Halloween: Satan’s High Holiday

Published October 23, 2017

I am glad that Christian parents let their children worship the devil at least one night out of the year. Welcome to Halloween.
~Anton Szandor LaVey,
Founder of The Church of Satan and Author of The Satanic Bible

          I am amazed and astonished year after year that it is even a topic of discussion, yet so many Christians today seem to be quite accepting of the celebration of Halloween in some form. They may not hold parties where their homes are decorated with blood, spiders, and demonic-looking characters, though many professing Christians will, but to some degree a large part of the overall body of Christians find some way to “justify” celebrating a day that historically has been the highest celebration of evil among at least some pagan religions. From the Celtic Druids of ancient Europe to the followers of Wicca today, Halloween holds a very prominent place in Satan worship and we must take a serious look at why every year so many Christians seem to be OK with celebrating it and every year ministries who still hold some level of moral conviction and accountability to the Bible discourage it.

          The late Dr. Lester Sumrall is considered by most Pentecostal Christians to have been the foremost authority on demon powers and deliverance probably in the entire history of the Pentecostal Christian Movement. During his ministry he was asked a series of questions regarding the subject of demons and demon power, which are recorded in a booklet published through his ministry titled 101 Questions & Answers On Demon Powers. Two of those questions pertained directly to the Halloween celebration:

Question: Does a Halloween jack-o’-lantern have any connection with demon power?

Sumrall’s Answer: The Halloween celebrations should be avoided. Witches and such things are from the devil, and we should never join the devil in any of his celebrations.

Question: Do you consider such things as magic tricks, sleight of hand, ventriloquism, Halloween masks, etc., to be evil?

Sumrall’s Answer: We have a whole lesson available on the symbolisms of demon power. Don’t play with things connected with demon power; leave them alone.

          Simple, direct, and to the point. Avoid anything and everything that is in any way even remotely connected to demon power or pagan religions. Why this is such a hard concept for many Christians today is something that seems difficult to grasp, but I think as we explore this topic a little more in this message we may at least gain some understanding of why Christians are attracted to it.

          In 2014 actor Kirk Cameron, who has made a name for himself among Evangelical Christians, came out in strong defense of Christians celebrating Halloween. He made such claims that Christians created Halloween through a creation of the Catholic Church known as “All Hallows Eve” which precedes the Catholic “All Saint’s Day” on November 1st, that costumes were donned by Christians as a way to mock demon powers, and that Halloween is a celebration of Messiah’s victory over death. It is, perhaps, because of claims like these that many Christians today believe there is nothing wrong with the celebration of this day that historically has been called “Satan’s High Holiday” because, sadly, Christians will believe just about anything a celebrity Christian or “big-name” Pastor says to them. This is one of the greatest reasons why Christianity is in such a mess today, because nobody wants to listen to a genuine Prophet of God who calls people to an actual biblical standard of holiness.

          As I am writing this message I have been leading those who follow my social media ministry page in a plan to read through the Bible in a year. In the plan I have been using as a template it provides a segment from the Tanakh (“Old Testament”), a segment from the Brit Chadashah (“New Testament”), and a segment from Psalms/Proverbs. In the portions from the Tanakh it is now going through the Major Prophets, recently Isaiah and currently Jeremiah. As one reads through these books they won’t find the sort of “prophelying” pawned off as the prophetic today. These men were not saying that if you give a certain amount of money God will bless you with something like a new car or a house or whatever. No!

          The Prophets of God in the Bible called people to obey the Torah and said that if they did not that God would cut them off completely. Jeremiah actually calls people to follow the “old paths” of God’s Torah, but the people refused (Jeremiah 6:16-17). Later on it is revealed that God commands that no prayers or petitions be offered for these people because He will not hear them. That’s a pretty serious thing when God tells His servant to stop praying for you because He is no longer listening. It’s time to WAKE UP and get serious about this thing.

          Before getting into some of the history of Halloween I want to present one more piece of information with you. Evangelist Perry Stone addresses this topic as well in his book The Prophetic Future Concealed In Israel’s Festivals. Stone, like Sumrall with demonology, is highly regarded among Pentecostal Christians and even other branches of Christianity for his research into Bible Prophecy and the Hebraic aspects of Scripture that many are not well educated on. In his book he says:

          Having personally met and heard the testimonies of men and women who, prior to their conversions, were involved in the New Age and other pagan or occult activities, one statement that stands out above others was, “These dates, especially October 31st, are dates with human-demonic interaction.” Those heavily involved in these practices believe that the veil between our world and the underworld is the thinnest on October 31st and demons are invited to participate on that day.

