children to celebrate Halloween, assuming it to be harmless and innocent fun. But why? Would parents honor this holiday if they knew what's behind it—behind the mask?

Halloween's origins

Few people really understand the origins of Halloween. However, many clues are obvious from the trappings of the holiday—witches, ghosts, jack-o'-lanterns, skeletons and the like.

History shows that behind the dark mask of this popular children's holiday reside the terrors of an ancient Celtic festival renamed All Hallows Eve. It was originally a holiday marking the mythical time when the dead supposedly rose from their graves to walk the earth.

To better understand the origins of Halloween one needs to be introduced to the ancient pagan festival of Samhain (usually pronounced sow-en).

In The Encyclopedia of Religion, under the heading "Halloween," the authors link Halloween to the eve of Samhain, "a celebration marking the beginning of winter as well as the first day of the New Year within the ancient Celtic culture of the British Isles."

This encyclopedia explains that "the time of Samhain comprised the eve of the feast and the day itself (31 October and 1 November). This event was a crucial seam in the social and religious fabric of the Celtic year, and the eve of Samhain set the tone for the annual celebration as a threatening, fantastic, mysterious rite of passage to a new year" (1987, p. 176).

Both the eve and day of Samhain were thought to be a time when the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken, allowing passage between the two. "Other worldly entities, such as the souls of the dead, were able to visit earthly inhabitants, and humans could take the opportunity to penetrate the domains of the gods and supernatural creatures.

"Fiery tributes and sacrifices of animals, crops, and possibly human beings were made to appease supernatural powers that controlled the fertility of the land. Samhain acknowledged the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the earth during that period" (ibid., p. 177).

The Encyclopedia of Religion then explains the origin of the bizarre customs that survive in today's Halloween: "Divination activities remained a popular practice. Adults, dressed in fantastic disguises and masks, imitated supernatural beings and visited homes where occupants would offer tributes of food and drink to them. A fear of nocturnal creatures, such as bats and owls, persisted, since these animals were believed to communicate with the spirits of the dead" (emphasis added).

Halloween comes to the New World

Centuries later, Irish and Scottish immigrants brought the custom of Halloween with them to the New World. After massive immigration of the Irish to the United States during the great potato famine in Ireland (1845-46), Halloween eventually became a national event.

Today, says The Encyclopedia of Religion, "modern Halloween activities have centered on mischief making and masquerading in costumes, often resembling otherworldly characters. Folk customs, now treated as games (such as bobbing for apples), have continued from the various divination practices of the ancient celebrants of this occasion. Supernatural figures (such as the ghost, the witch, the vampire, the devil) play a key role in supplying an aura of the mysterious to the evening, whether or not they originally had an association with the festival.

"Children are particularly susceptible to the imagery of Halloween, as can be seen in their fascination with the demonic likeness of a carved and illuminated pumpkin, known as the jack-o'-lantern. In recent times, children have taken up the practice of dressing in Halloween costumes and visiting homes in search of edible and monetary treats, lightly threatening to play a trick on the owner if a treat is not produced . . .

"There also has been renewed interest in Halloween as a time when adults can also cross cultural boundaries and shed their identities by indulging in an uninhibited evening of frivolity. Thus, the basic Celtic quality of the festival as an evening of annual escape from normal realities and expectations has remained into the twentieth century" (p. 177).

God unmasks Halloween

Does the Bible have anything to say about strange customs and holidays such as this? In fact, it does—and none of it is good.

While God's Holy Days in the Bible celebrate the role of Jesus Christ in bringing mankind to salvation in the eternal family of God (as explained in the following article and our free booklet God's Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind), Halloween is a celebration of the opposite—of demonism, witchcraft, death and evil spirits.

God's Word makes it clear that no one should dare entertain witchcraft or act as a sorcerer. "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD" (Deuteronomy 18:10-11, emphasis added throughout).

God pronounced death on any Israelites who would dare dally with demonism or Satanism: "A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them" (Leviticus 20:27). "You shall not permit a sorceress to live" (Exodus 22:18).

Why such a harsh penalty? God did not want such perverted, demonic practices to spread among His people and corrupt others. "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst" (Deuteronomy 13:5).

Would God be against something as harmless as Halloween, especially since it allows children to have fun and enjoy a little entertainment? Can't we let them have a little harmless fun?

Frankly, Halloween is anything but harmless. It focuses one's attention on witchcraft and demonism, which flies in the face of the holy God Almighty! When parents not only allow but also encourage their children to celebrate witches and goblins, they are teaching them that it's acceptable to deal in demonism.

And we have seen what God thinks of that. God is a God of light and truth (1 John 1:5). Satan, "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4), is a very real being—a being of darkness, deception and death (Revelation 12:9; John 8:44). We are to have nothing to do with his ways. (To learn more, request our free booklet Is There Really a Devil?)

