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Horrors of Halloween      Many people view Halloween as a time of innocent fun. Children love todress up as their favorite characters. They will go door to door sayingthe infamous words "trick or treat". Many adults also love Halloween, becauseit gives them a chance to let loose and act silly. Every year in the U.S.A.alone, millions of dollars are spent on Halloween goods. Halloween is thesecond highest grossing money maker outside of Christmas. The promotionof Halloween by the television moguls, the advertisers, and not to mentionthe blockbuster sales of movies and rentals this time of year. Everyonecan see Halloween is big business. Alot of people do not see the harm inall of this Halloween hoopla. But yes, there is a darker side to Halloweenthan anyone dares to imagine.THE ORIGIN OF HALLOWEEN Unlike our modern-day Halloween, theirs was not a children's holiday. TheCelts and their priests, the Druids, from Great Britain and Ireland. Theycelebrated "SAMHAIN". It was a festival that marked the eve of the CelticNew Year, which began on November 1. The fall harvest was complete andwinter was looming ahead. The Celts believed the sun was fading away, atthis time of the year. For the next several months, darkness prevailed.The Celts believed that during "Samhain" the veil separating life fromdeath was at its thinnest. On the evening of October 31, the evil spiritsand souls of the dead passed through the barrier and visited the worldof the living. The Celts believed these spirits could cause all kind ofhavoc. They also believed that they could talk with the dead, departedloved ones and such. They also believed that they could devine the future.The powers of darkness were conjured up on "Samhain". The Devil himself,would be called upon to foretell of future events.THE ORIGIN OF "TRICK OR TREAT" The Celts tried to appease the evil spirits: ghosts, goblins, and demons.Huge "Samhain" bonfires were built to light the way for all the spiritsto find their way in to the world of the living.They would leave out food,hoping that this would please the spirit world. If they did not leave athing, then hence, the spirits would play evil "tricks" on the living inthat house. The Druids required human sacrifices, they would go door todoor asking for the virgin daughters. If this was not abtained at the chosenhomes, then a hexagram was painted on the door in blood to show the appointedevil spirits to cause all kinds of evil to fall on the home. In some cases,even resulted in death.THE ORIGIN OF THE "JACK O'LANTERN" It is a story about a man named: "Stingy Jack" He was an old Irish drunkardthat invited the Devil to have a drink with him one Halloween night. "Ifyou pay for it" the Devil replied. "But you can change yourself into anything you want to" Jack protested."Change yourself into a sixpence. After I've paid for the drink, you canchange yourself back." The Devil agreed. He mumbled a spell, disappeared,and there on the counter was a shiny new sixpence. But Stingy Jack quicklyput the coin into his pocket, where a silver cross prevented the Devilfrom getting out. "If you leave me alone for a year, I'll let you out,"Jack promised. The Devil agreed and was released. Jack intended to repent,take his pay home to his wife, and go to church and give to the poor. Butas soon as he was out of danger, Jack soon returned to his old ways. The next Halloween Jack met up with the Devil on a lonely road. "He's cometo take my soul now" thought Jack. But this time he tricked the Devil intosparing his soul for ten years. But before the ten years were up, Jackdied. He was turned away at the gates of heaven, Jack made his way to thegates of hell. "Go away," shouted the Devil. "Where can I go ?" said Jack. "Go back to where you've come" ordered theDevil. "You tricked me, and made me promise not to claim your soul." snappedthe Devil. Jack began his long trek back through wind and darkness. As Jack trudgedon, eating a turnip as he went, the Devil threw him a live coal out ofthe fires of hell. In desperation to find his way, Jack put the live coalinside the turnip. Ever since that time, Jack is said to be roaming theface of the earth with his "Jack O' Lantern", searching for a place torest. When the Druids went door to door, requiring the human sacrifice and itwas given over, the Druids would leave a turnip carved out to resemblethat of an evil spirit. The turnip would be lit up with a candle usuallymade from human fat. This they would put at the doorposts of the homesthat gave the "Treats". The evil spirits would then "pass over" the housethey thought. The customs from Great Britain and Ireland, are now in modern-day America.The only difference now is that the "globe-faced" pumpkins that sit onthe porches, fenceposts and in the windows of American homes at Halloweenare a reminder of the turnips of old. Even today we continue the same traditionof carving