Let's take a closer look into the origin of Halloween, what it stands for, and represents that we may fully comprehend God's concern about His children's participation in this pagan celebration. As if Halloween being a "pagan" holiday isn't sufficient enough reason to abstain.
Terms to study
The terms below are from The Prophet's Dictionary authored by Dr. Paula A. Price.
Halloween- October 31, a satanic holiday for the intermingling of occultic agents and demonic spirits. Samhain comes from the Gaelic word. Those who celebrate it seek to exalt profanity, uncleanness, and witchcraft. It is a high offering day for witches, sorcerers, and occultists of all kinds. The time falls at a seasonal harvest time.
Samhain- A high holy day of Wiccans and witches that is traditionally celebrated November 1. It worships their goddess, Gaea, Mother Earth, and celebrates with most of the ancient fertility rites.
Wicca- A) An organization of witches. B) One with knowledge of spell casting and enchantments. C) A sorceress or practitioner of magic. Exodus 22:18.
Witch- A) Wizard. A practitioner of the occult using sorcery, wizardry, and magic to manipulate the supernatural and compel its subservience upon God's creation. B) Illegal use of the spirit creation to craft natural forms and objects from Creator God's immaterial worlds. C) Human vessels that oppose the power and authority of Christ and His church on earth with cruel assault tactics against them and God's truth. Exodus 22:18; Deuteronomy 18:10.
The following information regarding the origin of Halloween came from www.history.com.
Ancient Origins of Halloween
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago, mostly in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.
This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.
In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids or Celtic priests to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort during the long, dark winter.
To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes.
When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.
By 43 A.D., the Roman Empire had conquered the majority of Celtic territory. In the course of the 400 years that they ruled the Celtic lands, two festivals of Roman origin were combined with the traditional Celtic celebration of Samhain.
All Saints' Day
On May 13, 609 A.D., Pope Boniface IV dedicated the Pantheon in Rome in honor of all Christian martyrs, and the Catholic feast of All Martyrs Day was established in the Western church. Pope Gregory III later expanded the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs and moved the observance from May 13 to November 1.
By the 9th century, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands, where it gradually blended with and supplanted older Celtic rites. In 1000 A.D., the church made November 2 All Souls' Day, a day to honor the dead. It's widely believed today that the church was attempting to replace the Celtic festival of the dead with a related, church-sanctioned holiday.
All Souls' Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades, and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels, and devils. The All-Saints’ Day celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day), and the night before it, the traditional night of Samhain in the Celtic religion, began to be called All-Hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.
I've presented you with enough information and facts to establish Satan as the progenitor of Halloween undoubtedly, therefore explaining why Christians should have no involvement with Halloween. As I stated in part one, you cannot change the origin of someone or something.
Allow me to end by sharing this piece of vital information. Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan, said, "Dressing up, either by wearing a costume or by coloring oneself in celebration of Halloween, signifies that you allow Satan to won you." He went on to say, "When you adopt the pagan practices, you subconsciously dedicate yourself to the devil." LaVey's statements were corroborated by former Satanist John Ramirez, who said, "when you dress up even as an angel or a mermaid for Halloween, you give the devil the legal right to change your identity." There's a much darker reality in Halloween beyond costumes and candy, Ramirez warns. (Statements quotes taken from www.wsimag.com, Why Christians Should Not Celebrate Halloween, Written by Nila Eslit)
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