          In a moment I will share the rest of Stone’s discourse on this day, as he introduces some of the history behind it. But think about what he is saying here. Actual real Satan worshipers, witches, and anyone involved in demonic religious practices consider October 31st to be a day when the veil between our world and that of demons is open and human beings can mingle with demons spirits. This is not something I think any Christian would want to play games with, but many are. It makes no sense, but they do it anyway.

          Think about it for a moment. You think the Trunk-or-Treat, or the Spirit Night, or the Harvest Festival that your local Church is hosting is just an innocent alternative to the “worldly” celebration of Halloween. It’s the night when demon interaction with humanity is at its height. You think you are taking your children to a “Christian alternative” when in reality you are taking them to mingle with demons, even at your Church. Do you really think there are no demons in the Church? I’ll tell you, there are more demons in the most Spirit-Filled Church you can find than any other place on the planet, and the most Spirit-Filled Churches are the ones that still shun any form of Halloween celebration. So what do you think is happening in the ones that do celebrate this date? The Churches are the number one mission field of devils. Much like the Biblical Feasts in the fall and spring are divine appointments with Yahweh, Halloween, no matter how you try to spin it, is a divine appointment with Satan and demons. So you go ahead and take your children to the Church-sponsored “Halloween alternative”, but don’t you come crying to me when they are full of the devil!

The Origins Of Halloween

 

          Halloween is well established as having origins in the darkest of pagan religions. An article put out by the History Channel’s website, titled History Of Halloween, provides some details about where the celebration comes from:

Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1.

This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter.

To commemorate the event, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities. During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes.

When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which they had extinguished earlier that evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

          Christian author Kathryn Slattery wrote a book to assist parents titled If I Could Ask God Anything: Awesome Bible Answers For Curious Kids. One of the questions asked in the book is, “What kind of holiday is Halloween?” She answers this question by saying:

Many years ago, All Saints’ Day was known as All Hallows Day. Hallows is an old English word that means “saints.” All Saints’ or All Hallows Day is November 1.

The word Halloween comes from “All Hallows Eve.” Halloween takes place on October 31, the evening before All Saint’s or All Hallows Day.

Halloween is not a Christian or Church holiday. Halloween began as a Druid celebration called Samhain, or festival of the dead, in northern Europe. The Druids were people who had not yet heard of Jesus. Druids believed that on the eve of November 1, the souls of the dead came and mingled with the living. This was a very scary thought. The Druids carved turnips and potatoes and put candles inside to symbolize ghostly spirits. They built big bonfires and offered sacrifices of crops and animals to cruel spirits. They dressed up in costumes to disguise themselves from evil spirits.

Even after they became Christians, some people in northern Europe continued these customs and called it Halloween. People who came from Ireland brought Halloween to America in the 1840s. American pumpkins made better jack-o’-lanterns than turnips and potatoes!

Over the years, Halloween has become a popular time for parties and trick-or-treating. It is fun to dress up in costumes and go door-to-door for candy. Sometimes it is fun to be scared. But it is important to remember that Halloween is a holiday that was started by people who did not know God or Jesus. That is why Halloween is dark and scary.

God is not dark and scary. God is light and love. (John 8:12; 1 John 1:5)

          Let’s turn to one more source of information about the origins of this purely satanic celebration, the continuation of what Perry Stone said in his aforementioned book The Prophetic Future Concealed In Israel’s Festivals:

The history of halloween is somewhat confusing, but it had it’s beginnings with a Celtic festival called sow-in, which was the end of the harvest cycle in their culture. This time was recognized in the area of Scotland and Ireland when the Celtics took stock of supplies and slaughtered their livestock for winter. Ancient heathen believed that on October 31st, the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped, and the dead could come back and wreak havoc on crops and life. For a few centuries, it has been taught that sow-in was the lord of death, with a modern picture being a skeleton with a cycle called the grim reaper.

The beliefs about October 31st included:

• The spirits of the dead had been confined in the bodies of some animals.

• October 31sr (sow-in) brought forth the spirits of the dead to return to their homes.

• Druids (to protect from the dead) took animals in wicker baskets and burned them in bonfires.

When the Roman Empire occupied the nations, the Romans took over and added another part to the celebration in late October, in which they celebrated both the passing of the dead and Pomona, the goddess of fruit. Her symbol was an apple, and herein we find the origin of bobbing for apples on halloween.

The pagan celebration was called all-hallows-eve among the Europeans. Pope Gregory II and Gregory IV moved the old Christian feast called All Saint’s Day from May 13th to November 1st (835), one day after halloween.

