Halloween
Series: Uncovering Religion
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
Exhortations from Scripture
• 1 Corinthians 10:21 “Ye cannot drink the cup of the
Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of
the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.”
• Ezekiel 34:23 "...teach my people the difference
between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to
discern between the unclean and the clean."
• Romans 13:12 "Therefore, let us cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the Armour of Light.”
• Joe Schimmel uses the time of halloween as an
opportunity to honour and worship Jesus, and
therefore celebrate a harvest festival instead of
honouring demons.
Exhortations from Scripture
• 2 Corinthians 6:14-17 "Do not be unequally
yoked together with unbelievers. For what
fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness?
What communion has light with darkness? And
what accord has Christ with Belial? For what
part has a believer with an unbeliever? And
what agreement has the temple of God with
idols? ...Therefore, come out from among them
and be separate says the Lord. Do not touch
what is unclean and I will receive you."
Halloween
• If you ask most people “what is Halloween?”
they will usually say that it is this strange
holiday celebrated in America on the 31st
October.
• Even though it is true that America has
popularised Halloween, it certainly did not
originate in America, but it has a very sinister
and demonic origin.
Halloween
• Halloween whether the average person accepts it or
not is a religious day and it is definitely not a Christian
day.
• Tom Sanguinet, a former high priest in Wicca has said:
"The modern holiday that we call Halloween has its
origins in the full moon closest to November 1, the
witches' new year. It is a time when the spirits
(demons) are supposed to be at their peak power and
revisiting planet earth... Halloween is purely and
absolutely evil, and there is nothing we ever have, or
will do, that would make it acceptable to the Lord
Jesus."
Origins of the Name Halloween
• The word Halloween is derived from the term
"All Hallows Eve" which occurred on Oct. 31,
the end of summer in Northwestern Europe.
"All Saints Day," or "All Hallows Day" was the
next Day, Nov. 1st. Therefore, Halloween is the
eve of All Saints Day.
• All Saints day is a Catholic instituted holy day.
Origins of Halloween
• Some scholars believe that the origins of the festival of
Samhain (Halloween) are at least 2000 years old.
• Peter Hammond explains, “Halloween has strong roots
in paganism and witchcraft. It began as the Druid
festival of Samhain. The Celts considered November 1st
the day of death, because, in the Northern
hemisphere, this was the beginning of winter, the
leaves were falling, it was getting darker earlier, and
temperatures were dropping. They believed that their
sun god was losing strength and Samhain, the lord of
death, was overpowering the sun god. The druids also
taught that on 31 October, on the eve of the feast,
Samhain assembled the spirits of all who had died
during the previous year to return to their former
home to visit the living.”
Origins of Halloween
• Matt Slick reveals, “There was much superstition
associated with this time of change including the
belief in fairies, and that the spirits of the dead
wandered around looking for bodies to inhabit.
Since the living did not want to be possessed by
spirits, they dressed up in costumes and paraded
around the streets making loud noises to confuse
and frighten the spirits away. In addition, the new
year began for the Celts on Nov. 1. So, the day of
Samhain was believed to be a day that was in
neither the year past or the year to come. Since
it was in between, chaos ruled on that day.”
Origins of Halloween
• Matt Slick continues, “Later, around the 5th century, as the
Catholic Church developed and moved into the area,
instead of adding a new day to celebrate, it took over the
Samhain celebration. Nov. 1st became "All Hallows Eve"
where all the saints of the Catholic church were honored
[The Eve before All Saints Day]. A later custom developed
where people would go door-to-door on Nov. 2, requesting
small cakes in exchange for the promise of saying prayers
for some of the dead relatives of each house. This arose out
of the religious belief that the dead were in a state of limbo
before they went to heaven or hell and that the prayers of
the living could influence the outcome.”
• I believe that this could be where the Catholic doctrine of
Purgatory began??
Origins of Halloween
• Peter Hammond tells us that, “On Halloween, for
thousands of years, druid priests have conducted diabolical
worship ceremonies in which cats, horses, sheep, oxen,
human beings and other offerings were rounded up,
stuffed into wicca cages and burned to death. These human
and animal sacrifices were apparently required to appease
Samhain and keep the spirits from harming them. To obtain
these sacrifices, druid priests would go from house to
house asking for fatted calves, black sheep and human
beings. Those who gave were promised prosperity, and
those who refused to give were threatened and cursed.
This is the origin of "trick or treat. While people and
animals were screaming in agony, being burnt to death, the
druids and their followers would dress in costumes made of
animal skins and heads. They would dance, chant and jump
through the flames in the hope of warding off evil spirits."
• Matt Slick reveals, “The Jack-O-Lantern
apparently comes from Irish folklore
about a man named Jack who tricked
the devil into climbing a tree. Once the
devil was in the tree, Jack carved a cross
on the trunk, preventing the devil from
coming down. The devil then made a
deal with Jack not to allow Jack into hell
after Jack died if only Jack would
remove the cross from the tree. After
Jack died, he couldn't go to hell, and he
couldn't go to heaven. He was forced to
wander around the earth with a single
candle to light his way. The candle was
placed in a turnip to keep it burning
longer. When the Irish came to America
in the 1800's, they adopted the
pumpkin instead of the turnip. Along
with these traditions, they brought the
idea that the black cat was considered
by some to be reincarnated spirits who
had prophetic abilities.”
The Jack-O-Lantern served as a
signal to mark those farms and
homes that supported the druids'
religion, and thus were seeking
the "treat" when the terror of
Halloween began. The World
Book Encyclopedia says: "The
apparently harmless lighted
pumpkin face of the Jack-OLantern is an ancient symbol of a
damned soul.” Peter Hammond
Halloween Heroes – Count Dracula
• Count Dracula or ‘Vlad the Impaler’ lived
from 1431 to 1476. During his six year reign,
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia massacred over
100,000 men, women and children in the
most hideous ways. He devised a plan to rid
his country of the burden of beggars, the
handicapped, the sick and the aged by
inviting them to a feast at one of his palaces.
