Lance Goodall 29 Oct 2018
It’s time of the year again when churches bring out the pumpkins and candy treats as a form of outreach into their communities.
Let’s shed some light on Halloween, and show it for what its — a pagan festival?
Halloween is not what it appears to be!
Its seemingly innocent celebrations are steeped in ancient deep rooted in paganism and demonology and continues to be a form of idolatry in which Satan, the angel of death is worshipped.
Known also as All Hallows Eve, (thanks to the Roman Catholic Church) the feast of Halloween began in pre-Christian times.
It was originally a Celtic festival celebrated widely among the peoples of the British Isles and northern France.
These pagan peoples believed that life was born from death. On this night a certain deity whom they called Samhain, their lord of Death, was honoured at their New Year’s festival (end of October). On that night Samhain was believed to lead hosts of evil spirits into the world. Samhain is also identified as the Grim Reaper, the leader of the ancestral ghosts.
On the evening of the festival, a huge bonfire built from oak branches, which they believed to be sacred, was ignited in a high place.
Upon this fire sacrifices of crops, animals and even human beings were burned as an offering in order to appease their demon lord.
It was also believed that Samhain, being pleased by their faithful offerings, allowed the souls of the dead to return to their homes for a festal visit on this day. Thus they believed that cold, dark creatures filled the night, wandering and begging amongst the living.
It is from this belief that the practice of wandering about in the dark dressed up in costumes imitating ghosts, fairies, leprechauns, elves, smurfs, (a German nature spirit) and other assorted demons, grew up.
It is important to note that the ‘souls of the dead’, or ghosts, are in fact demons cunningly mimicking the attributes of departed loved ones as much as is necessary to delude the observer. Any attention paid to such illusions is destructive !
The dialogue of “trick and treat” is also an integral part of this system of beliefs and practices.
It was believed that the souls of the dead who had entered into the world of darkness, decay and death, and therefore into total communion with and submission to the demon Samhain, bore the affliction of great hunger on their festal visit. Out of this grew the practice of begging for “treats” (offerings). If these “treats” were not forthcoming, then the wrath and anger of Samhain would be unleashed through a system of “tricks” (curses).
From a Christian viewpoint, participation in these practices at any level is idolatrous, and a genuine betrayal of our God and our Holy Faith. To do so by dressing up and going out would be to wilfully seek fellowship with the ‘dead’ whose Lord is also known as Satan, the Evil One, who stands against God. Or, to participate by submission to the dialogue of “trick or treat” is to make offering, not to innocent little children, but to the lord of Death, whom they unknowingly serve as proxy for the ‘dead’.
In the days of the early Celtic Church, which was strictly Orthodox, the Holy Fathers attempted to counteract this pagan New Year festival by establishing the Feast of All Saints on the same day (in the East the Feast of All Saints is celebrated on the Sunday following Pentecost).
As is the custom of the Church, the faithful Christians attended a Vigil Service in the evening and in the morning a celebration of the Holy Eucharist. It is from this that the term Halloween developed. The word has its roots in the Old English of All Hallow E’en, i.e. the Eve commemorating all those who were hallowed (sanctified). The people who remained pagan and therefore anti-Christian and whose paganism had become deeply intertwined with the occult, satanism and magic reacted to the Church’s attempt to supplant their festival by increased fervour on this evening.
In the early middle ages Halloween became the supreme and central feast of the occult, a night and day upon which acts of witchcraft, demonism, sorcery and satanism of all kinds were practiced. Many of these practices involved desecration and mockery of Christian practices and beliefs. Costumes of skeletons developed as a mockery of the Church’s reverence for Holy Relics; Holy things were stolen,and used in perverse and sacrilegious ways. The old practice of begging became a system of persecution designed to harass Christians who were, by their beliefs, unable to participate by making offerings to those who served the lord of Death.
It is important to be aware of how these anti-Christian, pagan and demonic practices have crept into our society and our very lives as innocent, fun, and playful diversions.
