I would like this to be a thread about the true Origins of Halloween and if it is acceptable for a follower of Yahshua/Jesus to partake. Facts, history, examples, inquiries, etc. A place to compile truth on the origins of our modern "Halloween" (Questions and opinions are welcome, but I would like the focus of any reply to be the origins, adaptations and it's moral state from it's roots until today)
The true Origins of Haloween
- Thread starter Hizikyah
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Halloween
Written By:The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica
On October 31 people around the world will celebrate All Hallows’ Eve. Halloween, contraction of All Hallows’ Eve, a holiday observed on October 31, the evening before All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day. The celebration marks the day before the Western Christian feast of All Saints and initiates the season of Allhallowtide, which lasts three days and concludes with All Souls’ Day. In much of Europe and most of North America, observance of Halloween is largely nonreligious.
Halloween had its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. On the day corresponding to November 1 on contemporary calendars, the new year was believed to begin. That date was considered the beginning of the winter period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. During the Samhain festival the souls of those who had died were believed to return to visit their homes, and those who had died during the year were believed to journey to the otherworld. People set bonfires on hilltops for relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present. It was in those ways that beings such as witches, hobgoblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day. The period was also thought to be favourable for divination on matters such as marriage, health, and death. When the Romans conquered the Celts in the 1st century ce, they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest.
In the 7th century ce Pope Boniface IV established All Saints’ Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century, perhaps in an effort to supplant the pagan holiday with a Christian observance, it was moved to November 1. The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus Halloween. By the end of the Middle Ages, the secular and the sacred days had merged. The Reformation essentially put an end to the religious holiday among Protestants, although in Britain especially Halloween continued to be celebrated as a secular holiday. Along with other festivities, the celebration of Halloween was largely forbidden among the early American colonists, although in the 1800s there developed festivals that marked the harvest and incorporated elements of Halloween. When large numbers of immigrants, including the Irish, went to the United States beginning in the mid 19th century, they took their Halloween customs with them, and in the 20th century Halloween became one of the principal U.S. holidays, particularly among children.
As a secular holiday, Halloween has come to be associated with a number of activities. One is the practice of pulling usually harmless pranks. Celebrants wear masks and costumes for parties and for trick-or-treating, thought to have derived from the British practice of allowing the poor to beg for food, called “soul cakes.” Trick-or-treaters go from house to house with the threat that they will pull a trick if they do not receive a treat, usually candy. Halloween parties often include games such as bobbing for apples, perhaps derived from the Roman celebration of Pomona. Along with skeletons and black cats, the holiday has incorporated scary beings such as ghosts, witches, and vampires into the celebration. Another symbol is the jack-o’-lantern, a hollowed-out pumpkin, originally a turnip, carved into a demonic face and lit with a candle inside. Since the mid-20th century the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has attempted to make the collection of money for its programs a part of Halloween.
Written By:The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica
On October 31 people around the world will celebrate All Hallows’ Eve. Halloween, contraction of All Hallows’ Eve, a holiday observed on October 31, the evening before All Saints’ (or All Hallows’) Day. The celebration marks the day before the Western Christian feast of All Saints and initiates the season of Allhallowtide, which lasts three days and concludes with All Souls’ Day. In much of Europe and most of North America, observance of Halloween is largely nonreligious.
Halloween had its origins in the festival of Samhain among the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. On the day corresponding to November 1 on contemporary calendars, the new year was believed to begin. That date was considered the beginning of the winter period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. During the Samhain festival the souls of those who had died were believed to return to visit their homes, and those who had died during the year were believed to journey to the otherworld. People set bonfires on hilltops for relighting their hearth fires for the winter and to frighten away evil spirits, and they sometimes wore masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present. It was in those ways that beings such as witches, hobgoblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day. The period was also thought to be favourable for divination on matters such as marriage, health, and death. When the Romans conquered the Celts in the 1st century ce, they added their own festivals of Feralia, commemorating the passing of the dead, and of Pomona, the goddess of the harvest.
