Halloween….a day of innocent fun and dressing up in cute little costumes to receive yummy candy treats from house after house……OR IS IT??? Come with me and lets take a look at where Halloween came from, what the meaning is behind it, and if it is Biblically based in any way and/or honoring to God for us to celebrate this day.
A Quick History of Halloween
Halloween dates way back to 2000 years ago, and was a celtic(Druid) observance to their god Samhain – the god of the dead. October 31st was the Celtic New Year and it was believed that the evil spirits of the dead would come back and torment the people on this day. This “Vigil of Samhain” was established to appease and try to hide from the god Samhain and the evil dead spirits. It is believed that on this night the veil between our world and the spirit world is very thin, thus allowing for various encounters with evil spirits. Halloween did not originate as “All Hallows Eve” as many believe. That festival was later moved to the time of the Druid celebration by the Catholic Church.
During this Druid Vigil of Samhain, they would dress up to look like the evil spirits beleiving in doing this they would scare the spirits away. Another way they would attempt to appease the evil spirits was to put fruits and nuts (their best treats) outside their doors in hopes that they would take the food and leave them alone.
What Does This Have to Do With Halloween in America Today?
This Druid celebration was later brought to America in the 1800’s with people immigrating from Ireland. The same traditions are carried on in America today that began with the Druids; Trick or Treating, dressing up in costumes, death, fear, ghosts, demons, etc. Other traditions and symbols of Halloween that have been adapted throughout the years are witches, black cats, Jack-o-Lanterns, goblins, monsters, etc.
Hmmmm, I am having a hard time seeing how any of these evil symbols can be manipulated into a “Christian celebration or tradition.”
Some Things You Might Not Know That Take Place on Halloween Night
Did you know that Halloween is the biggest day of the year for Satanic cults and witchcraft? Halloween is a day they plan for all year! I watched a video about this several years ago that had true stories of what takes place on Halloween that most poeple don’t know about. There were testimonies of men and women who had been involved in the occult and lived to tell what really happens on Halloween. One of the things the ex-occult members testified to was that in the occult, all over our country, women are impregnated for the sole purpose of giving birth on Halloween night….and then the newborn is sacrificed(brutally murdered) to Satan.
Halloween: Innocent and fun?
Ok, lets take a look at what we have learned so far:
- Halloween is based on a Druid(witchcraft) religion
- All symbols of Halloween have demonic meanings (see resources at the bottom of this post for more info on this.)
- The true meaning behind dressing up on Halloween is to scare evil dead spirits away
- The true meaning being giving treats is to appease evil dead spirits
- Human, baby, and animal sacrifices are made to satan on this day.
Knowing all of this (and I have only given a little glimpse of the big picture)….can anyone honestly say it is just innocent fun?
So, Should Christians Participate in Halloween?
The Lord has very strongly convicted my husband and I that we should in no way shape or form participate in this evil celebration. There is nothing in or about this holiday that is good. Dressing up in costumes is not innocent fun. It is bathed in witchcraft. Trick or Treating is not innocent fun, it is bathed in witchcraft. On and on down the list I could go. There is absolutely nothing about this holiday to celebrate. No matter how hard we try we can not manipulate it into a “Christian holiday.”
However October 31st IS the Lord’s day (”This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” Psalm 118:24) and we should go on worshipping Him and praising Him as every other day. Above and beyond that, we should be in constant prayer on this day for the horrendously evil acts that will be taking place. We need to unveil truth about Halloween and pray that fellow believers would unite and take a stand against everything unholy about this day. We also need to point a lost world to the Light and not to the darkness! Instead of celebrating evil and darkness on this day we should celebrate the Light of the World!
Why Do So Many Christians Participate in Halloween?
1. Some people really have no idea about what goes on Halloween, where its roots came from, and what they are symbolizing when the dress up, go trick or treating, pass out candy, etc. If you are that person, I hope this post and the links I have listed below will help to educate you more on the true meaning of Halloween, and my prayer is that the Lord would convict your heart about the seriousness of participating in Halloween.