Do not assume that Halloween is a harmless holiday. God hates mankind's dabbling in the spirit world of Satan and his demons!

If there were no other reason available, that should be enough. But there are more reasons. Halloween keeps humankind, and many Christians, confused, disoriented and separated from the one and only true God.

God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Nor is He the author of Halloween or any other "Christianized" pagan holidays (Amos 5:21). Why would the only true God who loves mankind support any worldly holiday that blinds human beings to Him and His truth and that holds men, women and children captive to deception?

What does God expect from you on Halloween?

You now know what lurks behind Halloween's mask: Satan the devil! God will one day unmask the ritual and tradition of Halloween to all people (Hebrews 8:10-11).

If you believe that God exists and you understand that He is highly offended by the holidays designed and perpetuated by the god of this age, then you have a choice: whether you will begin honoring God the way He expects to be honored and be blessed for doing it, or whether you will ignore the truth revealed in history and His Word. Don't wait!

God is not a god of masks, but a God of truth. God says that if you honor Him, He will honor you (1 Samuel 2:30). Ignore God and He will leave you subject to the god of this world and all that entails. God expects all who love and honor Him to repent from dead works and turn in faith toward Him, the only true God. GN



TOPICS: Current Events; General Discusssion; History; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: christianity; god; halloween; herewego; jesus; theocrats
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160 ... 501-516 next last
To: escapefromboston

121 posted on 10/23/2006 7:37:49 AM PDT by LongElegantLegs (You can do that, and be a whack-job pedophile on meth.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 64 | View Replies]

To: bornacatholic
Oh brother. Did the deeper meaning of the parable escape you?
*From the Bible show me where you are its authoritative interpreter.

Not me, but God's spirit working through me:

1Co 2:10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
1Co 2:11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.
1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,
1Co 2:13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.

*From the Bible show me where Jesus taught we must keep those specific days

Lev 23:2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my feasts.

The Lord, the one who became the man Jesus, the messiah, is telling those who worship him the days they should observe.

122 posted on 10/23/2006 7:41:38 AM PDT by DouglasKC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC
What you quoted had zilch to do with your putative authority to interpret scripture.

*Good Lord, man. Do you think Jesus taught Levitical Law?

123 posted on 10/23/2006 7:47:44 AM PDT by bornacatholic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: PJ-Comix
Yes. I remember that commandment quite clearly. "Thou shalt not Trick or Treat."

It most likely falls under the 1st commandment:

Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

By observing days dedicated to false gods against the wishes of God, you are putting other gods ahead of God.

From the article:

Halloween is a celebration of the opposite—of demonism, witchcraft, death and evil spirits.

God's Word makes it clear that no one should dare entertain witchcraft or act as a sorcerer. "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD" (Deuteronomy 18:10-11, emphasis added throughout).

God pronounced death on any Israelites who would dare dally with demonism or Satanism: "A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them" (Leviticus 20:27). "You shall not permit a sorceress to live" (Exodus 22:18).

Why such a harsh penalty? God did not want such perverted, demonic practices to spread among His people and corrupt others. "But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst" (Deuteronomy 13:5).

124 posted on 10/23/2006 7:48:23 AM PDT by DouglasKC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 119 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC
Pope Peter

And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation; as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you: As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.

125 posted on 10/23/2006 7:49:41 AM PDT by bornacatholic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 122 | View Replies]

To: bornacatholic
What you quoted had zilch to do with your putative authority to interpret scripture.<> It comes down to believing scripture and the holy spirit...or you. I think you know who wins that battle.

*Good Lord, man. Do you think Jesus taught Levitical Law?

The pre-incarnate Christ told those that worship him exactly what days to observe. The pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, the Lord, is the same "Lord" who was working with Israel. That's what the bible says and that's what I think.

126 posted on 10/23/2006 7:53:51 AM PDT by DouglasKC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 123 | View Replies]

To: bornacatholic
And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation; as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you: As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.

I agree with that scripture 100%.

127 posted on 10/23/2006 7:54:34 AM PDT by DouglasKC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 125 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC
It comes down to believing scripture and the holy spirit...or you. I think you know who wins that battle.

You're the one who's telling us what Scripture means. Where do you get your authority to do that? From whom? Who gave it to you? (Proof is required; claiming "the Holy Spirit gave it to me" is not proof, it's merely begging the question. Any cult leader can say the same thing.)

128 posted on 10/23/2006 8:12:53 AM PDT by Campion ("I am so tired of you, liberal church in America" -- Mother Angelica, 1993)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 126 | View Replies]

To: Campion
You're the one who's telling us what Scripture means. Where do you get your authority to do that? From whom? Who gave it to you? (Proof is required; claiming "the Holy Spirit gave it to me" is not proof, it's merely begging the question. Any cult leader can say the same thing.)

