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| − | Halloween
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| − | By Rick Branch and James Walker
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| − | Founder: Celtic Priests of Druidism
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| − | Founding Date: circa 1000 B.C.
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| − | Other Names: Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween) is the Celtic name for the holiday
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| − | Americans call Halloween. Other names include All Souls Day, All Saints Day, November
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| − | HISTORY
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| − | Every October 31st, hundreds-of-thousands of children dress in costumes which range
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| − | from the cute and sweet to the macabre and Satanic. This custom is ritually repeated
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| − | because, well, because its always been done. That is what makes it a ritual. After all, it is a
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| − | great way for children to get candy, have harmless fun and pretend they are someone else.
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| − | But where did the rituals come from? Why do people carve jack-o-lanterns? Why do
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| − | children dress in costumes? Where did the tradition of bobbing for apples at parties
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| − | originate? Why when children approach a strangers door do they enthusiastically exclaim,
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| − | started? Where did these rituals originate?
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| − | Druidism
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| − | Michael Judge, writing for the New Age periodical Common Boundary explains
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| − | Halloween probably began between 1000 and 100 B.C. among the Celtic people. The
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| − | actual holiday was a commemoration of the new year.1 It was at this time of the year that
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| − | Baal, the Celtic god of Spring and Summer, ended his reign. It was also when the Lord of
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| − | the Dead, Samhain, began his reign.2
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| − | suspended, the barriers between the natural and the supernatural are temporarily
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| − | removed, the sidh lies open and all divine beings and the spirits of the dead move freely
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| − | 3
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| − | As a part of the Druid festival, men and women had to fear not only the departed
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| − | spirits, who were to return during the evening hours, they must also fear the Druid priests
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| − | themselves. It was a time of mass human sacrifice.
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| − | Men and women, young and old, criminals and innocents, were forced into huge
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| − | wooden and thatch cages. Often these cages were fashioned in the shape of giants
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| − | perhaps representations of Samhain himself. At a signal from the
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| − | presiding Druids, these immense structures were torched, everything in them burned
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| − | bonfires.4
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| − | One of
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| − | 5 While this belief in itself is certainly not an erroneous belief, their application
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| − | of this belief leads them to several faulty conclusions.
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| − | Because the Celtic day started at sunset, and ran to the following sunset, the festival
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| − | began on the eve of November, when the souls of the departed were supposed to revisit
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| − | their old homes in order to warm themselves by the fire and to comfort themselves
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| − | with the good cheer provided for them in the kitchen or the parlor by their affectionate
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| − | year, was a night when the dead stalked the countryside. Offerings of food and drink
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| − | were put out for the ghosts.6
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| − | 7 Part of this
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| − | appeasement process involved the giving of food to the spirits as they visited the homes.
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| − | Another common belief of the Celts was the idea that those who had died the previous
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| − | cred night,
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| − | 8
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| − | The ceremony of Halloween underwent an infusion of other pagan influences when the
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| − | Celt homeland was absorbed by the Roman Empire. While Rome allowed the Druid priests
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| − | were also incorporated.
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| − | Chief among them was the worship of Pomona, goddess of the harvest. Representing
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| − | bounty and fecundity, Pomona was shown in art sitting on a great basket of fruits and
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| − | flowers, a horn of plenty at her feet. Apples were the sacred fruit of the goddess, and
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| − | many games of divination involving apples entered the Samhain customs through her
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| − | influence. One of the most popular involved bobbing for apples.9
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| − | commemorated the saints and martyrs, from 13 May to 1 November in an attempt to
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| − | Christianize the pagan festival of the dead.10 On All Hallows, many churches staged
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| − | pageants in which participants would dress up either as a patron saints or demons. This
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| − | became a way to celebrate All Hallows or perhaps to scare away real demons.11
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| − | Michael Judge gives the final historical link in the evolution of the name for this
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| − | ultimately, H 12
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| − | As a result of time and external influences, the holy day of Druidism was beginning to
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| − | been destroyed. Parades were still held through the towns, but increasingly only children
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| − | went about in costumes, and not to appease ancestral spirits but to frighten their
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| − | 13
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| − | In America
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| − | The many rituals of Halloween found their way into America through a most
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| − | interesting set of circums
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| − | but late in the 15th century something happened to ensure the survival and growth of the
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| − | customs in lands far away from those that had created it. In 1492, Columbus landed in
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| − | 14
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| − | With the founding of America and its basic premise of Freedom of Religion, those who
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| − | believed in the Druid traditions would once again be allowed to practice their customs.
