Halloween, a Satanic Feast
Preparing for Halloween
Well, it’s that time of year again: the time when you can’t drive down the street without seeing inflatable witches and ghosts everywhere. Over the years there has been a lot of controversy over Halloween. Should Christians celebrate this holiday or not? For many, the answer is yes. Halloween is just a harmless time when the kids can dress up in fun costumes and go door to door asking for candy. But for others, it goes much deeper. Many Christians I have met simply do not know the history of Halloween. Personally, I feel that it’s an important thing to know, so I would like to take you with me back in time to find the origin of the second most popular holiday in the world.
For several hundred years before Christ, the Celts inhabited what is now France, Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland. Celtic priests were called Druids. It is not possible to separate Halloween from the Druids because they originated it. These Celts were eventually conquered by the Romans. Information about the Celts and Druids comes from Caesar and the Roman historians, Greek writings from about 200 B.C., and very early records found in Ireland. Greek and Roman writings about the Druids dwell heavily on their frequent and barbaric human sacrifices. The ancient Irish texts say little about human sacrifices, but detail the Druids’ use of magic to raise storms, lay curses on places, kill by the use of spells, and create magical obstacles. By 47 A.D., Rome finally defeated the Druids in Britain and outlawed human sacrifices. The few remaining Druids went underground.
Many people today think that Halloween was just the Celtic New Year, but November 1st was the Celtic New Year. October 31st was celebrated by the Druids with many human sacrifices and a festival honouring their sun god and Samhain, the lord of the dead. They believed that the sinful souls of those who died during the year were in a place of torment, and would be released to roam earth only if Samhain was pleased with their sacrifices. During their rituals they would dress in animal skins, or tree bark, hence the custom of the costumes and masks in an attempt to copy the evil spirits or placate them.
Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Maclise showing a Halloween party in Blarney, Ireland, in 1832. The young children on the right bob for apples. A couple in the center play a variant, which involves retrieving an apple hanging from a string. The couples at left play divination games.
The Druids believed that during the time of Samhain the division between the 2 worlds (our world) and the spirit world became very thin. This time enabled hostile supernatural forces to wander around our world as they wished. Because some animals and plants were dying (the start of winter), it thus allowed the dead to reach back through the veil that separated them from the living.
“During this interval the normal order of the universe is suspended, the barriers between the natural and the supernatural are temporarily removed, the sidh lies open and all divine beings and the spirits of the dead move freely among men and interfere sometimes violently, in their affairs” –Celtic Mythology” p. 127
Today neo-pagans honour the death of a god, who is then reborn (Sun god). Samhain is one of the eight annual festivals, often referred to as ‘Sabbats’, observed by Wiccans. Samhain is considered by some Wiccans as a time to celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, and in some rituals the spirits of the departed are invited to attend the festivities.
The tradition of trick-or-treat started when the Druids went door to door, dragging behind them on a rope the dead body of a male slave that they had bought and killed for this purpose. At each door they demanded the same thing: food for their feast. But many of the people were poor farmers who didn’t even have enough food for their own families, let alone a feast for Samhain. In those cases, the Druids took the eldest daughter or child for the sacrifice. After getting an offering, they would carve demonic faces into pumpkins, or large turnips, and place a candle inside them. (Today we call them Jack-o-Lanterns.) These were left at the door as a signal to the evil spirits that this family did their share and to stay away from them. If the farmers didn’t have anything for the sacrifice (no children) or just refused, then the priests would use the dead slave’s blood to paint a hexagram on the door. This signal told the evil spirits to kill one member in this house as punishment for not doing their share. Trick or Treat. The treat: either precious food, or more often, a precious child. The trick: One person in the household died that night, although most of the time it was out of pure terror!
Druids at Stonehenge
“As darkness set in on October 31st, the clan of Druids would put on their white robes and hoods. They would carry sickles and Celtic crosses as they began a torchlight procession. At the beginning of the procession, a male slave was killed and dragged by a rope fastened to his left ankle. The Druids would walk until they came to a house or a village where they shouted the equivalent of ‘trick or treat.’ The treat was a slave girl or any female to be given to the Druids. If the people refused to a girl as a ‘treat’, blood was taken from the dead slave and used to draw a hexagram or six-pointed star on the door or wall of the village. Spirits of the ‘horned hunter of the night’ were invoked by the Druids to kill someone in that house or village by fear that night.” –-Meyer: Halloween and the Forces of Darkness
I find it very interesting to think about how the Israelites had to put lamb’s blood on their doorposts as a signal to the Angel of Death to pass over, and here the Satanists are painting with human blood on the door to tell demons to enter.
The tradition of bobbing for apples and giving out nuts came from a Roman addiction to the Druidic New Year’s eve. The Romans worshiped Pomona who was the goddess of the harvest. They combined their harvest festival to Pomona with Halloween.
Irish records tell of the fascination the Catholic monks had with the powerful Druids, and Druids soon became important members of their monasteries. Pope Gregory the Great decided to incorporate the Druids’ holiday into the church. He made the proclamation:
“They are no longer to sacrifice beasts to the devil, but they may kill them for food to the praise of God, and give thanks to the giver of all gifts for His bounty.”
Pope Gregory III moved the church festival of October 31st to November 1st and called it All Hallows, or All Saints’ Day. Pope Gregory IV decreed that the day was to be a universal church observance. The term Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve.
The founding fathers of America refused to permit the holiday to be observed because they knew it was a pagan holiday. Halloween was not widely celebrated in the U.S. until about 1900. In the 1840’s there was a terrible potato famine in Ireland which sent thousands of Catholic Irish to America. They brought Halloween with them.
Very little archeological evidence of the Druids has been found, but there is excellent agreement between the Roman and Irish documents. Both clearly state that the knowledge of the Druids was never committed to writing but passed from generation to generation by oral teaching. This was to protect their secrets. The same is true today. Nothing is put into writing. The druids continue on secretly with much the same traditions.
The widespread problem of harmful substances such as razor blades, drugs, poisons, needles, etc. being placed in the Halloween treats here in America is no accident. Every year the number of children hurt, killed, or just missing, rises. It’s become a paedophile hunting ground on the 31st Oct as children run free, mostly unaccompanied by parents.
Testimonies of several ex-Satanists show that these children killed and injured by the “treats”, and sometimes worse, are sacrifices to Satan. Satanists throughout the world continue to perform human sacrifices on Halloween. Today, people think it’s fun to try to scare each other or be scared on October 31st, but can you imagine the pure terror if you had lived there so many years ago? It would be the farthest thing from fun!
As more and more youth are getting pulled into movies like Harry Potter, role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons and computer role playing games like World of WarCraft, they are digging into witchcraft. [Edited by DTW: (this article was written in 2013), since then satanism, witchcraft, violence, bloodshed and the utter evil in games has since intensified to an astounding level as children and young adults are literally being brainwashed to enjoy all things evil, and find fun in these things. Shooting someone in a computer game must be graphic and utterly violent before people are entirely happy.]
I used to believe that many Christians who celebrate this “helliday” do so in ignorance. But not anymore. I believe many so called Christians in this day and age celebrate this day knowing fully well what it represents: evil.
Should we as genuine Christians be afraid of October 31st? Absolutely not! As Christians, we don’t need to fear the darkness of the devil, for we are protected by Jesus Christ Himself.
Joshua 24:15 KJV
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Does that mean we can now go out there and dress up and help our kids have a “little bit of innocence fun”? No!
Ephesians 5:11-14 KJV
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
But I think that, perhaps, if more Christians knew the background of Halloween, they would not celebrate it. Let’s do what we can to show it to them! This year, let’s tell as many people as we can what they are celebrating. Let’s get this out! Share this website page.
Hosea 4:6 KJV
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”
Notes:
- Davies was a 16th century writer who traced his family lineage directly back to Druid priests who fought against Caesar. He clearly describes the human sacrifices of his ancestors and the secret sacrifices still performed regularly by the Druids of his time. In his writings, Davies indicated that he came under much persecution for putting in writing his information about Druids.
In addition, I found the following resources helpful as well.
- Celebrations – The Complete Book of American Holidays, Robert. J. Myers, (Doubleday & Co., 1972).
- The Famous Druids, A. L. Owen, (Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1962)
- The American Book of Days, George William Douglas, (H.W. Wilson Co., 1948).
- The Two Babylons, Rev. Alexander Hislop, (Chick Publications, 1998).
- The Force, Dr. Alberto Rivera, (Chick Publications.1984)
- Complete Book: Edward Davies – The Mythology and Rites of the British Druids (1809):. https://books.google.co.za/books/about/The_Mythology_and_Rites_of_the_British_D.html?id=c_wLAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y
1) Images: Pumpkin 2) Images: Snap-Apple Night by Daniel Macli NEWS: Druids are recognised as a religion in Britain: https://www.discerningtheworld.com/2010/10/03/britain-recognises-druidry-as-a-religion/
Redeemed, thanks for the reply. It’s not my intention to acknowledge Halloween – it just always saddens me to see kids participating in an occult holiday, with no knowledge of the truth. Interesting comment about Chick publications – I read some as a child and they made a huge impact on me, for the better, but then I was already saved. I had a look through some of them and I think it will really scare little children – but should we not tell children about hell because the reality of it is too scary? How do we preach the gospel without offending? The very use of the word sin is offensive in popular culture. I know there are some good basic gospel tracts that communicate the cross without graphic depictions of demons and flames.
Carm, you indicated in your post that you intended to give out tracts on Halloween. That is participation. My thought is that we don’t want children or their parents see us as legalistic self-righteous Pharisees, and yet we have to give a proper witness and not cave into the ways of the world. I have listed a few sites that have children’s tracts.
