There is a lot of talk around Halloween and the Christian lately. God has a lot to say about the foundations of the holiday so let’s explore.
In this episode, I’m shedding some light on the holiday Halloween. This isn’t a holiday I grew up celebrating. I’ve gone trick or treating twice in my entire life. My parents didn’t celebrate this holiday so I went while in elementary school with other people.
Here’s where we’re going in this episode:
- The origins of Halloween from a natural perspective
- The spiritual aspects of the holiday, and
- Whether the holiday can be redeemed
- Halloween and the Christian celebrating it
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The Origins - Natural
There are a few different stories about how Halloween originated. That’s mostly because a lot of versions start with All Hallows Eve and skip the part before that.
According to the history channel’s website, Halloween evolved from the pagan religious festival of Samhain (“sah-win”). Samhain originated from an ancient Celtic (“keltic”) spiritual tradition. Before I talk about the festival, I want to shed some light on the Celts.
The Celts were a group of tribes with origins in central Europe who eventually spread throughout western Europe to places like Britain, Ireland, France and Spain. They shared a similar language, religious beliefs, traditions and culture. So basically, they were a mixed group of tribes that shared in pretty much all of the things that shape a group of people.
All of this is starting with the Celts around 1200 BC, so they were around before Christ was born on earth. I wasn’t able to find any real concrete religious belief for them but their spiritual practice/religion consisted of over 400 gods and goddesses who represented many different things.
Samhain
The Celtic festival of Samhain. This festival was celebrated in honor of the god, Samhain, who is said to be the Druid god of death. During the festival, people who attended would gather to light bonfires, they offered sacrifices, and paid homage to the dead. Banquet tables were prepared and food was left out to placate unwelcome spirits.
People who participated in this festival believe that the barriers between the physical world and the spirit world break down during Samhain and because of this, they are able to have more interaction between humans and the dead. So, the festival basically promotes the summoning of the dead. Just so we are on the same page, those spirits were demons.
In true, summoning the dead fashion, during Samhain people would actually see demonic spirits walking around so they decided to put on sheets to blend in with the spirits. This is where the introduction of costumes comes in. In later centuries, people started dressing as ghosts, demons, and other evil creatures. While in these costumes, they would clown around and perform in exchange for food and drink.
All Hallows Eve
Sometime in the eighth century, Pope Gregory III, designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. Soon, All Saints Day started incorporating some of the traditions of Samhain.
October 31 was eventually called All Hallows Eve, and later All Hallows Eve went through another name change to Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved from a pagan ritual into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, trunk or treat, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, wearing costumes and eating treats.
Today, according to the National Retail Federation, Americans spend about $3.1 billion on candy on Halloween, and the day, itself, has become America’s second-largest commercial holiday, with the first largest obviously being Christmas.
That is what Halloween looks like in the natural, so let’s talk about what it looks like in the spirit realm.
The Practice - Spiritual
Witchcraft
At its root, Halloween was founded on witchcraft. Witchcraft is what it takes to summon spirits for a festival. Witchcraft means to bend. In practice witchcraft is using supernatural evil forces to manipulate natural circumstances. 1 Samuel. So that’s one of the spiritual things that is going on during Halloween.
Worship
Another spiritual thing happening during the celebration of Halloween is worship. The founder of the Satanic church said that Halloween is the third most important holiday for practicing Satanists. He also had something to say about Christians who let their kids celebrate the holiday.
At least one night...
I want us to focus on the importance of him saying “at least one night a year.” The reason this is important is because that’s all it takes. Associating with witchcraft and demonic practices, no matter how brief or how unintentional, creates opportunities for Satan to work in your life and in the life of the kids who participate. Remember, satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour and he loves to hit people when they are weak or vulnerable. Some of the most vulnerable people are kids.
Evil people do very evil things on Halloween. It’s one of the strongest times of witchcraft because witches all over are performing evil rituals and bringing the enemy sacrifices. I don’t want to go into the details in this episode but if you are the kind of person who needs to know, then there are people on YouTube who share their testimonies about dabbling in darkness on Halloween.
So spiritually, Halloween is associated with a lot of demonic activity.
Can it be redeemed?
Now that we know the origin of Halloween. The question for a lot of people becomes, can it be redeemed? Can Halloween be redeemed with things like trunk or treat or Hallelujah night?