He fed them well and got them drunk. Then
he asked them: "Do you want to be without
cares, lacking nothing in the world?" When
his guests yelled: "Yes!" Dracula ordered the
palace boarded up and set on fire. No one
escaped this original "house of horror.” The
name of the vampire Count Dracula in Bram
Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula was inspired by
Vlad's patronymic.
Halloween Heroes – Skeletons
• Halloween is known also as the
day of the dead and the skeleton
is a symbolic reference to that
day. Skulls in particular were
considered by many ancient
cultures (including the Druids of
the Celts) to be the psychic seat of
the human whole. As such,
occultists believe that skulls are
powerful symbols invoking a
heightened awareness of their
psychic potential.
Halloween Heroes – Werewolves
• A werewolf, also known as a
lycanthrope "wolfman”, is a
mythological or folkloric human
with the ability to shapeshift into
a wolf or an anthropomorphic
wolf-like creature, either
purposely or after being placed
under a curse and/or
lycanthropic affliction via a bite
or scratch from a werewolf, or
some other means. A more
modern use of the word is in
reference to a mental illness
called lycanthropy in which a
patient believes he or she is, or
has transformed into, an animal
and behaves accordingly.
Halloween Monsters
• Other Halloween monsters include
Frankenstein, Mummies, Vampires, Zombies,
Ghosts, Goblins, Scarecrows, Jason, Freddy
Kruger, Jeeper Creepers, Chucky, Witches,
Headless Horseman, Grim Reaper, Devil etc.
• Halloween is certainly not a Christian holiday,
nor should we have anything to do with such a
practice.
How serious is Halloween to Occultists
• Witch - Doreen Valiente: "Halloween is one of the four Great
Sabbats of the witches that everyone has heard about. To witches,
Halloween is a serious occasion, however merrily celebrated. It is
the old Celtic Eve of Samhain. With the coming of Christianity, the
Church tried to Christianize the old festival by making 1st November
All Saints Day, or All Hallows as the old term was. Thus Samhain Eve
became All Hallows Eve, or Halloween. But attempts to discourage
the pagan celebrations were so unavailing that the festival was
eventually banned from the Church calendar. It was not until 1928
that the Church of England formally restored All Hallows to its
calendar, on the assumption that the old pagan associations of
Halloween were at last really dead and forgotten; a supposition that
was certainly premature.”
• Witch - Sharon Graham: "Salem (Massachusetts) is a mecca,
especially around Samhain. It is our holiday, our new year, and a lot
of witches come here from all over the world"
How serious is Halloween to Occultists
• Satanist - Anton Szandor LaVey (now deceased): "Two
major holidays, HALLOWEEN and Walpurgisnacht [the day
he began the Church of Satan (1966)] are celebrated by the
Church of Satan.”
• Halloween is a very important day for vampires as well as
for many Goths who assemble at graveyards on Halloween
for their bizarre celebrations.
• Mexicans celebrate El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the
Dead) on October 31. Family members who have died are
believed to return to their grave sites.
• Fuller, a devotee of Aleister Crowley, indicated that
Samhain (Halloween) was an important ritual day to
Crowley and his followers and it still is today.
Should a Christian celebrate
Halloween??
• The Word of God tells us, “Ye cannot drink the
cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot
be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table
of devils.” 1 Corinthians 10:21
• Leviticus 19:31 “Do not turn to mediums or seek
out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I
am the LORD your God.”
• Leviticus 20:6 “I will set my face against the
person who turns to mediums and spiritists to
prostitute himself by following them, and I will
cut him off from his people.”
Should A Christian Celebrate
Halloween?
• "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also
reject you from being priests for Me; because
you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will
also forget your children." Hosea 4:6
• The issue we have in the Church today is exactly
this, they lack knowledge of the spiritual forces of
evil operating in the world today and therefore
they fall prey to their evil practices.
Joe Schimmel on Halloween
• The passage in the bible that most directly addresses the customs of
Halloween is Deuteronomy 18:9-14, where we read:
• When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall
not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall
not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass
through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft,
or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a
medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does
these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable
things the LORD your God will drive them out before you. You shall be
blameless before the LORD your God. For those nations, which you shall
dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as
for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.
• We see here about the most inclusive list of the activities upon which
Halloween was established that can be found anywhere in the bible, and
the practitioners thereof are labeled “detestable.” Those habits are, in
fact, the very reason the Pagan nations were driven out of the Promised
Land.
Resist the devil
• There will be Christians who will say that this is a
harmless day and a fun activity to be part of.
• Satan loves it when we underestimate the power
of the influence of the spiritual realm. When we
partake in demonic festivals we willingly open
ourselves, and our children, up to the deception.
• Halloween and influences like it are a way of
opening humans up to the occult. There are many
testimonies of witches who were converted to
the study of witchcraft on Halloween.
Alternative Celebrations
• Pastor Joe Schimmel and his church Blessed
Hope Chapel celebrates a Harvest Festival on
31st October.
• There is also the celebration of the
Reformation which began on 31st October in
1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses
upon the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg,
Germany with hammer strokes which echoed
throughout all of Europe.
Conclusion
• As Christians God has set us apart from the
world, He definitely has called us to be lights in
darkness, He did not call us to join into the
festivals of darkness.
• The spiritual implications to celebrating
Halloween can not be underestimated and as
Christians it is wise to resist its sinful attraction.
• Our celebrations should always be centered upon
glorifying our God and His Son Jesus Christ.