In the 7th century ce Pope Boniface IV established All Saints’ Day, originally on May 13, and in the following century, perhaps in an effort to supplant the pagan holiday with a Christian observance, it was moved to November 1. The evening before All Saints’ Day became a holy, or hallowed, eve and thus Halloween. By the end of the Middle Ages, the secular and the sacred days had merged. The Reformation essentially put an end to the religious holiday among Protestants, although in Britain especially Halloween continued to be celebrated as a secular holiday. Along with other festivities, the celebration of Halloween was largely forbidden among the early American colonists, although in the 1800s there developed festivals that marked the harvest and incorporated elements of Halloween. When large numbers of immigrants, including the Irish, went to the United States beginning in the mid 19th century, they took their Halloween customs with them, and in the 20th century Halloween became one of the principal U.S. holidays, particularly among children.
As a secular holiday, Halloween has come to be associated with a number of activities. One is the practice of pulling usually harmless pranks. Celebrants wear masks and costumes for parties and for trick-or-treating, thought to have derived from the British practice of allowing the poor to beg for food, called “soul cakes.” Trick-or-treaters go from house to house with the threat that they will pull a trick if they do not receive a treat, usually candy. Halloween parties often include games such as bobbing for apples, perhaps derived from the Roman celebration of Pomona. Along with skeletons and black cats, the holiday has incorporated scary beings such as ghosts, witches, and vampires into the celebration. Another symbol is the jack-o’-lantern, a hollowed-out pumpkin, originally a turnip, carved into a demonic face and lit with a candle inside. Since the mid-20th century the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has attempted to make the collection of money for its programs a part of Halloween.
A Dictionary of Non-Christian Religions, page 242, says:
Samhain, Samuin. Ancient Celtic feast, held at the end of October and beginning of November. In Ireland it was celebrated on the shores of lakes. Samhain marked the beginning of winter, as Beltane (q.v.) marked the onset of summer. Samhain meant summer end, and bonfires were lit to strengthen the powers of the waning sun. These are perpetuated in the bonfires of November 5, still popular in Britain. In the Christian calendar, Samhain was merged into All Saints Day on November 1.
Samhain, Samuin. Ancient Celtic feast, held at the end of October and beginning of November. In Ireland it was celebrated on the shores of lakes. Samhain marked the beginning of winter, as Beltane (q.v.) marked the onset of summer. Samhain meant summer end, and bonfires were lit to strengthen the powers of the waning sun. These are perpetuated in the bonfires of November 5, still popular in Britain. In the Christian calendar, Samhain was merged into All Saints Day on November 1.
The Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Symbols, Part 2, page 1393, says:
SAMHAIN (SAMAIN, SAMAN, SAMHAN) Literally, summers end. Celtic winter solstice festival celebrated about November 1. The entrance to burial caves were left open to allow the spirits to come out for an airing. On oidhche Shamhna omen for the future were extracted from the fairies. The Fomors first oppressed the people of Nemed with their terrible tax on this day, and on it the Mag-Tured battles were fought, thus the day on which winter giants expelled the fertility gods. On the Isle of Man called Sauin, in Wales called Nos Galan-gaeof (Night of the winter calends).Corresponds to Halloween. Compare Beltane. Samhanach. Goblins which come out on Samhain in Scotland correspond to Halloween!
SAMHAIN (SAMAIN, SAMAN, SAMHAN) Literally, summers end. Celtic winter solstice festival celebrated about November 1. The entrance to burial caves were left open to allow the spirits to come out for an airing. On oidhche Shamhna omen for the future were extracted from the fairies. The Fomors first oppressed the people of Nemed with their terrible tax on this day, and on it the Mag-Tured battles were fought, thus the day on which winter giants expelled the fertility gods. On the Isle of Man called Sauin, in Wales called Nos Galan-gaeof (Night of the winter calends).Corresponds to Halloween. Compare Beltane. Samhanach. Goblins which come out on Samhain in Scotland correspond to Halloween!