Our Lord Jesus Christ calls us to the “narrow path”, to the bearing of our own Cross, to the difficult road of rejecting sin and embracing righteousness. By refraining from this hidden demon worship, we set ourselves apart from the world, perhaps even are mocked and laughed at for such stupidity and simple mindedness. “How can children having fun be related to demonic activity”, they may ask. In the face of all this we must also remember that Satan is the “father of lies”, the great deceiver and he will go to any lengths to trap us into choosing to follow him rather than our Lord, even if we do so unwittingly and in ignorance.
Know this: the devil exists; evil spirits exist! Our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world in order to destroy “him that had the dominion of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14). Remember that many martyrs were tortured and killed rather than allow themselves to be coerced into tossing a little incense on a pagan altar.
When we willingly participate in the sacrifice to the lord of death as a “harmless” social custom, we ourselves make a mockery of the witness of those martyrs.
But many American Christians cringe at the very idea of having to give up their fun. Who wants to be labeled a witch-hunting fundamentalist? And no one wants to be the bad parent who deprives a child of the “essential” childhood experience of trick-or-treating.
But the number of Christians stirred by conviction about Halloween is growing. I believe Christians need to bypass overt celebrations of Halloween, and some of my reasons may surprise you:
1. The modern celebration retains its decidedly occult origin. Some say the “All Hallows Eve” designation on some church calendars marks it as a Christian holiday, but an eighth-century accommodation to local pagan traditions for appeasing evil spirits is very thin gruel, Gospel-wise.
Halloween remains the highest sacred day of the year for modern witches and pagans, called “Samhain” (pronounced, “sow-een”).
Some rationalize that Halloween transforms ghouls and goblins into light-hearted fun, but is Halloween’s makeover into a big joke a biblical approach? While Christians need not cringe in fear of the demonic realm, nor be overly preoccupied, neither are we to mock and scoff, cavalierly entering Satan’s territory while dismissing the danger.
We are especially not to encourage our children in such recklessness.
2. Halloween is now the second-most popular American celebration right behind Christmas.
Why the growing magnetism of Halloween? Spiritual deception on a grand scale, using every enticing trick in the book, may be at work. And such trends call for heightened Christian discernment.
This event has become a huge annual celebration in the “LGBT” world, especially for the transgender/ gender-confused folks. Their affinity illustrates some of the problem: The core of Halloween is glittering artificiality. You can be pretend to be someone you aren’t for a night, you can flirt with danger, you can divine a different destiny – but it’s all void of the love or will of God. This “seduction unto death” is enticing: Don’t be afraid, do what you want, there’s nothing to fear. It’s one of Satan’s oldest tricks. Costume parties can be fun, but these costumes dare to disguise even our very souls.
3. Most Christians with a sincere faith acknowledge there’s a demonic realm and that Satan and his minions busily devise methods of deceiving humans. Knowing that, Christians should readily recognize how Halloween might be used by the enemy. Not just its ancient pagan roots, but today’s parties, decorations, trick-or-treating, Halloween movies and media and so on, are a fertile field for spiritual oppression. If you were Satan, and you had been given a “gift” like Halloween, what would you do with it? Certainly, he would deceive, distract, tempt, corrupt and deaden young Christians and others. How? Read on.
4. Satan, hating new life as he does, targets youth. Bloody, nightmarish images are routinely paraded before little children in a disturbing way. “Fun” haunted houses or horror movies may leave some sensitive children terrified.
5. Flirtation with occult practices is a staple of Halloween events, difficult even for “well-grounded” Christian kids to avoid. Your daughter Tiffany visits a friend for Halloween, and one girl brings a Ouija board. This is divination, forbidden by God in Scripture (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). Will Tiffany sit in a corner like a weirdo, or join in the spooky fun? Of course, most kids will participate. Can Satan reach an unguarded corner of her spirit as he spells out messages on the board? I consulted a Ouija board as a teenager, and yes, as an unbeliever, it was very intriguing. I did not understand its occult origins and potential danger until decades later.