2. Some Christians have heard the truth about Halloween, but they choose to participate anyway.
One reason they choose to participate is because they are so influenced by the world that they conform to it rather than being “in and not of it.” Our society places a huge importance on Halloween. Just go to Walmart…you know what I am talking about. It is everywhere. Masks of death and gore, blood, vampires (things that would be R – rated in a movie, but our small children are allowed to see in stores everywhere this time of year.) There are also the sweet costumes, the candy, cute little jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, and goblins. It is everywhere, and our society tries to make Halloween appeal to everyone. If a believer is not careful, they will get sucked into this mindset that they can celebrate the “fun and cute part of Halloween.” As I stated earlier, there is NO cute or innocent aspect of Halloween! If this is you, I plead with you that you would search God’s Word and pray and ask Him what He would have you do on this day.
A second reason Christians choose to participate, though knowing these truths, is they think they are shutting out the rest of the world on this day and not being a light in the darkness if they choose not to participate in Halloween traditions. That argument does not line up with Scripture. “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:19. ( see more verses below). We can not conform to the world! We are different, and we don’t have to give into evil practices to be a witness to the world. We are a witness to the world by being different. No, it is not always easy to go against the grain, it is much easier to go with the flow, and do what everyone else does – including Halloween! People might think we are rude or arrogant for not participating. Lost people think that when you do almost anything against the world’s standard. Why give into it and try to justify it on THIS day? If this describes you, I plead with you to search the Scriptures and pray and ask God what His desire and will is for you on this day. Take a stand for Christ today, celebrate the Lord’s day, not a day based on witchcraft!
A Look at God’s Word
“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.” 1 Thess. 5:21-22
“Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” Eph 5:11
“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God. The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.” Duet. 18:9-14
IF these practices were so detestable to our Lord then, we know that they also are now because our God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! There is no way He would desire us to indulge in this evil holiday with all of its roots and meanings in the very things He detests!
My prayer is that this post might give you a better understanding of Halloween, and that it would make it clear that the traditions of Halloween should not be observed by Christians. I plead with you to seek the Lord’s heart on this issue, and be a light for Christ today and always.
Read the Jeremiah Projects article on Halloween
Read Rob Hurt’s article The History of Halloween and the Word of God
Read: The Harm of Halloween
10 Comments
October 31, 2006 at 5:00 pm
Thanks for posting this. I was going to type up something, but I’m just going to link to this on my blog!! =)
So, I’m wondering… how do you feel about Halloween alternatives on a different day than Halloween, like the Harvest Fest? I’m still working this out in my brain…
October 31, 2006 at 8:00 pm
As you said, the harvest fest wasn’t actually on Halloween. If it had been on the actual day we would not have gone or participated for the reasons stated in my post. Since it was not on the actual day I think it was a good thing. It was not centered on Halloween but more on a Harvest celebration, and a focus on Christ. What I liked about the Harvest fest was that it was a way for the churches in the community to reach out to all people in the community and share the love of Christ with them. Some people came dressed up in strange/gruesome costumes, some tasteful ones, and some with no costume at all. That is to be expected when the whole community gathers for an event like this. The point and focus of this event, I believe, was not Halloween, but a great way to share Christ’s love with the community. I choose not to dress the kids up at all this time of year. But I liked working in the face painting, and showing Christ’s love to all the children there. It was a great opportunity to talk with kids in the community you wouldnt normally have a chance to talk to.
November 1, 2006 at 4:43 am
I admit that there may be some Christians who outright celebrate Halloween without considering its origins. However, for the most part your preaching to the choir. Most Christians participate in celebrations which are redirected in their focus (fall, reformation day, etc…). This is of course in perfect keeping with Christian history. Christmas is a result of a redirection in focus. The early church experienced a huge influx of former pagans. These former pagans were certainly going to celebrate the winter solstace. The church wisely decided to simply refocus the peoples attention to something good. A church fall festival, or a reformation celebration is a perfectly right thing to do. So I find myself asking: who is the article penned for? I suppose it is for the folks who allow costumes in their fall festivals, or schedule their event on the 31st. I’m not sure that celebrating on the 28th and opting for face paint instead of a costume is worth the scuffle. That may be why our pastor’s son came to the preschool’s community helper day (a fun day for the kids without promoting Halloween) dressed as a preacher!! I appreciate the education on Holloween’s origins (I think your right); however, I feel that your blog audience is mainly Christians trying to do the right thing-participating in redefined celebrations.