The Yearbook of English Festivals, 1954, pages 153-157
ALL HALLOWS EVE October 31. All Hallows Eve or All Halloween, with its tradition of witches, ghosts, hobgoblins and sprites, its games and incantations, still is a gay time for pranks and parties in many North Country homes. Fun-loving Americans have borrowed from their British ancestors many Hallow Een games, such as apple-bobbing, nut roasting and tossing of apple parings. Transplanted to New World soil, the old practices have become revitalized and currently are observed with more enthusiasm than in the country of their birth. To ancient Druids the end of October commemorated the festival of the waning year, when the sun began his downward course and ripened grain was garnered from the fields. Samhain, or Summers End, as this feast to the dying sun was called, was celebrated with human sacrifice, augury and prayer; for at this season spirits walked and evil had power over souls of men. Not until the fourth century did the pagan vigil for the god of light give way to All Hallows, the mass for Christian saints; and not until the tenth, did the Druids death feast become All Souls, the day of prayer for souls that had entered rest. Cakes for the dead were substituted for human sacrifice, fortune-telling for heathen augury, lighted candles for the old Baal fires. Gradually, the last night of Octoberfirst a Druid feast, then a Christian holy dayemerged as a night of gaiety, when young people played games and read fortunes from simple objects, such as apples, cabbages, or nuts. Indeed, nuts became such a favorite means of divination, that All Halloween was known as Nutcrack Night. Girls and boys placed nuts side by side in the dying embers. If the nuts flew apart, quarrels and disaster were sure to follow. But if they burned brightly side by side, a peaceful married life was foretold. Next to nuts, apples feature in All Halloween divinations. Apple-bobbing still is as popular in the North Country as in rural America. Even pips and parings come in for their share of attention. This old rhyme accompanies the swinging of a paring, to learn the loved ones initials: I pare this pippin round and round again, My sweetheart's name to flourish on the plain: I fling the unbroken paring oer my head, My sweetheart's letter on the ground to read. Though many old All Halloween customs have disappeared survivals of All Souls (November 2), as will be seen, still exist in many communities. Soulers, not very unlike American Halloween mummers, still make village rounds and beg for soul cakes, instead of something for Halloween.
ALL HALLOWS EVE October 31. All Hallows Eve or All Halloween, with its tradition of witches, ghosts, hobgoblins and sprites, its games and incantations, still is a gay time for pranks and parties in many North Country homes. Fun-loving Americans have borrowed from their British ancestors many Hallow Een games, such as apple-bobbing, nut roasting and tossing of apple parings. Transplanted to New World soil, the old practices have become revitalized and currently are observed with more enthusiasm than in the country of their birth. To ancient Druids the end of October commemorated the festival of the waning year, when the sun began his downward course and ripened grain was garnered from the fields. Samhain, or Summers End, as this feast to the dying sun was called, was celebrated with human sacrifice, augury and prayer; for at this season spirits walked and evil had power over souls of men. Not until the fourth century did the pagan vigil for the god of light give way to All Hallows, the mass for Christian saints; and not until the tenth, did the Druids death feast become All Souls, the day of prayer for souls that had entered rest. Cakes for the dead were substituted for human sacrifice, fortune-telling for heathen augury, lighted candles for the old Baal fires. Gradually, the last night of Octoberfirst a Druid feast, then a Christian holy dayemerged as a night of gaiety, when young people played games and read fortunes from simple objects, such as apples, cabbages, or nuts. Indeed, nuts became such a favorite means of divination, that All Halloween was known as Nutcrack Night. Girls and boys placed nuts side by side in the dying embers. If the nuts flew apart, quarrels and disaster were sure to follow. But if they burned brightly side by side, a peaceful married life was foretold. Next to nuts, apples feature in All Halloween divinations. Apple-bobbing still is as popular in the North Country as in rural America. Even pips and parings come in for their share of attention. This old rhyme accompanies the swinging of a paring, to learn the loved ones initials: I pare this pippin round and round again, My sweetheart's name to flourish on the plain: I fling the unbroken paring oer my head, My sweetheart's letter on the ground to read. Though many old All Halloween customs have disappeared survivals of All Souls (November 2), as will be seen, still exist in many communities. Soulers, not very unlike American Halloween mummers, still make village rounds and beg for soul cakes, instead of something for Halloween.