Numerous traditions developed over time, including dressing up as creatures from the underworld (ghost, witches, and zombies). A belief emerged that dead spirits wandered the earth on this night, and food and drink were prepared for them (treats). If the “treats” were not received by the spirits, they would return the following year and play tricks on the person.

A tradition later developed in England, where each November 4th was called “Mischief Night” as children played tricks on people. The idea of a jack-o-lantern originated through a man named Jack who claimed to trick the devil, who was thought to wander the earth and not be in either heaven or hell. The hallowed out pumpkins were cut out with a face to frighten evil spirits.

How did halloween gain a foothold in America? After a great potato famine struck Ireland in the mid-1800s, many Irish immigrants came to America. The traditions surrounding halloween came through the Irish.

An in-depth study will show how halloween is believed to be connected to the spirits of the dead. In reality, these spirits are not the departed souls of loved ones, but are demonic evil spirits. To many in the occult, halloween night is the strongest night of the year for spirit activity. Satanists establish October 31st as “all demons night,” and witches will convene to drink, party, pronounce spells and curses, and conjure up spirits. Satanic crimes and other activities have been noted in communities during this season.

Halloween might seem innocent to many, and millions of dollars are made from costumes, candy, and other activities at this time. However, Paul wrote:

“What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?”
                                                                      — 1 Corinthians 10:19-22 (NKJV)

Believers have observed that, on this day, there can be an increase in depression, mental oppression, and strange or unexplainable hindrances. There is an increase in weird warfare, and spiritual changes can be felt in the atmosphere.

          Let me mention something here to ride on Stone’s statement “Satanic crimes and other activities have been noted in communities during this season.” I have heard claims that young children have been kidnapped for the sole purpose of being used in Satanic rituals specific to Halloween where they are raped and even killed. When Churches hold Halloween events in support of this “holiday” instead of speaking out against it and compelling people to shun it, they are essentially endorsing anything and everything that goes on during this night of evil. Instead of trying to create an alternative, we need to tell people to have nothing to do with it.

          No matter where you turn, it is very apparent that the celebration of Halloween is based almost completely in the pagan religious beliefs and practices of the Celtic Druids. This was one of the pre-Christian European religious systems that, after Christianity made its way into the region, many continued to hold onto and try to recreate as some type of Christian holiday. This is not all that different from Christmas and Easter celebrations, which also began as pagan festivals and were turned into Christian celebrations despite the Bible specifically telling us not to worship Elohim the way that pagan peoples worship their gods (see Deuteronomy 12:4, 29-31 NLT).

          Unlike Christmas and Easter, however, Christians seem to never have been fully successful in efforts to “Christianize” Halloween. Not that this justifies celebrating Christmas and Easter, but those are topics for another time. Perhaps that is because this, above all others, is the “high holiday” of Satan himself. As pointed out by the History Channel article cited above, the Celts celebrated their new year on November 1st. This makes October 31st the closing of the year, the day they believed that there was the closest connection of the entire year with the underworld. This is not a game, this is a spiritual warfare and the more Christianity plays games with it the more dangerous the power of the enemy over the world becomes.

          Let me also take a quick moment to say a thing about pumpkin carving. It’s well documented that the activity of carving a face into a pumpkin and placing a candle inside is an act of pagan worship to ward off evil (demon) spirits. I have seen many professing Christians do this anyway, and they will most certainly have to answer to God for their actions. But I also see, every year, people who carve Bible verses or crosses or even very artistic people who make an image of Yeshua’s face (at least what they believe it to be) into a pumpkin and make a lantern out of it. I would remind you that the Bible, in God’s Torah, also tells us not to worship our God the way pagan people do (Deuteronomy 12:4, 29-31 NLT). There is simply no more need to put a “Christianized” jack-o-lantern in front of your home to profess faith in Yahweh than there is to tattoo a cross on your arm to do the same. Using pagan worship elements as tools of evangelism always sends a mixed message and causes weaker Believers to be accepting of paganism. You can put a whole pumpkin in front of your home as an ornament to celebrate the fall harvest season from the Feast of Tabernacles through the American celebration of Thanksgiving (which is said to be modeled after the Feast of Tabernacles), there is not issue with that, you have not altered God’s Creation in so doing and it is not something connected to pagan worship. But I strongly advise against making any type of a pumpkin lantern or a lantern from any other traditional plant product like turnips or potatoes as used in ancient Celtic worship.