Not that I think I'm Jesus Christ, but the Pharisee's accused him by saying the same thing when he taught biblical doctrine instead of Jewish doctrine:

Luk 20:2 And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority?
Luk 20:3 And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me:
Luk 20:4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?
Luk 20:5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not?
Luk 20:6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.
Luk 20:7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.
Luk 20:8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.

The more things change the more they remain the same...

Joh 7:14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.
Joh 7:15 And the Jews marveled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
Joh 7:16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
Joh 7:17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

"Do his will". Observe what he said to do, one of which was to observe his feast days. If you do the will of God, observe the holy days he created, you would know that this is true. Oh, and by the way, Jesus was teaching this during one of the feasts commandmended by God, the feast of tabernacles.

129 posted on 10/23/2006 8:29:09 AM PDT by DouglasKC
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 128 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC

Do you also avoid birthdays and Fourth of July? Last time I checked Halloween wasn't being celebrated as a religious holiday.


130 posted on 10/23/2006 8:36:34 AM PDT by HungarianGypsy (Trust: Hard to forge. Easy to break.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 129 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC

Let me correct that. It wasn't being celebrated as a religious holiday by Christians. Although, I'm not so sure that the pagans I know celebrate it as anything more than a way to get candy.


131 posted on 10/23/2006 8:38:16 AM PDT by HungarianGypsy (Trust: Hard to forge. Easy to break.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 129 | View Replies]

To: LongElegantLegs

Awesome! I think I just found my idea for my Halloween costume!


132 posted on 10/23/2006 8:54:48 AM PDT by Quark2005 (Religion is the key to knowing the spiritual world; Science is the key to knowing the physical world)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 121 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC
So, as I understand it now, Halloween, Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, the Theory of Evolution, the Big Bang Theory, modern contraception, vaccinations, standardized academic testing, latitudinarian religious study courses, yoga, Dungeons and Dragons, the Wizard of Oz, and just about everything else under the sun are plots to suppress and destroy Christianity by releasing demons?

I guess when being persecuted is the highest aspiration of one's faith, one will find as many things as possible to persecute them...

133 posted on 10/23/2006 9:06:47 AM PDT by Quark2005 (Religion is the key to knowing the spiritual world; Science is the key to knowing the physical world)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HungarianGypsy

Actually, I bought into the Halloween thing while disagreeing on D&D. D&D is little more than a game of monopoly with a better developed piece to more around the board.


134 posted on 10/23/2006 9:49:50 AM PDT by DungeonMaster (Man defiles a rock when he chips it with a tool. Ex 20:25)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 115 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

What?! Trick or treating is equal to idolatry?

135 posted on 10/23/2006 9:51:27 AM PDT by DungeonMaster (Man defiles a rock when he chips it with a tool. Ex 20:25)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 124 | View Replies]

To: bornacatholic
There is plenty of evidence He was born on the 25

Not a lot though. Since the shepards where in the hills, it does indicate that it was later in the year (well, as our calendar currently runs). In the early Church, most of the concern was with calculating Easter right, and Christmas wasn't as big of a concern until a little bit later (still pretty early though).

136 posted on 10/23/2006 10:02:14 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 100 | View Replies]

To: DouglasKC
Sure I wear a wedding ring.

Actually, if you read some of first and second generations of Christian writers, there is a lot more to prohibit the wearing of any type of gold than there is for celebrating the day before All Saints Day.

How about you use it to spread the Gospel instead? Put a Snickers and a Bible tract out to anyone who comes to the door?

137 posted on 10/23/2006 10:04:29 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 105 | View Replies]

To: redgolum
I could cite a ton of evidence. I will once the attacks are renewed in December.

This ought suffice. The Acts of Enrollment were preserved in the Library in Rome and part of early catechesis employed these acts. The Church in Rome knew the day of His birth. It can also be figured from the date of Gospels and referents to Elizabeth's pregnancy etc

138 posted on 10/23/2006 10:06:36 AM PDT by bornacatholic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 136 | View Replies]

To: bornacatholic
Wasn't really disagreeing with you, just stating that it wasn't 100% clear cut. As I said, the ECF's worried a lot more about getting Passover (and hence Easter) right than they did about Christmas. Through in the fact that the Jewish calendar was different than the Roman one, and you get things like the Orthodox have a different formula for Easter than the West.
139 posted on 10/23/2006 10:08:40 AM PDT by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 138 | View Replies]

To: redgolum
As Chairman of ABE Ministries, I must disgree with the ECF and the Orthodox
140 posted on 10/23/2006 10:12:47 AM PDT by bornacatholic
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 139 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 101-120121-140141-160 ... 501-516 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson