Halloween is the Devils Holyday--or is it?

Question

If you didn't know it--holiday is just another word for "holy day"---you can look up the root words and find this to be true. Hallow means to make holy.

If you are a Christian--why do you think it is OKAY to celebrate such a disgusting practice of dressing up in evil costumes and engaging in a pagan druid festival?

I do not want to hear all the excuses of ..."well, we dress up as angels" and "it's all in fun." Do you think it is "fun" to celebrate evil? I just want to know what is wrong with all the Christians who celebrate 'hollow'een--are just seared in your conscience or just a hypocrite? Do you honestly believe you are pleasing God by celebrating satan's holy day and telling your children it is just all fun?

Numbers 32:23, "But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out."

Do you really believe Jesus is blessing your practice of halloween?

http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1010/1010_01.asp

Answer 1

Christians will you continue to justify this if Jesus taught us not to do it?

This originates in a Celtic festival of the harvest pronounced sow hen. Sowhen still is in the word halloween in a slight pronunciation difference.

The Romans adopted and adapted this sowhen and then the early church in Rome added it.

Very pagan.

This is the very thing that is talked about that was taught by Jesus Christ in the Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

In effect "the candy" is the "sacrifice" to the pagan God of the harvest Habondia. Partaking of it is also abhorrent to Christ Jesus. Do you want your children to eat that which is for a pagan god?

Answer 2

Halloween is not something we encourage here but nor do we encourage Santa Claus (Satan Claws?) the Tooth Fairy or Easter Bunny. These are mainly ways for companies which supply cards and plastic garbage to coin billions whilst people can have "fun" - I dislike Halloween although I went trick or treating as a child. I simply cannot recognise it as having a place in a Christian home. HOWEVER I went to see friends last night who are as Christian as can be and they have pumpkins and carve Jesus on them. They open their homes to the trick or treaters and give warmth and candies etc when the children call. I think the Chick comic tracts do not help and do a disservice to the recipient who is approached on the intellectual level of someone who watches Road Runner cartoons. In Poland they light candles and place them on the graves of their departed loved ones.
I doubt any Christians who DO partake in Halloween take it seriously and see no harm in it. I disagree as it is an appalling witness. Our church gives tracts out at Halloween to the surrounding town and I am sure many people think we are nut jobs. If I am home on Halloween there is nothing going on and the house is blacked out. I do not think Jesus "blesses" Halloween - why should He? By the same token I wonder how many people have been disappointed in the Chick tracts which lack the seriousness required and just seek to terrify people. They usually succeed in frightening young Christians and making at least some of them see the devil in everyday life (from bar codes on baked bean cans to the Texaco Star)
and distract from the mission of preaching the gospel of peace. I am equally sure some Chick tracts have been instrumental in saving some people. The Eve of All Hallows was a religious holiday. It has been hijacked by the money makers much in the same way the money changers in the temple made money out of exchanging money for the people coming to pay for their sacrifices. In the case of Halloween it is a matter of leaving it to the conscience of the individual as we simply cannot judge the motivation in the heart of anyone who does this. No Christian would intend it for evil and if your conscience (as mine does) says don't participate- then don't do it. A sensible church would possibly have a non-Halloween Party and prayer meeting and invite neighbors but that might attract pranksters. It is all part of growing up in the faith and parsing out those parts which offend the spirit of God in you. Blessings.

Answer 3

Hello all!

This is my first post! Yeah, I have something to say!

I am a poet and writer, and I have done extensive research on Halloween, because even though I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, I always loved Halloween. And it was never about the candy for me.

The person who wrote about it being the ancient festival of Samhain, or "sow-in", was correct. It was a pagan festival. But it was a festival of the harvest. It was a fire festival. They would put out all the lights all over Ireland, and then build one big bonfire, from which torches were lit and carried all over the isle, so that all fires were lit from that one fire.

This was to represent community. If your neighbor's fire went out, since it was lit from the same fire as your fire, you were responsible for helping him re-light it. This was symbolism, and applied to more than just fires. Obviously.

The fact that it was a harvest festival is seen in the fact that Samhain literally translates as "Summer's End." They also believed that because this was the end of one year and the beginning of another, the veil between the worlds was thinner on this day, and the dead may visit. They were NOT scared of this, as a visit by ancestors meant you were favored, blessed.

Anyone who has trouble with this celebration would do well to remember that the Israelites also had harvest celebrations. In fact, they had celebrations all the time.

When the Catholic Church came to the British Isles, the co-opted the celebration of Samhain, turning it into All Hallows Eve- the day before their All Saints Day, as one poster has already brought out.

In bastardizing the holiday, the Church also mixed into it their own versions of the dead and Satan. Dressing up in their finery to welcome dead loved ones became dressing up in disguises to avoid the attentions of Satan- someone the pagans did not believe in, or worship- despite popular belief that all pagans are Satanists.

So, if anyone who considers himself a Christian wishes to celebrate this oft misunderstood holiday, remember that it is the Church's fault that it is as it is today.