Book of Festival Holidays, 1964, pages 123-125,
Harvest festivals come at a time of year when the last warmth of Indian summer is gone, and bleak winds and gray skies begin to appear. It is the time of year when barns are made snug, the last of the apples and vegetables are stored away in bins and people sit in front of a roaring fire to relax from their long summer's work. In short, it is a rejoicing over earth's gifts. The custom of holding a festival at harvest time goes back over two thousand years. The last day of the year on the old pagan calendar, October 31, served the triple purpose of bidding goodby to summer, welcoming winter and remembering the dead. The Irish built tremendous bonfires on hilltops to offer encouragement to the waning sun and to provide a warm welcome for visiting sprites and ghosts that walked about in the night. People of the British Isles had the quaint custom of tossing objects, such as stones, vegetables and nuts, into a bonfire to frighten away any spooks that might be near. These symbolic sacrifices were also fortunetelling props, still widely used at Halloween parties today. If a pebble a man flung into the fire at night was no longer visible the following morning, people clucked sympathetically, believing the man wouldn't survive another year. If the nuts tossed by young lovers exploded in the flames, theirs would be a quarrelsome marriage, etc. More fearful of spooks than spouses, folks began hollowing out turnips and pumpkins and placing lighted candles inside to scare evil spirits from the house. Why was the result called a jack-o-lantern? Tradition says that an Irish Jack, too wicked for heaven and expelled from hell for playing tricks on the devil, was condemned to walk the earth with a lantern forever. It was the Irish, too, who initiated the trick or treat system hundreds of years ago. Groups of Irish farmers would go from house to house soliciting food for the village Halloween festivities in the name of no less a personage than Muck Olla (ancient god of Irish clergy). Prosperity was promised to cheerful givers and threats made against tightfisted donors. It was the custom for English children to dress up in each others clothes (boys donning girls outfits and vice versa) and, wearing masks, to go begging from door to door for soul cakes. Surprisingly, Halloween was scarcely observed in the United States until the last half of the nineteenth century. It is thought the large-scale Irish immigration had much to do with the popularizing of the holiday. Rather than threaten vengeance for youthful Halloween pranks, more and more communities and neighborhoods have been forestalling them with organized treasure hunts, block parties and other forms of entertainment. Just the same, any prudent person on Halloween will see that his car is locked in the garage, porch furniture is stored away and there are plenty of treats, in the form of apples, candies and pennies, to hand out when the doorbell rings and children shout Anything for goblins?
Harvest festivals come at a time of year when the last warmth of Indian summer is gone, and bleak winds and gray skies begin to appear. It is the time of year when barns are made snug, the last of the apples and vegetables are stored away in bins and people sit in front of a roaring fire to relax from their long summer's work. In short, it is a rejoicing over earth's gifts. The custom of holding a festival at harvest time goes back over two thousand years. The last day of the year on the old pagan calendar, October 31, served the triple purpose of bidding goodby to summer, welcoming winter and remembering the dead. The Irish built tremendous bonfires on hilltops to offer encouragement to the waning sun and to provide a warm welcome for visiting sprites and ghosts that walked about in the night. People of the British Isles had the quaint custom of tossing objects, such as stones, vegetables and nuts, into a bonfire to frighten away any spooks that might be near. These symbolic sacrifices were also fortunetelling props, still widely used at Halloween parties today. If a pebble a man flung into the fire at night was no longer visible the following morning, people clucked sympathetically, believing the man wouldn't survive another year. If the nuts tossed by young lovers exploded in the flames, theirs would be a quarrelsome marriage, etc. More fearful of spooks than spouses, folks began hollowing out turnips and pumpkins and placing lighted candles inside to scare evil spirits from the house. Why was the result called a jack-o-lantern? Tradition says that an Irish Jack, too wicked for heaven and expelled from hell for playing tricks on the devil, was condemned to walk the earth with a lantern forever. It was the Irish, too, who initiated the trick or treat system hundreds of years ago. Groups of Irish farmers would go from house to house soliciting food for the village Halloween festivities in the name of no less a personage than Muck Olla (ancient god of Irish clergy). Prosperity was promised to cheerful givers and threats made against tightfisted donors. It was the custom for English children to dress up in each others clothes (boys donning girls outfits and vice versa) and, wearing masks, to go begging from door to door for soul cakes. Surprisingly, Halloween was scarcely observed in the United States until the last half of the nineteenth century. It is thought the large-scale Irish immigration had much to do with the popularizing of the holiday. Rather than threaten vengeance for youthful Halloween pranks, more and more communities and neighborhoods have been forestalling them with organized treasure hunts, block parties and other forms of entertainment. Just the same, any prudent person on Halloween will see that his car is locked in the garage, porch furniture is stored away and there are plenty of treats, in the form of apples, candies and pennies, to hand out when the doorbell rings and children shout Anything for goblins?