          I know that whenever the history or origins of today’s holidays is discussed there are people who question them, heard something different, or have come across some piece of information that alleges to debunk what has been the long-held belief. This is more predominant when discussing Christmas and Easter than Halloween, as the origins of Halloween seem to be pretty well established as coming from the Celtic Druids. But even if some of the information I chose to share here has some errors, what I am about to share with you in a moment should be enough to make even a lukewarm half backslidden Christian run as far from Halloween as they possibly can. Satan only has as much power as people give him, and when Christians celebrate Halloween they are literally handing Satan the power to dominate this world. In a moment we will look at something else Anton LaVey said, but first I will share the words and warning of a former Satanist who converted to Christianity. Regardless of how Halloween started or who started it, this next segment should be enough to scare the hell, or at least scare the Halloween, out of you.

Halloween Is Satanism

 

          John Ramirez is an author and Christian Evangelist, but that was not always the case. He was once a high-ranking satanic priest in New York City who, according to his biography, cast powerful witchcraft spells and controlled entire regions. His book Armed And Dangerous: The Ultimate Battle Plan For Targeting And Defeating The Enemy provides some very powerful insights on the very real connections that Halloween has with Satanism, which is the literal worship of Satan. Ramirez states:

I find it ironic that we are quick on our feet to rush and honor the devil in so many ways. We see no harm in Halloween, because we think it is fun. We paint our faces, we wear our innocent costumes, we dress up our doorways—even churches dress up their entryways for Halloween with pumpkins. These actions are like giving the devil license, saying, “Here’s my church. You can have it.”

We think because we are not performing any demonic rituals or human sacrifices that we are on safe ground, but did you know that as soon as you dress up, whether you color yourself or put on a costume, the enemy owns you? Because by doing so, you have turned over your legal rights, and you have dedicated yourself and your kids to celebrating the devil’s holiday. You have just made a pact with the enemy, and you are already sacrificing your children spiritually by dressing them up and changing their identity.

Losing Our Identity

My mind goes back to the night of Oct. 31, 1987, when I had the most diabolical wedding on the planet. My fiancé and I decided to get married on Halloween, in a demonic ritual that lasted all night, and the wedding bells were heard all the way down to the gates of hell.

That night we forfeited our identity in return for a demonic, despicable wedding because we forgot, like everybody else who celebrates this holiday, to count the cost of our consequences. Like many of us today, we rushed into celebrating the devil’s birthday, so to speak, and we thought it was fun. It is like the person who tries drugs for the first time because he wants to be the life of the party, or wants to have fun that night, and an hour later he overdoses—not counting the cost, and, instead, losing his life. That is what happens to those who celebrate this creature’s holiday.

As devil worshipers, Halloween was very special to us, and we looked forward to celebrating it because we knew the implications and the dark power behind the night. It is very different from every other night in the witchcraft world. It would be like me saying to believers today, “How important to you are Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday?” Halloween has that much weight and importance to those who dwell on the dark side.

As soon as you make the decision to celebrate this unholy night, you give your allegiance and your identity to the enemy of your soul. Whether consciously or unconsciously, the damage has been done.

I remember the days leading up to Halloween, we devil worshipers had our instructions from the demon world about what had to be done, and we knew it was going to be a long night. I would sleep all day to be rested up and ready for midnight so I could unleash hell on the world into the wee hours of the morning.

Some churches remove the word Halloween and call it harvest instead, with members dressing up in costumes, giving out candy and bobbing for apples. It saddens my heart. Turning away from this “holiday” is not missing out on anything, so let us get that off our minds.

If they are trying to use certain secular holidays for evangelistic purposes, to win souls, this is the way I would do it as a minister: I would make it a biblical movie night with popcorn and soft drinks for the kids and grownups, and invite unsaved friends and family. My intention for the event would be to expose the origin and dangers of Halloween, then turn it into a great movie night, with a small teaching afterward from God’s Word about His love and the finished work of the cross. Finally, I would have an altar call and make it a special night for all to remember.

The only harvest we should celebrate is the harvest of souls.

For many who celebrate Halloween, that celebration carries over to Nov. 1, which is also known to some as the Day of the Dead, or All Saints’ Day, but there is nothing holy about it—it is demonic.

I am surprised at how the world embraces this holiday, because the title of All Saints’ Day is a deceiving one. We have a picture in our minds that it seems holy, but there is nothing innocent about it. This holiday is practiced all throughout South and Central America and distant parts of the world, and even in the United States. To the Spanish culture, it is called Día de Muertos, and they celebrate the dead through rituals and ceremonies and even cemetery visits. YouTube would be a good place to go and see for yourself what this is about. This holiday has nothing holy about it nor anything to do with saints.

In the Bible, when the Lord calls the believers “saints,” the term means we have been sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ and the finished work of the cross. We are set apart for good works to glorify God.

          I will talk a little bit more about the Spanish cultural celebration of “The Day Of The Dead” shortly, but I want to present something else to you first. In some ways I like Ramirez’s idea about a movie night or educational event to teach people what Halloween is really all about and lead Believers to abandoning Halloween completely.

