Halloween.....Not everyone agrees....

OK....this will probably be lengthy but important. Stay with me! I seriously love the fall season(except for the allergies) and I love the colors, the weather, mums, pumpkins and all the things that are typically associated with this time of year.....except the dreaded HALLOWEEN!

As promised, I am now going to share some of my thoughts on this pagan holiday named Halloween. Let me just begin by saying that for many years I have been chastised by friends and family regarding my distaste for Halloween. It is an ongoing joke in my workplace at this time of year. I would also like to say that I have not always had this opinion. I grew up "celebrating" Halloween by dressing up in various costumes, trick-or-treating, etc. and I actually enjoyed it. When my kids were little, we were all about dressing up and trick-or-treating to various neighborhoods, friends and family. The more candy the better! However, about 10 or 12years ago I was enlightened. I began by looking at the true meaning of Halloween and how it actually began. Many people, including myself, had never been told or researched what the actual meaning and purpose of Halloween is. When we really started reading about it and came to understand, we (my husband and I)decided our family would no longer participate in this pagan holiday.

Just a little background:

Halloween's origins actually go all the way back to the Celtic festival Samhain (pronounced SOW-ain). This was a time when they (the Celts and Druids)honored the end of summer and harvest time and prepared for a period of cold, darkness, and winter. The Celts believed that this marked the time in which the barrier between the living and the dead became thin. On October 31st (or thereabouts), the spirits would come back from the dead and create havoc, cause illnesses, damage the crops with frost and cause many other troubles.
Samhain was, and still is, considered to be a very mystical and magical time that was 'between' the seasons and the years. It was considered to be the time that the spirits of those who have passed on could walk among the living. The "veil" between the two worlds was and still is considered to be the thinnest at this time of year. Thus the perfect time for practicing witchcraft and divination and speaking with the dead.

Halloween today is usually performed by people practicing witchcraft who use this night for their rituals. Witches celebrate Halloween as the "Feast of Samhain" and it is a time for them to attempt to communicate with the dead through various forms of divination. In Deuteronomy 18, God says "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord..." I believe the Bible is very specific when it says that Christians should not be involved with occultic practice or divination.

Traditions of Halloween:

One of the traditions of Halloween, dressing up in costumes, began in England where the citizens, knowing it was a time for the spirits to come back from the dead, would dress up in masks and costumes to keep the spirits from recognizing them.

Another tradition that I am not very fond of is the Jack-O-Lantern. Not to imply that pumpkins themselves are bad. But...Occultists would try to scare away the spirits by carving scary faces into a pumpkin or some other vegetable. This horrible "face" would hopefully move the spirit on to another home or village and spare their home from destruction. Sometimes they would light a candle and place it within the pumpkin and use it as a lantern (hence the name Jack-o-Lantern). There is also a story about "Stingy Jack" that I won't go into.

Remember bobbing for apples?....In some witchcraft covens, the closing rituals include eating an apple or engaging in fertility rites. In the Bible (Genesis 3), eating a piece of fruit brought sin and death into the world. In witchcraft, eating an apple is symbolic of bringing life. (Of course, the opposite) The practice of bobbing for apples actually brings together two pagan traditions: divination and the fertility ritual.

It is my opinion that by participating in this pagan holiday, we are showing our approval and promoting witchcraft (and the witch), divination, haunted houses, and other occultic practices. These are very real things in our world today. There are many people who are practicing these rituals....it is not just an ancient religion but is a religion of today as well. I don't think many people understand that. As Christians, we are suppose to be different and not of this world. Halloween is a "worldly" holiday which glorifies the dark things of this world rather than the light of Jesus Christ.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." (Ephesians 6:12)

"Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God." (3 John 1:11)

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thess 5:21-22)

I understand that many people (including some Christians) do not share my same feelings about this. I do not judge those who choose to participate but I am very adamant in my discussions about this subject.....even to the point of being the "butt" of the joke...which is fine...there is always someone around that asks me "why" when the subject comes up and I am happy to tell them.