The Autumn season blesses us with a myriad of warm colors as we watch God’s green vegetation slipped slumberly into hibernation for the cold winter months ahead. The rays of the sun add a snuggly warmth as one takes a stroll along the pathways of the Creator’s world, enjoying the gentle breeze as it gingerly feathers the hair. This is the season for hot mulled cider, toasted marshmallows over an outdoor wood burning fire, and of course for many true blooded Americans, the arrival of Football season. We are indeed so spoiled! As is true to form in this sin-cursed world, the beauty and of autumn also has its blemish.
Each year, millions of children are allowed to engage in a ritual which is a reproach to God. Included among those are the offspring of Born-again Christians who are uninformed or choose to dance with the world in participating in this event. One only needs to meander through the candy aisle of a retail store to be reminded of the event of which this article addresses.
The last days of October have become a traditional time of dressing up in costumes, trick or treating, bobbing for apples and of course carving pumpkins. It is an event in which people visit haunted houses and cornfields, and attend masquerade parties. Among the revelers are God’s people who are totally unaware of the Satanic influence immersed in these traditions.
It is believed that the origin of Halloween began with the Celtic people. Their festival of Samhein, the Lord of the Dead, was celebrated at the end of summer and the beginning of darker days of the year. These folk believed that as the days became darker that this was a time when the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred and the ghosts of the dead returned to earth causing havoc and damaging crops. These people would dress in costumes to scare away the evil spirits. They also carved vegetables, such as gourds or pumpkins to further their belief that if they and their pumpkin reassembled evil spirits that the spirits of their dead would leave them alone.
The practice of ‘bobbing for apples’ originated with the Romans. Their god, Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees. was celebrated in the festival of Parenthalia , to honor the dead. She was worshipped in the practice of bobbing for apples. Other games which have become a tradition in our lifetime include the ouija board which advocates necromancy, an attempt to communicate with the dead.
The carving of pumpkins originated with the Legend of Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack supposedly invited the devil to have a drink with him, and in true character, Jack conned the devil into paying for his drink. This is the beginning of the story which concluded with Jack not being allowed into either heaven or hell. He wanders around the world looking for a place to ‘call home’, on Halloween. Folk would place a lighted gourd, or pumpkin on their door step to frighten his evil spirit away.
In Ireland, they believe that their dead return to their former homes on Halloween. Alters decorated with candy, flowers and samples of the deceased’s favorite food were erected in the home. During the middle ages, the Egyptians considered cats sacred and thereby honored the Goddess Bast. The Greeks worshipped her sister goddess Artemis, while the Roman counterpart was Diana, who is also known as the Queen of witches. Thus the cat, especially the ‘black’ cat became associated with the worshipping of their dead.
Costumes were worn by Druids, a priestly class in Britain, Ireland and Gaul during the Iron Age, while they were offering live sacrifices in a bonfire; a fire of burning bones. ( bone – fire). Their masks were to impersonate their gods, and in so doing supposedly manifested their pagan god in their flesh.
In recent years the god of this world has successfully lured the historical spiritual origin of this yearly celebration into a secular celebration. It has become another one of those ‘let’s party and have fun’ events which has prospered in the world of commercialism. As Christians we need to be aware that participating in this occult occasion cannot be glorifying to the Lord
During the Reformation period in England when Marin Luther shook up the church with the posting of his thesis, the celebration of Halloween ceased. It is ironic that Luther posted his 95 Thesis of Contention on the Wittenburg church on Halloween of 1517. In doing so he changed the course of history which led to the common people having access to God’s Word. Therein they would find that the celebration of Halloween began with the Baal worship after the fall of man.
God commands us that we are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. We are to abstain from all appearances of evil We may wish to believe that celebrating Halloween is not a serious matter, but God does and so does SATAN!. I plead with parents in the Name of Jesus, that they research the origin of this Holy Day of the Occult and learn for themselves that it is a reproach to God for his people to participate in this event in any way, shape or form.
Golden Gems from Grandma 