But if you wanted to celebrate it as the pagans did, you would leave off the costumes and trick-or-treating, and you would have a simple dinner with family, friends, and neighbors, to celebrate a successful harvest, and to pray to whatever God you believe in for a good year to come.

So...........in conclusion:

Celebrating with costumes and candy and scary everything, is actually a CHURCH invention. So if you follow the church, you should not worry about celebrating Halloween.

If you are celebrating the way the ancients did it, your conscience should still not bother you, for there is nothing wrong with the harvest/fire celebration of Samhain.

Really, this is a non-issue. Do what you want. Do you honestly think God cares if you throw a sheet over your head and pretend your scary for an evening?

Answer 4

You're citing a Chick Tract? ::dies laughing::

Halloween's *current* timing, as well as many of the current customs, are derived from the Celtic festival of Samhain. However, when it started, it was on a different date, and lacked the secular customs it later acquired.

Other than the timing, and a few secular vestiges, there's not too much linking it to the Druid's practices.

Answer 5

All Hallows' Eve has nothing to do with Satan. Halloween originated under the name of Samhain as a Pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century.

Halloween is now celebrated in parts of the western world, most commonly in Ireland, the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and sometimes in Australia and New Zealand. In recent years, the holiday has also been celebrated in various other parts of Western Europe.

The term Halloween (and its older rendering Hallowe'en) is shortened from All-hallow-even, as it is the evening of/before "All Hallows' Day", also known as "All Saints' Day".

Popes Gregory III and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast of All Saints' Day from May 13 to November 1. In the ninth century, the Church measured the day as starting at sunset, in accordance with the Florentine calendar. Although All Saints' (or Hallows') Day is now considered to occur one day after Halloween, the two holidays were, at that time, celebrated on the same day. Liturgically, the Church traditionally celebrated that day as the Vigil of All Saints, and, until 1970, a day of fasting as well. Like other vigils, it was celebrated on the previous day if it fell on a Sunday, although secular celebrations of the holiday remained on the 31st. The Vigil was suppressed in 1955, but was later restored in the post-Vatican II calendar. Although there is no official documentation that Gregory considered Samhain when selecting this date, it seems consistent with the common practice of leaving pagan festivals and buildings intact (e.g., the Pantheon), while overlaying a Christian meaning.

Just because a holiday or event began as a Pagan festival assimilated into the Christian faith does not mean it is a revelry of Satan.

You are simply mistaken, that is all.

Answer 6

I love Halloween Costumes parties. I am a kind of person that likes to have super exciting blasting good fun times in life in general to the fullest. I also like to watch extreme horror, super scary movies. Its totally cool, pure enjoyment. There is approx. 48 Sundays in one full year. Enough time to celebrate God/ Jesus/lord. When there is only one Halloween day in the full year to celebrate the Satan/Lucifier/Devil/Prince of Darkness day. Where there is Light, there is Darkness. You cannot live without the other. They both makes us complete together. Both must be recognize, who's who.

Answer 7

thank goodness for claudia and cali, they not only KNOW WHAT THEY ARE ON ABOUT but also save me typing so much!!
in addition, it is our [pagan] new year's eve, so we have a lot to celebrate.
i let my kids dress up with their friends for the more modern version of collecting sweets etc, and e also celebrate samhain in a more traditional manner, both on the full moon nearest that set day, or later that evening.

before you embarrass yourself in public again, insulting and abusing others, do some research and consider what your god would have counselled you to do and think. you merely sound spiteful and ignorant with this post. whereas if you had asked people about it and offered some suggestions, you would have learnt more and not had quite so much egg on your face.
:)

blessed be
)o(

Answer 8

Originally it was a celebration of Harvest !!!!

And yes it was also a Pagan ritual just like Christmas and Easter.

Satin does not have a Holy Day.

Return to your glass house and stop ruining every ones' fun.

Happy Halloween Everyone !!!!!

Answer 9

Seriously...Chick tracts are some of the post preposterous conservative Christian nonsense available. Plenty of conservatives won't even endorse them. I suggest you read up a little more on Halloween from a variety of sources.

Answer 10

I dont think Jesus cares either way or thinks twice about halloween. It just isnt that important. It is a harmless holiday where kids dress up and get free candy.

I think you need to lighten up. Since when is dressing up evil? I am going to be a pirate wench for halloween and I love my costume. Pirates use to kill people, oh no, I guess I am now endorsing murdering, lol.
Ok I guess I could say I am going to be a privateer wench, lol. They just plundered for the crown and didnt kill. The first sounds better.

I would like to know where in the Bible it says and behold those who celebrate halloween will be struck down to hell?

Answer 11

Paganism and Christianity are completely separate.
Paganism was a primitive religion that was around before Christianity came to be.
Halloween relates to Celtic pagan rituals.
They didn't believe in the Satan that we do. They had a different system of gods. Both good and bad.