          At least one Church I am familiar with puts on a production every few years to inform the community around them not of Halloween but of the reality of eternity in hell. In the production, held on the days surrounding Halloween, the lead character dies in a tragic accident and is immediately ushered into hell where throughout the production actors portraying demons torment him. This is a great idea that causes a lot of people to stop and think twice, though like many other evangelism tactics there is sometimes a backfire effect where Christians figure that if a Church can put on such a horror-show production than there must not be any harm in letting the kids dress up as their favorite cartoon characters and go out trick-or-treating. Another problem is that on years this Church has not done this production, because they have chosen to do other outreach events with their budget, they have done the typical harvest parties and even decided to go as far as doing Trunk-or-Treat.

          In a moment I will be showing you how fear is a tactic of the devil used to oppress people and ultimately possess their soul, but there is also a godly use of fear that if received will lead to salvation. Jude 22-23 tells us that some we can save with love and mercy, but others need to be saved with fear. If you can give someone a very real picture of eternity separated from God in torment there is a good chance they will make a serious commitment to Messiah Yeshua, though this does prove more and more difficult in a world where gruesome horror movies are a major part of the culture and Halloween stores begin to pop up in August.

          What I am about to share next comes directly from an actual book from the Church of Satan written by its founder Anton LaVey. You may recall I opened this message with a famous quote he made about being thankful that Christian parents allow their children to worship the devil at least once a year by celebrating Halloween. The citation I am about to present comes from his book The Devil’s Notebook.

          The chapter from which I will be citing is about a process called lycanthropic metamorphosis, which is a fancy term for the process of changing into a werewolf. You may or may not believe that this is something that people can really do, but what is real is that there are people who practice Satanism today. LaVey’s writings and teachings are a standard among Satanists and Halloween is a major part of their “faith”.

          Because this is a quote from a real satanic teaching, I will place a moment of prayer before and after it. If you are still not comfortable reading this, than by all means skip over it and continue reading after the second prayer.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Abba Yahweh, our Father, our Creator, and our God, I ask that you send angels of protection now to surround the reader of the following excerpts from this book of Satan worship. May the words be received as information only and that any and all demonic spirits attached to these words be bound and have no influence on the life of the reader. May this be used to deliver people and set them free from demonic oppression and that many will come to the realization that the enemy is real and powerful, but through You we have greater power than the enemy. In the name of Yeshua our Messiah I pray, Amen.

People who normally behave in a coarse and boorish manner would be thought to be bordering on an animal state, hence making a complete transition relatively effortless. This is a fallacy, for churls consider themselves as humans the highest and most noble form of life. They are almost animals all of the time, so they dare not “go over the brink,” for that would be abhorrent.

…

The three principal emotions of sex, sentiment and wonder may be considered as triggering mechanisms, as will be shown by the following formula by which one can effect the change from man into beast.

…

If this appears far-fetched, consider a phenomenon common to children on Halloween or on any other night where the setting is right. The child deliberately goes out expecting to be scared, succeeds in being scared, then considers how much fun it might be to scare others, once he has been purged of his fear-needs. He then becomes the hunter and the next child who comes along is his quarry. The entire phenomenon is akin to a recognized psychological manifestation of those who outwardly fear a situation while at the same time doing all in their power to encourage its occurrence.

This children’s Halloween game gives us the clue to the role change necessary in lycanthropic metamorphosis. Briefly, it is thus: Enter the area you know how to be trauma-producing with the fullest intention of being frightened. Allow yourself to be frightened. If necessary wear articles of clothing conducive to the most submissive or vulnerable image. “Accidental” victims are always thus attired. Get the feel of the place as a victim, allowing yourself to be frightened as much as you can. If you can supplement your fear with a sexually stimulating feeling, so much the better. Allow yourself to virtually shake apart with fear and if possible attain an orgasm by whatever means may be necessary, for this will make your subsequent lycanthropic changeover easier.

Yahweh, our God, as the reader has just concluded in reading this literal satanic teaching, I ask that you purge all devils and spirits that oppose You from having any influence over their life. May the reader see the reality of evil that is on the Halloween celebrations through the words and teachings of the founder of the Church of Satan himself and be free from all influence of this very satanic ritual that even many who claim to serve you continue to celebrate. In the name of Yeshua our Messiah I pray, Amen.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

          Look, fear is the tool of the devil. Whether or not you read through the above excerpt from LaVey’s instructional guide, what he basically presents is an actual process to embracing satanic powers. And the Halloween celebration is directly connected to this process, as he points out. When you celebrate Halloween or when you allow your children to do so you are literally opening the door to give Satan and demon powers access to your life or the lives of your children. LaVey may refer to it as a “Halloween game” but I can assure you this is no game. The devil does not play fair and he will use anything he can to separate you from God so that you can spend eternity in a lake of fire being tormented. Not for a moment, for all eternity with no hope of escape.

