WHAT COMMUNION HATH LIGHT WITH DARKNESS?

II Corinthians 6:14-17; Ephesians 5:8

The name means “All Hollows’ Eve”. But is it really? Where did it come from? What is it all about? Creepy goblins, ghosts and demons, witches on brooms, spiders and bats, dead men’s bones, flickering jack-o-lanterns, black cats, eerie costumes and parties. What a weird festival this is! Should we as children of God practice it?

Halloween is increasingly costly and dangerous. Each year following this strange celebration, gruesome accounts surface of the giving of booby-trapped treats to children; apples with concealed razor blades, cookies containing ground glass, candy laced with laxatives or spiked with poisons. This is to say nothing of the cases, reported and unreported, of muggings, murders and molestations which occur on the eve of “All Hallows”. In addition there are other incidences of bodily harm inflicted during the course of Halloween festivities, some on purpose and some accidently.

THE ORIGIN OF HALLOWEEN

It really is no secret that Halloween has been around for thousands of years. Centuries before the birth of Christ the Druids performed mystical rites and ceremonies in honor of the dead on their New Year’s Eve, October 31.

The ancient Druids priests (known as “Men of Oak”), the most evil people living at this time in England, France, Germany and the Celtic countries celebrated the “Vigil of Samhain” in honor of their god, Samhain, lord of the dead who demanded human blood sacrifices. These men were so filled with demons that some had strange, frightening powers. The people lived in terror of the Druids. Halloween is fun for the kids today, but in the times of the Druids it was a night of horror. Halloween had its origin with the Druids. On Halloween the druids and their followers went from house to house playing tricks or treat. The treat demanded by the Druids would be a young woman for human sacrifice. If the treat pleased the Druids they would leave a jack-o-lantern with a lighted candle made of human fat to protect those inside from being killed by demons that night.

When some people couldn’t meet the demands of the Druids, then it was time for the trick. A Hex (hexagram) was drawn on the front door. That night Satan or his demons would kill someone in that home through fear. That night the victim was assaulted brutally by the priests and sacrificed her to their god. Even today on Halloween night many occult killings take place in the USA and around the world.

Halloween acquired sinister significance with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about the land. The people believed that evil spirits lurked about as the sun god grew pale and Samhain grew stronger. By lighting great bonfires on the hillsides, on the “Vigil of Samhain”, they hoped to scare away the evil spirits of those who had died the previous year. It was believed that on this day the souls of the dead would rise from the grave to haunt those who were living.

By waving burning straw aloft on pitchforks, the people tried to frighten off demons and witches. Just in case waving of burning straw didn’t work, the people also put on grotesque and terrifying costumes. They believed that if you dressed in a horrible enough fashion and went roaming around with the spirits all night, they would think you were one of them and they would do you no harm. They believed that when these spirits came to your house, if you did not treat them, they would trick you.

Halloween is a day Witches celebrate above all other days. Witches have eight major festivals throughout the year. The major Witchcraft festival is October 31 or Halloween. Witchcraft is not child’s play. It is an abomination in the eyes of God (Ex. 22:18; Dt. 18:10-12; I Sam. 15:23; II kings 9:22; II Cron. 33:6; Mic. 5:12; Nah, 3:4; Gal. 5:19-21). From 1575 to the 1700’s many people were burned at the stake for their real or suspected involvement in witchcraft. Yet, today witchcraft has gained acceptability by many people. Even the Internal Revenue Service has given tax exempt status to the church of Wicca (the official church of witchcraft). The word Witch is derived from the Saxon word WICA, which means “wise one”. The black of a witches cloak reminds us that Halloween is a “festival of the dead.”

All Saints’ (All Souls ’ Day), was a day that the Roman Catholic church set aside in memory of early Christians who died for their beliefs, it was first celebrated in the month of May. By the year 900 the date had been changed to November 1. Another name for All Saints’ Day was “All Hallows”; October 31 was known as All Hallow’ Eve, which was later shortened to “Halloween”.

While All Hollow’s Eve originally had been a strictly Roman Catholic holiday, the pagan influences from earlier traditions gradually crept in while the Catholic Church’s influence waned. Soon Halloween became a secular observance, and many customs and practices developed.

History books and encyclopedias freely and openly describe this pagan origin and explain their parallelism to today’s customs. Halloween is pagan; still most people, will justify Halloween’s observance by saying, “So what? So it was started by pagans. We aren’t thinking about pagan gods today. We’re just having fun. Where it came from doesn’t make any difference.”

Well, it doesn’t make any difference unless you care what God says on the subject! And if you accept the teachings of God, then it does make a great deal of difference! God’s Word has a great deal to say about why you should not be involved with customs such as those centering on Halloween.

One only has to look at Halloween costumes and decorations to see that it celebrates death, devils, witches and darkness. We as children of God are supposed to conduct ourselves in a way that exemplifies light and life, not darkness and death.

The real contradiction between these two approaches is noted by Ralph Linton, in “Halloween Through Twenty Centuries”. “Among all the festivals which we celebrate today, few have histories stranger than that of Halloween, it commemorates beings and rites with which the church has always been at war.”

C. W. Douglas discloses in “The American Book of Days”, “The mystic rites and ceremonies with which Halloween was originally observed had their origin among the Druids, centuries before the dawn of the Christian era in the celebration on the eve of the festival of Samhain, the Lord of the dead-Satan. The early Roman Catholic Church adopted the eve and the days following and gave new names to them, as it did with many other Christian observances.

Dorothy Wood a writer of the Wichita Beacon presented the case clearly in October 30, 1959. She wrote, "This ancient night of feast for the devil and his groups to degenerate, because of the Christians has grown in popularity. For centuries Christians have adopted all the pagan festivals of old. The Winter Festival has become Christmas. The spring festival has become the Passover (Easter), and worship of Christ shamelessly uses the old pagan fertility symbols, chicks, bunnies and eggs. Now they have completely taken over Halloween.

A SERIOUS MATTER

God does not look at this lightly, as some of us do. He does not want his children to borrow pagan customs (Dt. 12:29-30) with their inevitable detriment to the development of spiritual character. He plainly and directly commanded through the prophet Jeremiah, “Learn not the way of the heathen” (Jer. 10:2). Through Moses, God condemned as abominable all that has to do with witchcraft, black magic and other demonic works of darkness (Dt. 18:9-12).

In view of this Biblical condemnation, we should want to stay as far away as possible from whatever falls into these categories. Instead all across the land in this “Christian Nation”, children and adults dress as witches, demons and other manifestations which honor the “Lord of Death” on his special night.

People do not seem to realize that Satan and his demons are the enemies of God. Halloween purposefully worships Satan. The apostle Paul summed up the attitude true Christians should have and should teach their children: “For once you were darkness (in the past, before becoming a child of God), but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (not dressed as demons, witches, zombies and other beings of darkness) for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true; and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them (by letting your light shine). For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret (let alone to participate in them)” (Eph. 5:7-12).

Halloween is not just fun and games. It is serious business! It is the time that witches celebrate more than any other time of the year!