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| − | However, it was not an immediate rush to the shores of the New World. Rather, it took a
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| − | potato famine to get things moving.
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| − | Halloween, page 2
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| − | In 1848, millions of Irish emigrants poured into America as a result of the potato
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| − | famine. With this sudden influx of people, the holiday of Druidism found its new home on
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| − | 15
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| − | Just as the Celtic religion of Druidism had incorporated costumes from its Roman
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| − | conquerors (Pomona worship, with her horn of plenty and sacred apples), so the Celtic
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| − | religion adapted to its new environment. Things in America were different than they had
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| − | been in Ireland. America possessed a bountiful harvest of a new product - the pumpkin.
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| − | The Irish also did something that has become the indelible symbol of Halloween in
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| − | America - they made jack-o-lanterns. The original jack-o-lanterns were potatoes or
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| − | turnips carved and illuminated by Irish children and used to light Halloween
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| − | gatherings. They commemorated Jack, a shifty Irish villain so wicked that neither
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| − | heaven nor the Devil wanted him. Rejected by both the sacred and profane, he
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| − | wandered the world endlessly looking for a place to rest, his only warmth a glittering
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| − | candle in a rotten potato.16
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| − | Hence, the jack-o-lantern finds its historical place in the history and religion of the Celtic
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| − | people.
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| − | Further, the same can be said for the use of orange and black as traditional Halloween
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| − | of the autumn har 17
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| − | Another custom often associated with Halloween may find its roots in the religion of
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| − | Druidism as well. Many children associate not only ghosts and goblins with Halloween,
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| − | but also the witch and her black cauldron with it. There may be a historical reason for
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| − | this.
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| − | Ross Nicholes, writing in Man, Myth and Magic
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| − | occasion, being concerned with the link between living and dead; the ritual is Breton and
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| − | uses the cauldron, ancient symbol of th 18
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| − | Thus, on October 31st of every year, children throughout America carry on a tradition
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| − | that was begun in Druid paganism. They carve pumpkins to be illuminated by candles.
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| − | They decorate their homes and class rooms in the colors of orange and black, generously
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| − | strewn with witches and cauldrons. They dress as spooky creatures, the living dead or in
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| − | other macabre images for the activities.
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| − | at,
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| − | sometimes includes the harmless activities of pranks. Many adults place a horn of plenty
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| − | on the kitchen table as a fall decoration or enjoy a game of bobbing for apples at a party.
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| − | All of these rituals find their origins and historical significance in the religion of old Ireland
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| − | the religion of Druidism.
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| − | CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
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| − | Because of its Occult history and symbolism, many informed Christians avoid any
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| − | activity that would appear to support, promote or celebrate Halloween. Other Christians
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| − | attemp
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| − | participate in costuming or activities where witchcraft, Satan, or demonic themes are
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| − | prevalent. They feel that participation in Halloween and even trick-or-treating is acceptable
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| − | if alternative costumes and themes are substituted or gospel tracts are given at the door.
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| − | There is not total agreement among believers and churches concerning appropriate
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| − | Christian responses to this pagan holiday. Knowledgeable Christians; at the very least will
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| − | replete with warnings and examples of involvement with the Occult. Occult practices are
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| − | an abomination to the Lord (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) and Witchcraft was a crime
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| − | Halloween, page 3
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| − | punishable by death in the Old Testament (Exodus 22:18). The New Testament gives
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| − | several examples of proper Christian response to the Occult (Acts 19:19; 2 Corinthians
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| − | 6:14).