          Fear is the opposite of faith. If you are a child of the King than it makes no sense to play with and be entertained by fear, a tool of your adversary, and open the door to demonic attacks in your life. Actual, real Satan worshipers use fear and Halloween activities to advance the kingdom of darkness. We are supposed to have nothing to do with darkness. It’s just that simple.

Day Of The Dead

 

          In Spanish culture, particularly Mexican, there is a celebration known at the “Day of the Dead”. This is a day when people remember and “worship” the dead with a focus on deceased ancestors. Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about this.

You are not to round off the hair on the sides of your heads, nor are you to mar the edge of your beard. You are not to make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead or make any tattoo marks upon yourself. I am Adonai.
~Leviticus 19:27-28 (TLV)

You are the children of Adonai your God. You are not to cut yourselves or shave your forehead for the dead.
~Deuteronomy 14:1 (TLV)

When you enter the land Adonai your God is giving you, you are not to learn to do the abominations of those nations. There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire, or a fortune-teller, soothsayer, omen reader, or sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or a medium, a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is an abomination to Adonai, and because of these abominations Adonai your God is driving them out from before you. You are to be blameless before Adonai your God.
~Deuteronomy 18:9-13 (TLV)

          Clearly our God is opposed to worship of the dead, also called ancestral worship. In the book Latina and Latino Voices in Literature: Lives and Works by Frances Ann Day a brief summary of the “Day of the Dead” is provided:

On October 31, All Hallows Eve, the children make a children’s altar to invite the angelitos (spirits of dead children) to come back for a visit. November 1 is All Saints Day, and the adult spirits will come to visit. November 2 is All Souls Day, when families go to the cemetery to decorate the graves and tombs of their relatives. The three-day fiesta is filled with marigolds, the flowers of the dead; muertos (the bread of the dead); sugar skulls; cardboard skeletons; tissue paper decorations; fruit and nuts; incense, and other traditional foods and decorations.

          The Bible plainly tells us not to engage in pagan worship practices or acts of worship for the dead. Ancestral worship is actually common in many parts of the world. The book Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction To World Religions by Winfried Corduan says:

Ancestor spirits are departed family members but not necessarily direct ancestors. A departed relative who dies childless for reasons of age or social status may be considered an ancestor. These spirits retain their identity within the family; those who had high status in a clan or tribe may retain their status. Generally they are treated with the respect appropriate to honored senior members of the social group. Most animistic cultures have an automatic mechanism by which a deceased’s term as venerated ancestor expires after a customary number of generations (sometimes when no more living persons have direct memory of the departed person), and the ancestor is then considered to be permanently gone.

          We must be mindful of what things like the Day of the Dead and Halloween are. These are celebrations of death and the dead. John 10:10 (TLV) tells us: “The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly!” The pagan celebrations surrounding the date of October 31st are everything that opposes the God we serve as Believers.

Believers In Yahweh Do Not Celebrate Halloween

 

          I want to make it very clear, a true Believer in Yahweh our Father, Creator, and God, a committed follower of Yeshua our Master and Messiah, and a genuine recipient of the Ruach HaKodesh (Spirit of Holiness) does not participate in any pagan celebrations that oppose the Bible and celebrate evil. Halloween and any other celebrations connected to the October 31st date held in high esteem by satanic religions have no place in the life of the true Believer.

          Jamie Morgan, the Pastor of an Assemblies of God Church in New Jersey, wrote an article published in Charisma News, an online division of Charisma Media (formerly Strang Communications), titled Why Christians Absolutely Should Not Celebrate Halloween. In the article Pastor Morgan makes a series of points that should be considered:

Many Christians celebrate Halloween. Some churches and pastors even do. I recently saw a church advertising they were having a Zombie Run. Seriously? God’s House? This pastor does not celebrate Halloween and neither does her church.

In a spirit of full disclosure, when I was a brand-new believer, I allowed my son to go trick-or-treating. Part of the reason was because my husband was not yet saved and insisted we do. The other part was because I didn’t see the harm in it. After all, many Christians I respected did it, so as a new Christian I justified that it must be OK. Right? Wrong!

As I grew closer to the Lord and gained more knowledge of His Word, I began to feel convicted about Halloween. I had thoughts like:

• God is a God of life, but Halloween focuses on death. Should I celebrate a holiday where people decorate their front yards with tombstones?