In my search I was absolutely APPALLED at the number of gospel tract publisher who put out Halloween tracts! One even had one with a drawing of a ghost that said “You don’t have a ghost of a chance”. I wrote to them a scathing rebuke. And there are others who offer this as well as if putting out Halloween tracts is honoring to the Lord, mixing His precious Gospel with the occult. I told them that we are the EXPOSE the deeds of darkness, not compromise with them. It is obvious that the devil has done his work well. There needs to be tracts EXPOSING Halloween!! This is horrible!!
http://www.letthelittlechildrencome.com/child-evangelism-products/wheres-everybody-going-animated-tract/
http://www.gospeltracts.org/
I am a believer in tracts. I leave them with waitresses in restaurants along with a generous tip, with maid service in hotels along with a gratuity, etc. and I tuck one in someplace in the room. It is planting seeds. Even if one soul is saved it is worth it.
Muchly appreciated, Redeemed.
When I was child Halloween was an a looked-forward to annual event here in Scotland. It wasn’t an actual holiday as adults worked & children went to school that day. But we had a few nights of “guising” leading up to it. That meant small troupes of kids dressed up would go around neighbours doors and each would perform a “party piece”. They would tell jokes, sing songs or recite a poem. We also dressed with our clothes on back-to-front and/or wear an adult’s garment or a hat back to front or inverted. For this the kids would be paid money.
The last night (Halloween) was when some people would have parties.
Interstingly, back then, most Scotish people were Presbyterian. But whether Protestant or Catholic, few people indeed would have been aware of this going back to our pagan ancestors. That may seem surprising considering we are Celts. But though my generation then were churchgoers, I’d never heard of a priest or minister condemning Halloween as pagan. People then would have thought a clergyman making such a claim was fanatical. I didn’t know Halloween was pagan until I was about 30–around 1980.
By then, Halloween had virtually died out in Scotland as our customs as we were adopting English ones.
Oddly enough, now Halloween has been revived, and the English have taken it up in a big way with Halloween parties, pub celebrations and so on. And the demonism and witchcraft is flouted as if it’s a huge joke.
The strange thing is, this revival and addition came from the USA. I don’t think I have ever heard it condemned from the pulpit.
One Christian I know left literature lying around in his work, showing it’s pagan origins. He was reported by a colleague who found it offensive and he was reprimanded.
Changed days! The nation comes out of it to get back into it in a very big way and the churches are silent. Sadly, that does not surprise me.
I remember back to when I was just a kid. I had no idea what Halloween meant, nor did my parents. Back in the late 1950’s and 60’s the witchcraft/Druid stuff was just not known in our household. We were just kids going to the houses of people we knew on our street and got candy.
I was born and raised in one of the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan. I don’t know how it came into being but the night before Halloween was called Devils Night. Most of the time kids would “toilet paper” someones house or soaped someones house or car windows. Those two things were usually done as harmless mischief. But in Detroit some folks went wiled and burned down buildings, looted and nearly turned into a riot in the inner city.
I can say….I hate Halloween. I do not give out candy, but I do buy a bag of my favorite candy and eat it myself! (I love Hershey’s Candy Kisses)
I want to tell something that I already sent pictures of to Deborah.
google this in images: Queen Elizabeth II is a Druid. Pictures will pop up that show the Queen shortly after being Crowned Queen she went through the process to become a Druid Priestess! You will also see a picture of the Head Priest of the Church of England also being in the clothing of a Druid Priest. Winston Churchill was also a Druid.
The Royals do their bit part at trying to look “Christian.” But they are not.
Halloween a Christian holiday? No way!
Sharon, you are right when you say that the British royals are not Christians.
Prince Charles claims that Islam is a relgion of peace! (Too ridiculously absurd to even comment on.) He has publicly stated if he becomes king that he would prefer to be Defender of Faith rather than Defender of THE Faith, which is one of his mother’s titles. (Not that she practises it. Twice in recent years she has dressed in black when being addressed by a pope, publicly declaring her spiritual inferiority to the pontif.
Interestingly, Fidei Defensor, which was stamped on our coins with the heads of British Monarchs for generations, if not for centuries, is now represented by the two letters: FD. The Defender of the Faith is now an embarrassment to them and our government.
The Royal Family have claimed to be Christians but are not. Queen Victoria was a practising spiritualist and spiritualism has run among the royals since then, and probably before that time. John Dale’s Book “The Prince and the Paranormal” catalogues all the occultism in which they have been involved. It reports Charle’s involvement in various aspects of the occult and that he was a close friend of Laurens Van Der Post, a famous spiritualist. Both of them were also admirers of Jung. Dale, by the bye, is a royalist so he is not condemning them for these attitudes, views and practises. Actually, as a spiritualist, he praises them for these things.
The Daily Mail [November 5th 2013] report the opening of a Masonic Lodge at Buckingham Palace. The Queen, give her due, is against it. But the Grand Master of the British lodges, is the Queen’s cousin the Duke of Kent.
If you want a good book on how the upper echelons of British society are run by Freemason’s please read Martin Short’s objective book “Beyond the Brotherhood. Google Freemasons: The Silent Destroyers–deist religious cult based on the Knights Templars, it gives facts from the Masons themselves.
As to the British Royals, Edward VIII and his wife were both Nazi sympathisers and when Prince Phillip married Queen Elizabeth few of his relations were invited because of their Nazi connections.
Any objective history of Britain will show how diabolical most of our kings and queens were. The ones today are saints by comparison!
So you are spot on, Sharon, because they are not Christians.