WHY WE DON’T CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN

Oh come on! Halloween is just children having some innocent fun, right? For the most part we couldn’t agree more. From the child’s point of view its an opportunity to put on a neat costume, stay up a little later, and get loads of candy. But is that all there is to Halloween?

Halloween can be traced all the way back to the ancient Druid holiday of Samhain, the Lord of Death. The day (or night) of celebration has never changed, and is even today the highest holiday of satanic cults worldwide, commemorated with horrible brutal acts. All of our contemporary traditions reflect the original Druid festival, a night of appeasing evil spirits....a night of fear.

While many would argue that its all in fun, we have all seen too many horrific news stories to take satanic worship lightly. We worship a living God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who conquered Satan by giving His life on the cross to redeem us from the Lord of Death. Every Christian has been set free from the power of Satan, but that does not mean that he is not real, or powerless to take advantage of foolishly or unknowingly dabbling in things of the occult.

Of course you don’t want to ruin your child’s fun, with all the other children talking of candy and games. But why not apply a little creativity to come up with a fun alternative that isn’t based in fear and evil. We believe these are the best times to teach your child about Jesus.

Halloween is known to nearly every American child as a time of innocent fun, dressing up in costumes and "trick or treat", candy and laughter. But seldom do parents consider what this "holiday" celebrates. What is the history of Halloween?

Halloween can be traced to the ancient pagan Scottish festival of Samhain, the Lord of the Dead, observed on November 1st. This was the Celtic new year, and the night before marked the death of the old year. The Druids, an order of priests, taught that on the eve of Samhain the Lord of Death allowed wicked souls (ghosts), witches, evil spirits, etc., to roam about and harm people. Many of these wicked souls would appear in the form of animals whose bodies these souls had been condemned to inhabit, especially cats. Ghosts, witches, and black cats remain symbols of Halloween to this day.

To appease these evil visitors, it was required that food be set out and shelter provided, or, if they were not satisfied with the "treat", they would "trick" the home they visited by casting an evil spell on it. Children dressing up as evil creatures and "trick or treating" today seems innocent enough, but to the ancient Celts this could be a night of genuine fear for young and old alike.

The earliest New Year’s Eve celebrations included gathering around a community bonfire (from bone fire), animal and sometimes human sacrifices, the wearing of costumes made from the heads and skins of animals, and divination (fortune telling) for the coming year.

When the Romans conquered the Celts in 43 AD., a ceremony honoring the Roman goddess of fruit and trees was added, and bobbing for apples was part of the observances.

"Jack-O-Lanterns" are ancient symbols of a damned soul, named for a man called Jack who could not enter heaven or hell, but was doomed to wander in darkness with his lantern until Judgment day. Fearful of evil spirits, people also began hollowing out turnips and pumpkins and placing lighted candles inside hoping to scare evil spirits from their home.

In the fourth century, Constantine, ruler of Rome, made Christianity the state religion. For three centuries Christians had been persecuted, and only those genuinely interested in following Christ were "converted", sometimes by order of their ruler, often with no change of behavior.

As the Roman Catholic Church sent forth missionaries to pagan lands, they would often "Christianize" pagan holidays rather than require converts to turn from pagan idol worship. In this way Samhain, or All Souls Day was changed to All Saints Day in the 9th century to commemorate the death of saints. The evening before was known as all Hallow e’en, meaning holy evening. While declared holy, the practices of Halloween were not significantly changed.

Children continue today to practice many forms of the ancient holiday, most of them unaware of the reasons for the many Halloween symbols they see. But has Halloween evolved to an innocent night of fun?

Police departments all around the country have begun to document cases of Satanic ritual killings of animals and sometimes humans. Occult activity is at an all time high, with thousands of teenagers showing a morbid fascination with Satanic paraphernalia. Teen suicides are soaring, and flirting with the occult keeps turning up as a recurring theme in many cases. Satanic covens can be found in nearly every fair sized city. But what does all of this have to do with Halloween?

Satanic priests recognize several annual holidays and commemorate them with ritual sacrifice, sexual immorality, and wicked practices. Most of them have to do with seasons, such as the vernal equinox or winter solstice. Unquestionably the highest holiday in Satanic worship is Halloween, just as it has been for hundreds of years.

Of Course you don’t want to ruin your child’s fun, with all of the other children talking of candy and games and parties. But is the message of Halloween--a night to celebrate wickedness and fear, what you really want to convey to your child? We encourage you to exercise a little creativity in coming up with some activity that is just as much fun, but without the focus on evil. What a great time to teach your child the truth about Halloween, and about Jesus.