• The Scriptures tell us to put away deeds of darkness (Rom.13:12) and that light has nothing in common with darkness (2 Cor. 6:14). Is celebrating a dark holiday something a child of the light should be doing?

• I had been delivered from fear and panic attacks and knew that fear comes from the enemy. Should I participate in a holiday that has fear as its very foundation?

• Witchcraft is clearly detestable to the Lord (Deut 18:10-13). Shouldn’t something that glorifies witchcraft (just take a walk through the Halloween store) be detestable to me as well?”

• Halloween is a sacred, high holiday for Wiccans (the official religion of witchcraft). Is this a holiday Christians should celebrate alongside Wiccans?

• Is it cute when we dress our kids like the devil (or witches, ghouls, scary characters, etc.)? Isn’t it, well, demonic?

• What if my child dresses in a wholesome fireman costume? Romans 16:19 says that we need to be wise to what is good and innocent of evil. If I let him participate in Halloween, even while dressed as a fireman, aren’t I sending him a mixed message by allowing him to participate in a celebration of evil?

• The Lord said in 2 Cor. 6:17, “Come out from them and be separate … Touch no unclean thing …” Doesn’t God want His children to be set apart from the world and from sin and evil? Aren’t we supposed to be peculiar people?

• My extended family thinks it’s ridiculous that we not allow our son to dress up for Halloween. Should their opinions matter to me more than God’s? Shouldn’t pleasing God be my utmost concern?

• If there is even a question in my heart and mind that it might be wrong, shouldn’t that be my first clue? Why would I continue to do so with even a lingering thought that it is wrong?

• Does Halloween bring glory to God? No! It glorifies the devil! Nuff said.

So as a new believer, saved only two years, I responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, repented of displeasing the Lord and put a stop to Halloween. And as a pastor, after observing firsthand the amount of destruction that the enemy brings into peoples’ lives when they give him a foothold, I am even more convinced I made the right decision to close the door to the enemy and on this evil holiday.

          In similar fashion the Christian Broadcast Network published an article by Elliott Watson titled Should Christians Celebrate Halloween? In the article the author makes several observations and then draws a potential conclusion to the matter:

But what about today? Perhaps we can still learn from history. In the fourth century, Christians attempted to co-opt the holiday by celebrating the lives of faithful Christian saints the day before Halloween. This was a conscious attempt to provide an alternative and re-focus the day away from ghouls, goblins, ghosts, witches and other “haunted” experiences. Since that time many Christians have decided to allow their children to dress in more “innocent” costumes of pumpkins, princesses, Superman or as a cowboy. Part of this is due to the simple reality that in today’s Western culture it is nearly impossible to “avoid” Halloween.

Just before reaching a conclusion on the subject, I was struck with the thought that I ought to further my search and find out what Wicca, the official religion of witchcraft, has to say about Halloween. Perhaps they viewed the day as a simple fun and innocent neighborhood activity?

“Shock” is the only word to describe what I found. Halloween is a real, sacred day for those who follow Wicca. In fact, it is one of two high and holy days for them. The Celtic belief of spirits being released is current, along with the worship of Samhain (the lord of death) – both are promoted as something to embrace on that day. There is no question in my mind that to those who believe and follow the practices of witchcraft, Halloween represents an opportunity to embrace the evil, devilish, dark side of the spiritual world.

So after discovering this, what is a reasonable conclusion? As Christians you and I are placed in this world to be a light in a world of darkness. There is no lasting benefit to ignore a holiday that exists around us, but it also does harm to celebrate Halloween as it has originated and grown over the centuries.

My suggestion? Christians should be teaching their children (age appropriately) that:

• there is a spiritual world filled with goodness from God and evil from Satan (Eph. 2:1-10);

• life with Christ has power over darkness (1 John 4:4); and

• those who celebrate Halloween either are unaware of its roots, or are intentionally promoting a world where evil is lauded and viewed as an ultimate power.

          There really is no place in the life of a committed Believer for such a celebration. All too often such statements are made as: “It’s just innocent fun for the kids today,” or, “I don’t care what it meant back then, that’s not what it means today,” or, “Just because some people celebrate evil and Satanism on this day that’s not what it means to me, I’m not worshiping the devil because I let my kids dress in fun costumes and get candy from the neighbors” (see my article That’s Not What It Means To Me). Question: Where is any of that found in the Bible? It’s not! The Bible plainly condemns the engagement in pagan worship, and no matter how anyone tries to spin it otherwise, every aspect of the celebration of Halloween is pagan and occult worship. It is satanism and the direct worship of Satan himself. Period.