All I can offer here is my personal opinion, and in my opinion Halloween is not a holiday that can be redeemed for Christians.
Promotes practices that are in direct opposition to Christianity
I say this because Halloween was founded on and still to this day, promotes practices that are in direct opposition to Christianity.
With one of those things being the occult and witchcraft. God has a lot to say about witchcraft. He calls it detestable. It’s similar to rebellion (Revelation 21:8). And when people engage in witchcraft, God sees it as them rejecting the word of the Lord. 1 Samuel 15:23. And those who engage in witchcraft will NOT inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:20-21).
Even though you may not be directly practicing witchcraft...
… when someone celebrates a holiday rooted in and centered around witchcraft, their participation in it is fellowship with the practice of witchcraft. They are in the company of witchcraft by association. No matter how pure their intentions are by doing things like dressing up as angels, the fact remains that they are celebrating a demonic practice.
1 Corinthians 15:33 says, “Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good habits.” The Greek word for corrupt means to destroy; to lead away a Christian church from that state of knowledge and holiness in which it ought to abide. In other words, being associated with Halloween by participating in its celebration leads Christians away from the state of holiness where they are supposed to be.
Opens the door to demonic activity
Halloween is full of darkness and demonic things. The movies are full of demonic imagery. Remember, our eyes, ears, and mouths are the gates to our soul. Celebrating Halloween compromises those gates.
Mouth Gate
Our mouth gate is compromised because the truth is, we have no idea what people did to the candy they pass out. I remember hearing people talk about how they would look to make sure that the candy didn’t look like it had been tampered with; and that the wrapper was still intact. The problem with that is you can’t tell just by looking at something, whether it has been tampered with spiritually. How are you going to know that someone prayed curses over the candy they gave you and now demons are attached to it? The Holy Spirit has to reveal it to you. Now those demons have followed you home and potentially have an open door to your body AND to kids bodies. People who practice witchcraft often use food to do witchcraft on someone. It just isn’t worth it.
Ear and Eye Gates
When it comes to the eye and ear gates, scary movies are channels through which evil spirits can enter the life of the person watching.
There’s even a movie, called Poltergeist, which highlights demons entering through the tv. The spiritual consequences don’t just fall on the viewers. The actors involved suffer spiritual consequences as well. A lot of the actors in that film ended up falling ill and dying. The actress who played the little girl Carol Anne, if like me you’ve never seen the movie she’s one of the main characters in the film, but she died at the age of 12 of cardiac arrest and septic shock stemming from a misdiagnosed intestinal stenosis. Another actress was murdered by her ex-boyfriend five months after the film’s release. One of the actors in the sequel died of cancer while shooting the film. Another actor died of kidney failure a year after the film’s release.
All for the sake of horror which is the theme of Halloween.
Things surrounding Halloween are wicked and evil.
Halloween decorations are full of things associated with witchcraft like werewolves, spiders, witches, skeletons, skulls, ghosts, mummies, the dead, and vampires. These are all things that promote fear. Fear is a spirit. It’s a demonic spirit. Parents, I know you may not see the connection but follow me. When you partner with the enemy by celebrating a holiday like Halloween, it opens the door for the works of darkness to enter your life and the lives of your kids.
God’s word tells us to abstain from EVERY form of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22.
Halloween is celebrated at night. In darkness. What does darkness mean in the Bible?
- John 11:10 – But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.
- Proverbs 4:19 – The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
- John 3:19 – And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
- John 12:35 – So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.
Halloween and the Christian
Have nothing to do with the unfruitful works of darkness but instead expose them.
Unfruitful works? Yes! Crime rates increase on October 31. The evening violent crime count on Oct.31 is about 50 percent higher than on any other date during the year, and about twice the daily average,” said Northeastern University professor James Alan Fox.
1 Corinthians 10:20-22 – 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?
We shouldn't be participating...
We aren’t missing out on anything good by sitting this one out either. I’m going to end with one more scripture which really sums up this episode.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever [1 John 2:15-17].
Want More?
If you enjoyed this episode, then you may also enjoy the episode of the show about the seed of deception and what makes us susceptible to being deceived or this episode detailing the need to demonstrate the supernatural power of God.
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