Deu 14:2 For thou art a holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
given the history the question that comes to mind for me is as it is for anything .... would I do this with Yahshua right there beside me? if the answer is no or I don't know... maybe its best not to do it.
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
given the history the question that comes to mind for me is as it is for anything .... would I do this with Yahshua right there beside me? if the answer is no or I don't know... maybe its best not to do it.
From The Book of Holidays, 1958, pages 149-153
Halloween, in spite of the fact that it takes its name from a Christian festival (All Hallows or All Saints Day), comes from pagan times and has never taken on a Christian significance. There were two different festivals in the early world at this time of year, and they are both represented in our own Halloween activities. When you duck for apples, or throw an apple paring over your shoulder to see what initial it makes on the floor, you are doing as the Romans didhonoring Pomona, the Roman goddess of orchards and especially of apple orchards. And when you light a candle inside the jeering pumpkin face, you are in a small way imitating the Celtic Druids of northern Britain (described in the chapter on Saint Patrick's Day), who lit a fire to scare away winter and the evil spirits who were waiting to come rushing in when summer was over. On that night between October and November, the Druids kindled great fires on the hills as a barrier against the evil to come. (These Halloween fires still burn every year in many places, but especially in Scotland and Wales). By waving burning wisps of plaited straw aloft on pitchforks, people tried to frighten off demons and witches, but just in case this didnt work, they also put on grotesque and terrifying costumes. For 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. This is where the persistent Halloween custom of dressing up and wearing masks originated; and among the children who come to the door on Halloween, calling trick or treat, the most alarming costumes are still considered the best. Other northern peoples in the Germanic and Scandinavian countries also lived in terror of the raging rout, as they called the evil spirits whom they believed to be led by the great god Odin. Halloween weather was of the greatest importance to these people, for the day was prophetic: if the rout came in on a soft wind, the next year would be easy and good; but if the rout came raging in, the year would be full of bitter woe and warfare. The night being so filled with supernatural powers, it was usually possible for individuals to catch some premonitions of their own futures. Especially among the Celts there was a customwhich still continuesto try to learn what the future holds, especially in matrimonial matters. There is a wistful line in an old Scotch song, But I dont know whom Ill marry. Well, Halloween is the time to find out. And if you can't get some kind of a hint at least, you must have no Celtic blood at all. There are so many ways that there should be one for everybody. For instance, a girl puts three nuts on the grate. Then she names one nut for herself, and two for possible husbands of her acquaintance. He who cracks or jumps will be unfaithful, but he who starts to burn really likes her and will be a good mate. If the girl's nut and one of the others burn together, then the wedding is certain. Also, there is an interesting method of looking into a mirror. But, of course, a girl must be eating an apple while doing it. Then, if she gets a sight sees a boy peeping over her shoulderthe boy she sees will be the one she will marry. There are also the Three Luggies, or dishes, which Robert Burns mentions in his poem, Halloween. This is for boys instead of girls. One dish holds clean water, one dirty water, and one is empty. The boy is blindfolded, and dips his fingers into the first dish he feels. Clean water, as you can guess, means he will wed a maiden, dirty water a widow, and if the dish is empty, he stays single. Boys being never so eager to marry as girls are, the empty dish is probably a great relief to them. Nuts and apples are the invariable attendants upon all Halloween feasts, both then and now. In fact, in the north of England Halloween is often called Nutcrack Night. And in Penzance and St. Ives, in Cornwall, the Saturday nearest Halloween is known as Allan Day, after the big red apples of the regionapples from ancient orchards which have supplied many generations of Halloween believers. Trick or treat means of course that the young Halloween visitors who come to your door will play no tricks on you if you will treat them. ask them in for cookies or cider, maybe, and help fill their bags with fruit, nuts, cake, candy, or anything else you think they might like. But in the earlier days of our American Halloweens, before tricks or treats became popular, the night of October 31 was a nervous time for houseowners. People who had such things as birdbaths, gates, and lawn chairs learned to stow them away somewhere before dusk arrived and the raging rout of children, dressed as demons, ghosts, and witches started to lug away and hide every movable thing they could find. That mischief making is almost entirely over and the evil spirits are turned into just a lot of friendly neighborhood children by the ancient Halloween magic of apples, nuts, and general merriment. We wish the Druids and the Romans and the Norse could have found as simple a way out.