out the face of the pumpkin to resemble the evil faces of thespirits.THE ORIGIN OF "BOBBING FORAPPLES" The tub was filled with water and apples floated on the surface. The persondunks his or her head in the tub and hopes to grab an apple with the teeth,believed that the person who is successful at this is said that good luckwill abound. In some circles the custom is said to be also that the personwill be lucky in romance with the lover of their choice. The apple bobbingis a form of divination used to foretell the future.THE ORIGIN OF THE "BLACK CAT" First of all cats are very spiritual animals. Out of all the animals, thecat can sense the presence of spirits, both good and bad. But the all blackcat holds a high significance to the witches and Satanists. The black cat,they believe has special powers. To them they believe the black cat representsincarnated humans, malevolent spirits, or the "familiars" of witches. Thisis why that many black cats are in danger around Halloween. If you havea black cat, do not let them roam the streets at night, keep them inside.Also the local SPCA's won't even let anyone adopt a black cat around Halloweentime, in fear of the cat might be harmed.THE ORIGIN OFTHE COLORS: "ORANGE AND BLACK" The colors orange and black can be traced back to the occult. They wereconnected to the commemorative masses for the dead, which were held inNovember. The unbleached beeswax candles used in the various ceremonieswere orange. The ceremonial caskets were covered in black cloths. And let's not forget the modern-day "Jack O' Lanterns" orange in color.THE ORIGIN OF THE "COSTUMES"ON HALLOWEENThe Celtsand Druids believed that by wearing masks and costumes, they would confusethe spirits into thinking they were one of them. Therefore the evil spiritswould leave them alone. They would usually wear these while dancing aroundthe big Samhain "bonfires."Also it is to be believed that they thoughtby wearing the costumes they could communicate with the spirits.THE ROOTS OF PAGANISMThe wholeHalloween thing is steeped in paganism. Halloween is a celebration of deathand all that is evil. By decades of letting foreigners into our land, theyhave brought with them every occult practice and all of their idols. Nowbecause of this, our children are suffering the consequences of the iniquitiesof the third and fourth generations of witchcraft and things of the demonicworld. We as Christians are to stand up and boldly proclaim our heritageof what this country was founded on. This country was to be a Christiannation. By us not speaking out, look at our country today, every evil thingis trying to take away our freedom. WHAT ARE WE AS CHRISTIANS SUPPOSEDTO DO?First ofall, as Christians we are to celebrate life in the one who has made usnew: JESUS CHRIST! We are not to celebrate the things of darkness. We arenot to imitate evil..."When youenter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestableways of the nations there, Let no one be found among you who... practicesdivination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or castsspells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead" (DEUTERONOMY18:9-11)If we letour children participate in these things, if we hang cardboard ghosts inour windows, if we entertain with tales of ghouls and haunted houses- whatare we doing but imitating that which is evil? We need to make it clearas Christians that witches, ghosts and evil spirits are not funny and notharmless, even if the people in the costumes are just play-acting. ALTERNATIVES TO HALLOWEEN1. Pass outcandy with tracts(booklets to show how Jesus loves everyone and how they can be saved.2. Have teenrally that night and teach the dangers of Halloween.3. Invitefriends over and watch a Jesus movie.4. Go dressup with others as Bible characters and "Street Witness" (word of caution:only those who are strong in the Lord in this area and are lead by theLord to do this, so that there will not be any hinderances from the enemy.)5. Teachyour children the dangers of Halloween, then have a family Bible studyand pray for all the children that are out there "trick or treating".6. Have a"PRAYER WARRIORS" meeting: pray against all the evil forces that are out,pray people will wake-up and find the truth out about Halloween and becomesaved. That all the children will be safe from any harm:(tainted candy,razor blades and etc...). Pray for all the innocent people held againsttheir will for human sacrifices and all the other deeds of the Devil onthis night! ( you might say "Oh this is too horrible to believe" but youbetter wake-up, this kind of stuff goes on all the time, and not just onHalloween. Yes this is happening in America!)7. Read theBible, play Christian music and celebrate LIFE!!!  MAY THE LORDBLESS YOU IN ALL THAT YOU DO!   Cybergrace Banner Exchange 2000    © 1998-2001 RU Bold, All RightsReserved. Legal & Privacy Notices |
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