          The kings of Israel, following Solomon’s allowance of the pagan gods of his foreign wives, fell into a trap of leading the people in permitting the worship of the gods of the surrounding nations. Over and over again we see one king after the other whose legacy is that they did what was evil in the eyes of God by allowing such things as Asherah poles, altars to Baal, and burning incense in the high places to honor to pagan gods. Christians, however, seem to read these stories in the books of 1st and 2nd Kings in the Bible and act like the Israelites were defiantly worshiping pagan gods, but I have to wonder if that was really the case.

          Today Christians are doing exactly the same thing, worshiping pagan gods in pagan ways, but in most cases they are completely ignorant to the fact that they are doing it. Why? Because these things are done in a way that is culturally acceptable and presented in ways that don’t appear to be connected to pagan religions or the occult. Today’s Santa Claus, Christmas trees, Easter egg hunts, Easter Rabbit, and all of the traditions of Halloween are the same thing as ancient Israel’s Asherah poles, altars to Baal, incense burning in the high places, and golden calves.

          Matthew 24:24 warns us that in the last days even the chosen of God can be deceived, and we see this happening all around us as even Christian Churches celebrate Halloween, even if they don’t call it Halloween. From reversing the spelling and having an event called “Neewollah” to offering a general Fall Festival, Trunk-or-Treat, Spirit Night, or whatever else you want to call it for the children of their congregations, it is all crossing a line and engaging in the satanism. After all, as shown earlier, any celebration of Halloween is opening a door to Satan into your life.

          What many Christians seem to fail to realize is that there are more demons inside of Churches than anywhere else. It is often mistakenly assumed that devils hang out only in places like bars, strip clubs, prostitution houses, nightclubs, and any other worldly venues that Christians consider to be places of immorality. In reality, demons don’t need to be in those places because the people who frequent them are already bound in blatant sin and a rejection of God. Demons spend more time in Churches than anywhere else because that’s where they find people who are actually seeking to live for God. And there are a lot of professing Christians who submit to these demon powers and do their bidding, even inside the walls of the Church.

          For example, I am not sure I have ever heard more people gossip than among the members of a Church. It’s amazing how much people will engage in this activity and even spread false information around. If you want to spread a lie, all you have to do is share it with some of your friends at a Church and it won’t be long before that thing has made its way through the congregation, stirring up all sorts of strife and division.

          David Wilber is a Bible teacher at the Torah-focused Founded In Truth Ministries in South Carolina. I caught a sentiment he shared on social media that really expresses well the issue with Churches creating man-made alternatives to Halloween. He says:

I appreciate that many Christians are rethinking Halloween and opting for alternatives like “harvest festivals” or whatever. Now we should take it just a step further and celebrate God’s harvest festivals that are in the Bible. We don’t need to come up with our own alternatives; God already gave us a bunch in the Torah! (And if that’s not enough, you can throw in Purim and Hanukkah for good measure!)

          Wilber is referring, of course, to the Spring and Fall Feasts of Yahweh that are outlined in Torah. I think it’s also interesting that he parenthetically mentions Purim and Hanukkah as well, as these also hold a certain amount of significance and Scripture indicates that our Messiah, Yeshua, celebrated both of them. One of the traditions that has developed in the celebration of Purim is dressing in costumes and it is a celebration that takes place on the opposite side of the year from Halloween, so it’s a much better alternative for children to have a costume party. One thing I am absolutely confident in saying, however, is that Yeshua did not celebrate holidays that are based in pagan religion and if He were walking among us today He would never celebrate something like Halloween. And if He walked up on your Church having a Halloween “alternative” I assure you tables would be getting flipped and He’d be yelling at the Pastor: “MY HOUSE IS A HOUSE OF PRAYER AND YOU TURNED IT INTO A DEN OF SATAN WORSHIP!”

          In 2016 it was concluded that $8.4 billion was spent on celebrating Halloween. Estimates seem to grow closer and closer to breaking $10 billion, a figure that may become a reality any year now. Imagine if Christians, instead of spending their money to celebrate things that absolutely oppose the God they claim to place their faith in, used that money instead to advance the Kingdom of that very God. This is something to think about.

          Chances are that most people who would be compelled to read this message are those who already oppose the celebration of Halloween. However, it is my hope and my purpose in writing that at least some who will read this will be among the masses of Christians in the world today who see no issue in celebrating it. If that is you and you have read this message, the time has come for you to make a choice. Will you continue to do things that your God hates just because everyone else is doing them? Will you continue to defy Yahweh the Father, Creator, and God of this world? Or are you ready to say enough is enough and make a real commitment to live completely sold out to the God you have only casually followed to this point?

Blessings and Shalom
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