Halloween, in spite of the fact that it takes its name from a Christian festival (All Hallows or All Saints Day), comes from pagan times and has never taken on a Christian significance. There were two different festivals in the early world at this time of year, and they are both represented in our own Halloween activities. When you duck for apples, or throw an apple paring over your shoulder to see what initial it makes on the floor, you are doing as the Romans didhonoring Pomona, the Roman goddess of orchards and especially of apple orchards. And when you light a candle inside the jeering pumpkin face, you are in a small way imitating the Celtic Druids of northern Britain (described in the chapter on Saint Patrick's Day), who lit a fire to scare away winter and the evil spirits who were waiting to come rushing in when summer was over. On that night between October and November, the Druids kindled great fires on the hills as a barrier against the evil to come. (These Halloween fires still burn every year in many places, but especially in Scotland and Wales). By waving burning wisps of plaited straw aloft on pitchforks, people tried to frighten off demons and witches, but just in case this didnt work, they also put on grotesque and terrifying costumes. For 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. This is where the persistent Halloween custom of dressing up and wearing masks originated; and among the children who come to the door on Halloween, calling trick or treat, the most alarming costumes are still considered the best. Other northern peoples in the Germanic and Scandinavian countries also lived in terror of the raging rout, as they called the evil spirits whom they believed to be led by the great god Odin. Halloween weather was of the greatest importance to these people, for the day was prophetic: if the rout came in on a soft wind, the next year would be easy and good; but if the rout came raging in, the year would be full of bitter woe and warfare. The night being so filled with supernatural powers, it was usually possible for individuals to catch some premonitions of their own futures. Especially among the Celts there was a customwhich still continuesto try to learn what the future holds, especially in matrimonial matters. There is a wistful line in an old Scotch song, But I dont know whom Ill marry. Well, Halloween is the time to find out. And if you can't get some kind of a hint at least, you must have no Celtic blood at all. There are so many ways that there should be one for everybody. For instance, a girl puts three nuts on the grate. Then she names one nut for herself, and two for possible husbands of her acquaintance. He who cracks or jumps will be unfaithful, but he who starts to burn really likes her and will be a good mate. If the girl's nut and one of the others burn together, then the wedding is certain. Also, there is an interesting method of looking into a mirror. But, of course, a girl must be eating an apple while doing it. Then, if she gets a sight sees a boy peeping over her shoulderthe boy she sees will be the one she will marry. There are also the Three Luggies, or dishes, which Robert Burns mentions in his poem, Halloween. This is for boys instead of girls. One dish holds clean water, one dirty water, and one is empty. The boy is blindfolded, and dips his fingers into the first dish he feels. Clean water, as you can guess, means he will wed a maiden, dirty water a widow, and if the dish is empty, he stays single. Boys being never so eager to marry as girls are, the empty dish is probably a great relief to them. Nuts and apples are the invariable attendants upon all Halloween feasts, both then and now. In fact, in the north of England Halloween is often called Nutcrack Night. And in Penzance and St. Ives, in Cornwall, the Saturday nearest Halloween is known as Allan Day, after the big red apples of the regionapples from ancient orchards which have supplied many generations of Halloween believers. Trick or treat means of course that the young Halloween visitors who come to your door will play no tricks on you if you will treat them. ask them in for cookies or cider, maybe, and help fill their bags with fruit, nuts, cake, candy, or anything else you think they might like. But in the earlier days of our American Halloweens, before tricks or treats became popular, the night of October 31 was a nervous time for houseowners. People who had such things as birdbaths, gates, and lawn chairs learned to stow them away somewhere before dusk arrived and the raging rout of children, dressed as demons, ghosts, and witches started to lug away and hide every movable thing they could find. That mischief making is almost entirely over and the evil spirits are turned into just a lot of friendly neighborhood children by the ancient Halloween magic of apples, nuts, and general merriment. We wish the Druids and the Romans and the Norse could have found as simple a way out.
