The Dark Side Of Halloween

The church that I went to when I was in college had a strong believe against Halloween. One of their main income was from a thrift store, yet during Haloween season, they wouldn't sell any related Halloween accessories and chose to loose thousands of dollars of their sales by doing what they believe is right. It trully got me thinking about Halloween and made me do a deeper research about it.

History of Halloween
Back to the ancient religion of the Celtics (Ireland), there was a celebration called Samhain, the time when the division between the natural and supernatural became very thin, the order of the universe is suspended, and the spirits of the dead move freely among men. The priests who led the rituals generally offer sacrifices (crops, animals, & sometimes humans), in order to placate (meredam kemarahan) the gods and frightening away evil spirits. In the 7th century, as the influence of Christianity spread into Celtic lands, Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day, to replace the festival of the dead, thus became All Hallows' Eve ('hallow' means 'saint').

The origins of trick-or-treat was the supreme night of demonic jubilation. Spirits of the dead would rise out of their graves, and frightened villagers tried to appease (menenangkan) them by offering gifts. They're feared that the spirits would harm them or destroy their property. They wear masks and blackening the face with soot were originally ways of hiding themselves from the spirits of the dead. The Jack-o-lantern (pumpkin festival) is the ancient symbol of a damned soul. Pumpkins were cut with faces representing demons and was originally intended to frighten away evil spirits. They would have been left outside the home to burn through the night.

Witches are dominant themes of the holiday and are really just one side of a modern revival of paganism. Halloween represents the beginning of the witches year. At this time the power of the underworld is unleashed, and is considered the best time to contact spirits. The apostle Paul said Witchcraft is one of the acts of the sinful nature and those who practice it will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:16-21; Revelation 22:15).


What's Christians Got To Do With It?
As believers, we are called to "Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. [1 Thesalonians 5:21-22] Who can deny that virtually all of the symbols of Halloween are evil? Witches, monsters, ogres, ghosts, goblins and demons all portray evil. Christians are to "... have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." [Ephesians 5:11]

Is Halloween just another innocent holiday that doesn't harm anyone? Should churches compromise to the culture? "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." [Romans 12:2]"For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?" [2 Corinthians 6:14, 15]

When the world celebrates the Festival of Samhain and the powers of darkness by masquerading as evil creatures or decorating our homes, schools, businesses and churches with occult symbols, Satan is glorified. The sort of practices celebrated on Halloween are what defiled the ancient nations [Leviticus 18:24-30].

The Israelites were warned against such practices when they entered the Promised Land.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. [Deuteronomy 18:10-14]

Halloween is a serious business for Satanists!! Some may say, "But we only do this in fun, we don't practice witchcraft," those things that represent Satan and his domain cannot be considered "for fun".

Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

Wake up Christians!! Halloween is the night of evil and we, as believers, should have nothing to do with it.We are all accountable for our choices, ignorance is no excuse. The choice is up to us...