6. What about palm-reading or fortunetelling, also forbidden divination practices? “But it’s just a harmless pastime – God understands my kids are not serious!” Really? Do your kids know how risky these practices are, and that real contact with real demons is quite possible? Satan doesn’t care about our intentions. He’ll take any willing participant.
8. Disruption is one of Satan’s tools. How does Halloween affect your child’s genuine joy and close relationship with our Creator? “Halloween is a harmless occasion” is a common deception. Isn’t it more than that, and less? Behind the laughter is a hollow, Christ-less reality. God is nowhere to be found here. How many Halloween carols do you know? The Lord has deliberately withheld His touch from this event, so we make our own decision about participating, hopefully with discernment.
9. Question any motive that begins with, “I can’t deny my kids …” Really?
There ought to be many things you won’t allow your kids to do. They may object or even rebel, but if you don’t set the standard, what are you teaching them? That diversion minus God is OK on a Christian’s agenda. Think about it.
10. The reality is that Halloween is a God-dishonoring event, and no jesting and laughter can make that fact go away. Can you do without Halloween? Can your kids? Of course you can.
God is the God of all our lives, and that includes leisure, hobbies and entertainment, especially those that tempt us, in so many ways, to forget He is our Lord.
So once more I challenge the leaders, and those who attend Elevation Church to forsake this soft celebration of Halloween, called Fall Festival!
Hear what the Spirit says to the Churches;
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. — Isaiah 55:7
The Truth of Halloween by an Ex witch
We could always take these christians to a satanic ritual to show them the true meaning of Halloween. :). They sure would be praying to Yeshua to get them out of their quick & be on their knees repenting, because they sure could meet there death in there. Not that we would ever do that,but some christians sure do need waking up to what they are messing around with, and that just because the world celebrates and does things, doesn’t mean God is giving us christians permission to, nor does he want us to use the world to reach the world. He wants us to use his bible and his truth only. He did not say if we lift up the celebration of every pagan and occultic thing out there ,he would draw all men unto him. He said if he was lifted up, then he would do that. Jane and Ashley Evans when the first went over to America to establish their influenza church, began to participate in Halloween, and were proudly letting people know. Have no idea if they still do it or not. But they did have just recently a children’s musical Dr Suessical the Musical. Trying to work out what Dr Suess has to do with God,when he never advocated christianity, and was a liberal democrat and he and his wife demanded that the prolife movement stopped using this phrase from Horton hears a who to promote the life of an unborn child “.a person’s a person, no matter how small!!”
The apostasy of the church just keeps getting worse each passing yr ,and the saddest thing is those into it, just don’t see they are doing anything wrong,nor do they seem to care to want to know or repent. What amazes us Lance is we grew up in satanism not christianity, and we can so easily see the apostasy that’s flooded the church since 2000, yet these pastors grew up in supposedly christian homes with christianity being multigenerational in their families,just like satanism is in ours, and their eyes,ears ,spirits and minds are totally deceived to what they are doing, and allowing. OR is it with some of them. How many of them have always been on satan’s side in reality, and this is their calling by him, to flood the church with everything satan, to literally rob the church of biblical truth. Because we just cant fathom how people like Ashley and Jane Evans, Hillsong etc etc have become so apostate, when the God they claim to know, has written exactly in his bible what he calls sin. He hasn’t changed. He did not write a diff gospel for the 21st century, or tell them to do church in a more relevant worldly way to reach the lost,because the bible says he is the same yesterday,today and forever. How can they truly believe the Holy Spirit is leading them to do what they do in church, when its clear to even atheists they are more concerned about fame and fortune than Godliness and biblical truth.
It is not the Holy Spirit of God that is leading all these churches,but the very UNHOLY spirit of satan, and their day of reckoning is fast approaching.