I would say I agree, and I think that is a right principle, "would I do this with Yahshua right there beside me?" Definitly puts things into perspective.
Jeremiah/Yeremyah 10:2-3, "Thus said יהוה, “Do not learn the way of the gentiles, and do not be awed by the signs of the heavens, for the gentiles are awed by them. For the prescribed customs of these peoples are worthless..."
Jeremiah/Yeremyah 10:2-3, "Thus said יהוה, “Do not learn the way of the gentiles, and do not be awed by the signs of the heavens, for the gentiles are awed by them. For the prescribed customs of these peoples are worthless..."
It seems possible, the northern 10 tribes being carried away because of pagan practices/spiritual infidelity, I have read some history that would suggest so. Compound that with the fact that the pagan practices seem to be adapted (similar rituals, different names) from the pagan practices of the northern 10 tribes and the nations surrounding Israyl from around that time. I think it possible. Got any insight or info on the matter? I think it would be relevant to the topic at hand...
What exactly is being celebrated? With given the history the question that comes to mind for me is as it is for anything .... would I do this with Yahshua right there beside me? if the answer is no or I don't know... maybe its best not to do it.
In 1Corinthians 10:20-21 is a message for those who want it both ways, thinking that no harm is done so long as they give lip service to the Bible, too: “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to Elohim: and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Savior and the cup of devils: you cannot be partakers of the Savior’s table, and of the table of devils.”
Or consider what we find in Deuteronomy 18:10-14: “There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto YHWH: and because of these abominations YHWH your Elohim does drive them out from before you. You shall be perfect with YHWH your Elohim. For these nations, which you shall possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for you, YHWH your Elohim has not suffered [allowed] you so to do.”
Participating in the practices of rank heathens as one does in the observance of Halloween is expressly forbidden in the Scriptures. Read Deuteronomy 12:29-32: “When YHWH your Elohim shall cut off the nations from before you, whither you go to possess them, and you succeed them, and dwell in their land; Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. You shall not do so unto YHWH your Elohim: for every abomination to YHWH, which he hates, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”
How can a True Worshiper allow his son or daughter to dress up like a witch or warlock, knowing that YHWH condemns witchcraft? In 1Thessalonians 5:22 we are told to avoid even the appearance of evil. Halloween celebrates and revels in a vast array of evil appearances! And is it any wonder that all this glorification of evilness is a nighttime activity? In John 3:19-20 Yahshua said that evil loves the darkness.
One of the biggest problems of Old Testament Israel was their inability to keep their worship pure. The Apostle Paul in1Corinthians 10:6 tells us that their experiences are an example for us “that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.” YHWH does not accept compromise with any other belief system, let alone practices that spring from the darkness of rank heathen religion and superstition.
Trying to put a positive spin on Halloween, the chorus of the world will say, “Oh, come on, Halloween is just harmless fun. How can you deprive the children?”
Keep in mind that what children practice they also learn from. How can a parent seek to promote healthy, wholesome values in a child who is allowed to don masks of vile creatures or deformed humans with the underlying theme of murder, mayhem and evil? Should a caring parent wanting to teach truth to his or her child introduce that child to sinister, pagan falsehoods that YHWH repeatedly condemns?
In 1Corinthians 10:20-21 is a message for those who want it both ways, thinking that no harm is done so long as they give lip service to the Bible, too: “But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to Elohim: and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the Savior and the cup of devils: you cannot be partakers of the Savior’s table, and of the table of devils.”
Or consider what we find in Deuteronomy 18:10-14: “There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto YHWH: and because of these abominations YHWH your Elohim does drive them out from before you. You shall be perfect with YHWH your Elohim. For these nations, which you shall possess, hearkened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for you, YHWH your Elohim has not suffered [allowed] you so to do.”