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| − | Many Christian parents and churches provide alternatives such as Harvest
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| − | -
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| − | meetings on October 31st to stand against the rise of crime and illegal activities that often
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| − | correspond on this night. Christians can also pray for the salvation of the many Satanists,
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| − | Neo-pagans and Witches who are celebrating this day as an important religious holiday.
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| − | Some Christians have also taken steps to remove the celebration of Halloween from public
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| − | schools. Christian holidays that celebrate the birth of Christ or His resurrection have been
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| − | discontinued from practically every public school system. Only Halloween with its themes
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| − | of the Occult, Satan, and witchcraft (often recognized by the IRS as non-profit religious
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| − | organizations) is allowed in most public school districts.
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| − | was on October 31, 1517 that Martin Luther nailed the Ninety-five Theses to the door of
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| − | the Wittenberg Church in Germany. This event helped launch the Protestant Reformation.
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| − | The Reformation helped millions turn away from Papal authority and salvation through
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| − | through faith.
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| − | RECOMMENDED READING
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| − | Halloween by Phillip Arnn. This audio cassette teaching tape by Watchman Fellowship
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| − | provides a through evaluation of Halloween from a Christian perspective.
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| − | Halloween and Satanism by Phil Phillips and Joan Hake Robie. This book discusses
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| − | the Occult history of Halloween and its link to Satanism. Related activities such as Trick
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| − | or Treat, Jack-O-Lanterns, and Bobbing for Apples are critiqued as well. Phillips and Robie
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| − | also discuss Horoscopes, Ouija boards, Tarot Cards and other forms of divination popular
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| − | among children and teens. 192 pages.
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| − | Like Lambs to the Slaughter by Johanna Michaelsen. An entire chapter (about 15
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| − | pages) of this popular book exposes Halloween and its related themes. Michaelsen also
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| − | critiques Dungeons & Dragons, Saturday morning cartoons, Star Wars, Guided
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| − | Imagery/Visualization and Storybooks on Witchcraft and the Occult. Index. 367 pages.
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| − | Notes
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| − | 1 Common Boundary, Sept./Oct., 1993, 29.
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| − | 2 Ibid.
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| − | 3 Proinsias MacCana, Celtic Mythology (New York: Hamlyn Publishing, 1973) 127.
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| − | 4 Judge, 30.
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| − | 5 Mythology: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, Richard Cavendish, Ed. (New York: Crescent Books, 1987) 171.
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| − | 6 Man, Myth and Magic: Vol. 1, Richard Cavendish, Ed. (New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1970) 67.
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| − | 7 Ibid, Vol. 4, 440.
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| − | 8 Judge, 30.
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| − | 9 Ibid.
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| − | 10 Man, Myth and Magic, Vol. 1, p. 67.
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| − | 11 Phil Phillips & Joan Hake Robie, Halloween and Satanism (Lancaster, PA: Starburst Publishers, 1987) 36-37.
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| − | 12 Judge, 31.
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| − | 13 Ibid.
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| − | 14 Ibid.
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| − | 15 Ibid.
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| − | 16 Ibid.
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| − | 17 Ibid, 30.
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| − | 18 Man, Myth and Magic: Vol. 6, 722.
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| − | Profile is a regular publication of Watchman Fellowship, Inc. Readers are encouraged to begin their
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| − | own religious research notebooks using these articles. Profiles are published by Watchman Fellowship
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| − | approximately 6 times per year, covering subjects such as new religious movements, counterfeit
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| − | Christianity, the occult, New Age Spirituality, and related doctrines and practices. Complete Profile
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| − | Notebooks containing all Profiles published to date are available. Please contact Watchman Fellowship
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| − | for current pricing and availability. All rights reserved © 1994.
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| − | Halloween, page 4
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