Wherever There Is Darkness We Should Provide The Light Series

The Truth Behind Halloween

Tonight we have some decisions to make.

We have some decisions to make concerning Halloween.

Is Halloween harmless or harmful?

What is it actually a celebration of?

What is wrong with letting children dress up like a ghost, or Dracula, or witches to go from house to house to ask for sweets?

How did this peculiar custom originate?

Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship?

Should we or our children participate in Halloween?

Let’s start with 3 short passages from God’s word.

Deuteronomy 18:9-22

When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD , and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God.

The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.

Ephesisans 6:10-13

Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Satan? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

In America, the observance of Halloween is a multi-billion-dollar industry, second only to Christmas...selling costumes, sweets, food, party supplies, greeting cards, tours of so-called haunted houses, and other forms of entertainment.

What is the history of this particular day?

The truth may surprise you.

More than two thousand years ago, a people called the Celts (Kelts) lived in what are now Ireland, Great Britain, and France.

Among the Celtic people was an elite intellectual class known as the Druids, who served as religious priests, judges, lawmakers, and scientists.

They had an elaborate pagan religious festival, along with certain rituals. Chief among these was the Fire Festival called SOWEN (Samhain), observed at harvest time to mark the Celtic New Year.

The Celts believed that on this night the barrier between the natural world and the supernatural was removed, and the spirits of the dead were able to move freely among human beings. SOWEN was the most solemn and important night in the Celtic year.

The Celts believed that evil spirits lurked about as the sun god grew pale and SOWEN grew stronger.

By lighting great bonfires on the hillsides, on the Vigil of SOWEN, the Celts hoped to scare away the evil spirits of those who had died the previous year. It was believed that on this day the souls of the deal would rise from the grave to haunt those who were living.

In order to please SOWEN, the Druids held cruel fire rites.

Prisoners of war, criminals or animals were burned alive in odd-shaped baskets. By observing the way they died, the Druids saw omens of the future, good and bad.

By waving burning wisps of plaited straw aloft on pitchforks, people tried to frighten off demons and witches. Just in case waving of burning wisps didn’t work, the Druids also put on grotesque and terrifying costumes.

They believed that if you dressed in a horrible enough fashion and went trooping around with the spirits all night, they would think you were one of them and do you no harm.

The Celts believed that when these spirits came to your house, if you did not treat them, they would trick you.

Many of the Halloween legends and customs of today have come from the Celts.

After the Roman Catholic Church brought Christianity to the Celtic people in the seventh century, some of the Celtic itraditional folk customs were Christianised.