Participating in the practices of rank heathens as one does in the observance of Halloween is expressly forbidden in the Scriptures. Read Deuteronomy 12:29-32: “When YHWH your Elohim shall cut off the nations from before you, whither you go to possess them, and you succeed them, and dwell in their land; Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before you; and that you enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. You shall not do so unto YHWH your Elohim: for every abomination to YHWH, which he hates, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.”
How can a True Worshiper allow his son or daughter to dress up like a witch or warlock, knowing that YHWH condemns witchcraft? In 1Thessalonians 5:22 we are told to avoid even the appearance of evil. Halloween celebrates and revels in a vast array of evil appearances! And is it any wonder that all this glorification of evilness is a nighttime activity? In John 3:19-20 Yahshua said that evil loves the darkness.
One of the biggest problems of Old Testament Israel was their inability to keep their worship pure. The Apostle Paul in1Corinthians 10:6 tells us that their experiences are an example for us “that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.” YHWH does not accept compromise with any other belief system, let alone practices that spring from the darkness of rank heathen religion and superstition.
Trying to put a positive spin on Halloween, the chorus of the world will say, “Oh, come on, Halloween is just harmless fun. How can you deprive the children?”
Keep in mind that what children practice they also learn from. How can a parent seek to promote healthy, wholesome values in a child who is allowed to don masks of vile creatures or deformed humans with the underlying theme of murder, mayhem and evil? Should a caring parent wanting to teach truth to his or her child introduce that child to sinister, pagan falsehoods that YHWH repeatedly condemns?
Heres one that many will have a hard time ...releasing their "grip" from.
Personally, i couldn't think of a greater way, to celebrate "Self".
• Why do we celebrate birthdays?
The idea of celebrating the date of your birth is a pagan tradition. In fact, many Christians didn’t celebrate birthdays historically, because of that link to paganism.
Pagans thought that evil spirits lurked on days of major changes, like the day you turn a year older.
The ancient Greeks believed that each person had a spirit that attended his or her birth, and kept watch. That spirit “had a mystic relation with the God on whose birthday the individual was born,” says the book The Lore of Birthdays.
• Why do we blow out candles on our birthday?
The candles were a response to the evil spirits. They showed up to communicate with the gods. A light, in the darkness.
The Germans are credited with starting the kids birthday tradition in the 1700s. They put candles on tortes for “kinderfeste,” one for each year of life, along with some extras to signify upcoming years.
• Why do we sing “Happy Birthday To You?”
It’s the most recognizable song in the English language, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, and it started as a song for schoolkids.
In 1893, two Kentucky schoolteachers, Patty and Mildred Hill wrote “Good Morning To All.” The tune was published in a book for schoolteachers.
It’s unclear who changed the words to “Happy Birthday To You,” but in 1933, that song was in an Irving Berlin musical. One of the Hill’s sisters sued, arguing that they held the copyright to the song. They won the case, and the courts have ruled that copyright still holds today.
Personally, i couldn't think of a greater way, to celebrate "Self".
• Why do we celebrate birthdays?
The idea of celebrating the date of your birth is a pagan tradition. In fact, many Christians didn’t celebrate birthdays historically, because of that link to paganism.
Pagans thought that evil spirits lurked on days of major changes, like the day you turn a year older.
The ancient Greeks believed that each person had a spirit that attended his or her birth, and kept watch. That spirit “had a mystic relation with the God on whose birthday the individual was born,” says the book The Lore of Birthdays.
• Why do we blow out candles on our birthday?
The candles were a response to the evil spirits. They showed up to communicate with the gods. A light, in the darkness.
The Germans are credited with starting the kids birthday tradition in the 1700s. They put candles on tortes for “kinderfeste,” one for each year of life, along with some extras to signify upcoming years.
• Why do we sing “Happy Birthday To You?”
It’s the most recognizable song in the English language, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, and it started as a song for schoolkids.
In 1893, two Kentucky schoolteachers, Patty and Mildred Hill wrote “Good Morning To All.” The tune was published in a book for schoolteachers.
It’s unclear who changed the words to “Happy Birthday To You,” but in 1933, that song was in an Irving Berlin musical. One of the Hill’s sisters sued, arguing that they held the copyright to the song. They won the case, and the courts have ruled that copyright still holds today.
