• Welcome
    • Purpose
    • Statement of Faith
    • Prayer Request
  • My Apology
  • TESTIMONY
    • English
    • Chinese Translation
    • Dutch Translation
    • French Translation
    • German Translation
    • Hebrew Translation
    • Italian Translation
    • Portuguese Translation
    • Russian Translation
    • Spanish Translation
    • Turkish Translation
  • READY OR NOT...
    • 22 Messianic Prophecies Fulfilled From the Tanakh
    • The Rapture
  • My Story - Videos
    • My Life Story Video - "In His Own Words"
    • Video Interviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Son of Hope Gospel Tracts
  • Journal
    • 2023 >
      • January 2023
      • *February 2023
    • 2022 >
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
      • July 2022
      • August 2022
      • September 2022
      • October 2022
      • November 2022
      • December 2022
    • 2021 >
      • January 2021
      • February 2021
      • March 2021
      • April 2021
      • May 2021
      • June 2021
      • July 2021
      • August 2021
      • September 2021
      • October 2021
      • November 2021
      • December 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017-2005
    • 2004-2003
  • Updates
  • For Parents, Teens, and Students
    • General Advice for Parents
    • Advice For Troubled Teens
    • Stopping Teen Violence
    • School Projects
    • Jailhouse Interview
    • A Letter to David from Youth Minister Dan Bailey
    • Suicide is Everyone's Business
    • What is Prison All About?
  • For Satanists
    • A Letter to a Satanist
    • Satan's Bible
    • Famous Satanists' Last Words - Quotes
    • Carl Sartor's Story
    • A Satanist Has a Vision
    • Jailhouse Interview
  • A Letter to a Soldier
  • Ministry Tools
  • Jesus Christ, the True Treasure and Pearl of Great Price!
  • Insights and Miscellaneous
    • A Letter to North Shore Baptist Church
    • Parole Hearing Transcript 2016
    • He Knows Your Name
  • Inspirational Testimonies
  • Friends
  • Contact
  • Welcome
    • Purpose
    • Statement of Faith
    • Prayer Request
  • My Apology
  • TESTIMONY
    • English
    • Chinese Translation
    • Dutch Translation
    • French Translation
    • German Translation
    • Hebrew Translation
    • Italian Translation
    • Portuguese Translation
    • Russian Translation
    • Spanish Translation
    • Turkish Translation
  • READY OR NOT...
    • 22 Messianic Prophecies Fulfilled From the Tanakh
    • The Rapture
  • My Story - Videos
    • My Life Story Video - "In His Own Words"
    • Video Interviews
    • Written Interviews
    • Son of Hope Gospel Tracts
  • Journal
    • 2023 >
      • January 2023
      • *February 2023
    • 2022 >
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
      • July 2022
      • August 2022
      • September 2022
      • October 2022
      • November 2022
      • December 2022
    • 2021 >
      • January 2021
      • February 2021
      • March 2021
      • April 2021
      • May 2021
      • June 2021
      • July 2021
      • August 2021
      • September 2021
      • October 2021
      • November 2021
      • December 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017-2005
    • 2004-2003
  • Updates
  • For Parents, Teens, and Students
    • General Advice for Parents
    • Advice For Troubled Teens
    • Stopping Teen Violence
    • School Projects
    • Jailhouse Interview
    • A Letter to David from Youth Minister Dan Bailey
    • Suicide is Everyone's Business
    • What is Prison All About?
  • For Satanists
    • A Letter to a Satanist
    • Satan's Bible
    • Famous Satanists' Last Words - Quotes
    • Carl Sartor's Story
    • A Satanist Has a Vision
    • Jailhouse Interview
  • A Letter to a Soldier
  • Ministry Tools
  • Jesus Christ, the True Treasure and Pearl of Great Price!
  • Insights and Miscellaneous
    • A Letter to North Shore Baptist Church
    • Parole Hearing Transcript 2016
    • He Knows Your Name
  • Inspirational Testimonies
  • Friends
  • Contact
AriseandShine.org

October 2021

The Dark Side of Halloween

10/31/2021

 
Be alert and vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a 
roaring lion, walks about seeking those whom me may devour.
1 Peter 5:8

As I tried to share in my previous entry, Satan would love to have people think he doesn't exist…

or that he's a creation of mankind invented as an excuse to escape responsibility for one's actions. But neither of these are true. The Bible makes clear the reality of the devil and our need to be wary of him. 

In light of my past experiences with Satan and his cohorts, people would sometimes ask my thoughts about Halloween. In North America it has become something almost equal to Christmas with the early marketing of products and candies, all with Halloween in mind.

I am not, however, going to give my opinion as to whether or not Halloween is merely harmless fun, or if it is something to avoid. Everyone has to make his or her own choice. But I am going to share what I have read about Halloween and its origins, and all of it from a very reliable and well-established source. 

Historically, Halloween has occultic origins. At one time it was considered to be one of the most important days for druids and pagans. The Encyclopedia Britannica's online edition says of Halloween that it was "one of the most important and sinister calendar festivals of the Celtic year."

It went on to say, "it was fraught with danger, charged with fear, and full of supernatural episodes. Sacrifices and propitiations of every kind were thought to be vital, for without them the Celts believed they could not prevail over the perils of the season or counteract the activities of the deities."

Obviously Halloween was not a time for fun and merriment. It was not a time for collecting candy and coins, or wearing cute costumes. It was a scary time when spirits of all kinds ran amok and people tried to do all they could to scare them off.

The Encyclopedia Britannica went on to state that Halloween, also known as All Hallow's Eve, "had its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts in ancient Britain and Ireland." On Halloween, "people set bon fires on hilltops for relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits."

The holiday is known for its skeletons and black cats. Also, for the Jack-o'-Lantern which the Encyclopedia described as a symbol of "a hollowed-out pumpkin... carved into a demonic face and lit with a candle inside" to ward off evil.

While an upstanding missionary to Druids known as Saint Patrick, worked hard to banish these pagan rites which, again according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "involved offerings to demons." These rites and practices allowed for "animal sacrifices and rituals grossly repugnant to Christian teaching."

Human sacrifices for Samhain and Halloween were real events. They were not merely legends and fables. The Encyclopedia states, "The Druids offered human sacrifices for those who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Huge wickerwork images were filled with living men and then burned; although the Druids preferred to sacrifice criminals, they would choose innocent victims if necessary."

Certainly this is a far cry from North America's celebration of Halloween today.  


D. B.

For further reading:
Encyclopedia Britannica.
Encyclopedia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite
Online edition
Chicago: 2012

Recommended cites in the Encyclopedia to look up:
Cited: Halloween
Samhain
Celtic religion
Druid

Comments are closed.

    Author

    David Berkowitz
    Copyright © AriseandShine.Org

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly