Hallow What?

HALLOW WHAT?

INTRODUCTION:

Excited children masquerading as witches, pirates, devils, ghosts, Dracula and other creatures bounding through the neighborhood, going from door to door shouting, "Trick or Treat" the party at school or a friend’s house where they tell ghost stories, bob for apples or tell fortunes the visit to the community "haunted house" and homes decorated with witches, skeletons and eerie looking grinning Jack O Lanterns...IT MUST BE HALLOWEEN! Sounds like harmless fun, doesn’t it? But there is THE DARK SIDE TO HALLOWEEN YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT . . .

I. WHAT IS HALLOWEEN?

A. Funk & Wagnalls --- The evening of October 31, preceding the Christian feast of All Saint's Day. The observances connected with Halloween are thought to have originated among the ancient Druids, who believed that on that evening, Saman, the lord of the dead, called forth hosts of evil spirits. The Druids customarily lit great fires on Halloween, apparently for the purpose of warding off these evil spirits.

Among the ancient Celts, Halloween was the last evening of the year and was regarded as a propitious time for examining the portents of the future. The Celts also believed that the spirits of the dead revisited their earthly homes on that evening.

After the Romans conquered Britain, they added to Halloween features of the Roman harvest

festival held on November 1 in honor of Pomona, goddess of the fruit of trees.

B. Britannica Encyclopedia --- The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day,

and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats,

fairies, and demons of all kinds are said to be roaming about. It was the time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes.

C. The World Book Encyclopedia says, "Halloween is a festival that takes place on October 31st. In

the United States, children wear costumes on Halloween and go trick-or-treating. Many carry

jack-o-lanterns carved out of pumpkins. At Halloween parties, people enjoy such activities as

fortune-telling, hearing stories about ghosts and witches, and bobbing for apples."¹

D. The Dictionary of the Occult and Paranormal,² states "Halloween was originally a pagan

festival of darkness, fire, and death. All Hallows Eve was celebrated by the Celts of northern

Europe... Halloween was also an important date for the witches' calendar."

E. The Satanic Bible describes Halloween as follows: "Originally, All Hallow's Eve was one of the great fire festivals of Britain at the time of the Druids. In Scotland it was associated with the time when spirits of the dead, the demons, witches, and sorcerers, were unusually active and propitious. The youths of the villages carried on with much merry-making and sensual revelry, but the older people took great care to safeguard their homes from the evil spirits, witches, and demons who had exceptional power that night." Pulpit Helps: 'Tis The Season To Be Evil Oct, 1999

F. According to witchcraft organizations, witches have eight major festivals throughout the year. Four

are the solar festivals: one at both equinoxes, and one at both solstices. The other four occur almost midpoint between the Solar festivals; the most famous of these are Samhain (Halloween to

non-witches) and Beltane (May day). Samhain, or Halloween, is the beginning of their new year,

and is the time when they claim that they can most effectively communicate with the dead.

II. WHO ARE THE DRUIDS?

The Druids originated Halloween. For several hundred years before Christ, the Celts inhabited what is now France, Germany, Scotland and Ireland. Celtic priests were called Druids. These people 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 the 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 England and outlawed human sacrifices. The few remaining Druids went underground.

Today, a growing number of people claiming to be of direct Druid descent, still practice their religion, including human sacrifice. www.chick.com/seasonal/halloweenhistory.asp

III. WHERE DID HALLOWEEN COME FROM?

A. According to Gloria Phillips Halloween: What It Is From A Christian Perspective

www.wbzonecom.com/ccn/cults/issu37.txt

The custom of Halloween is traced to the Druid festival of the dead. At that time the Roman Pantheon was built by Emperor Hadrian in 100 A.D. as a temple to the goddess Cybele and other Roman deities. It became the principle place of worship. Roman pagans prayed for the dead. Rome was captured and the Pantheon fell into disrepair. Emperor Phocas captured Rome and gave the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV in 609. He reconsecrated it to the Virgin Mary and resumed using the temple to pray for the dead, only now it was "Christianized", as men added the unscriptural teaching of purgatory.