November 1, 2006 at 4:17 pm
Wow, I have an audience?! I am shocked! But seriously ~ redirecting the focus is exactly what I am talking about!! I believe we should re-direct the focus to Christ, and not satan & the original “appeasing of evil spirits.” I believe we should be in prayer throughout the day for the occult practices and baby sacrifices that are taking place – that God would miraculously intervene, instead of us being blind to them. I know that a lot of the things that are done for Christmas and Easter are pagan traditions. That is why in our family, we do things differently on those days as well. We don’t tell our kids santa is real, and play that game, we do something completely different to focus on Christ, but that is for a another blog! I completely agree with you! Just as my reply to Amber said – I think doing a fall festival on a day other than Halloween is great, with the focus being on Christ. Also as my response to Amber said – costumes being at the fall festival is definitely to be expected when the whole community is invited, and I dont think anyone should be excluded over costumes. I personally choose not to participate in that considering the true meaning behind it! I think we should celebrate reformation day rather than Halloween. I agree. I am shocked you even read my blog. I didn’t know anyone really knew about my blog except for a few people. I was directing this toward any Christain who might stumble upon it on Halloween (which praise God, according to my blog stats several did!), and my prayer was that it would reveal truth about the celebration, give them the facts, and give them a new perspective that they had not thought of before. Celebrating something other than Halloween like God’s provision in the fall, or reformation day is great, however trying to “Christianize” something with such evil meanings doesn’t work (like costumes & trick or treating)! And as I am sure you know, no we didn’t send Trevor to preschhool in a costume. We might be ridiculed or judged for that, but that is ok. Our desire is to honor Chirst and our heart is in the right place. If the community helper dress up day had been on Thurs, we would have gladly participated in it, but since it was on Halloween, we chose not to. We felt it would confuse Trevor to know he dressed up on Halloween (even though it was not even celebrating Halloween) when he knows that is something we dont do. Anyway, thanks for you comments!
November 1, 2006 at 4:44 pm
I think Chad has a point, but I also believe that there are Christians out there who are looking for these kinds of answers. And I know I’ve met people who claim to be Christians (and though they don’t go “all out” on Halloween) will participate in Halloween parties, etc. I used to be one of them.
And we’re still working on the costume thing. Maybe next year I’ll get the guts to tell my kids no. (?) So,… Katie,… as a member of “the choir” — THANKS!
November 1, 2006 at 5:02 pm
I used to participate in Halloween too. My parents always allowed us to partcipate, and I was not yet a Christian. Some time after God redeemed my life, He revealed these things to me through a friend and through different resources, and I am so thankful. It took me (and Jared) a long time to part with the “fun” idea of Halloween and not wanting our kids to “miss out” on anything But we definitly still have fun, in a different way (see pumpkin patch post below!)! I know there are lots of people out there who either just dont know at all, only know a little, or might know a lot and just dont care. But I wanted to put the info out there, and share what God has shown me and placed on my heart about this. I hope it is helpful, and that God can use it for His glory! Thanks for being in my choir Amber!
November 2, 2006 at 2:56 am
Hey, don’t fret; nobody’s offended. We just don’t see perfectly eye to eye. Life is just that way some times!!! Keep up the good work guys!
Chad
October 31, 2007 at 12:44 pm
[...] This is the Day the Lord has made… Jump to Comments You might notice there are no “Happy Halloween’s” coming from me today! I wrote a post last year about why we don’t celebrate Halloween with the hope of shedding some light on the true meaning of Halloween, for any fellow Believers who might not already know! I know that it is something the Lord has strongly convicted us about, and there is a lot of controversy around it all. But, if you would like to learn more about the truth behind Halloween, read this. [...]
October 31, 2007 at 6:25 pm
[...] Read Katie’s post from last year. [...]
October 23, 2008 at 5:11 am
[...] Halloween: Should Christians Participate? [...]