Halloween…. a Christian View.

‘Halloween’ to most of us entails cute costumes, Halloween parades consisting of individuals participating while dressed as evil witches, cowboys, Elvis, princesses, pumpkins, vampires, zombies… to name a few…, culminating into a night of fun, frolic and good times. It’s that time of the year when watching the deadliest horror movies and then emulating the characters just for fun, is the ‘thing to do’!

How many of us have actually gone into the origins of this night, closely preceding ‘All Saint’s Day, and ‘All Soul’s Day’ followed by the Catholic church? I for one was never comfortable dressing up in costume, and a witch or a sorcerer is far beyond my reach. A friend recently was really upset at the way Halloween is being celebrated world over and the increase in popularity each year.

This got me thinking, people either unknowingly celebrate the holiday unaware about the true origins as a means to participate in one of the most attractive media driven holidays in the year, or as a follower of the occult where evil is viewed as the ultimate power.

What?? You may wonder, or try to admonish me.. but before you go on please note that these are my views, and you are entitled to your own.

Halloween  which can be traced back to old pagan rites and superstitions, is Celtic in nature and was observed at the beginning of the Celtic year (in what is now Britain and France), where lord Samhain the lord of death sent evil spirits to attack humans. The only way out to escape this attack was to assume disguises and dress as evil spirits, to fool the real evil spirits.

This is understandable and not shocking. Something most of us already know (well I did).. But when i realized that followers of Wicca (the official religion of witchcraft) observe this day as sacred where the above mentioned Celtic beliefs still hold true, and that this day presents an opportunity to embrace the evil dark side of the spiritual world… I could only help wonder. Not just as a Christian but as a human, is this embracing the Devil? Worshipping Satan? On speaking to the ‘friend’ I realized it is true. We are placed here to bring light into this world not embrace Satan and his rituals.. his false belief systems that we humans are attracted to.

An alternate view is that we should over power the Evil and not hide out… Why should we not celebrate a holiday all our friends are part of? Well imagine this, as a mother you little girl is dressed in a beautiful harmless princess costume, and goes trick or treating with other kids. She then sees witches, sorcerers, vampires, ghosts and zombies, and then asks you about it. Are you going to tell her it is fine? If you do, your little girl will remember that is is ok to emulate evil. And that is not something any of us want.

This same girl goes to school, interacts with kids her age from different beliefs and faiths. One day when she’s a little older she decided to dabble in Ouija boards, or is exposed to tarot cards.. where she will learn to be an empty vessel  for spirits to move through- how is she to know it is not right if you as a parent do not explain it to her as a child, explain to her what the Word has to say about the above?

I am not standing here with a stick in hand, shouting out my view from the mountain top. I have slipped many a time, made mistakes which probably are unforgivable (instance where I knew something is not right and still went ahead with it). But I have learned. As a human it is natural that we slip. But we must pick ourselves up… How many times I have been exposed to Tarot Cards or wanting ouija boards, but by his grace I was and am saved. i never went through with it, knowing that the this guilt will eat me up.

Not digressing from the topic, and coming back to Halloween- yes I refuse to participate as I don’t underestimate the devil, i don’t want to open myself up to demonic influence. I am still learning to take a stand- a stand apart from the rest of the world from these issues- and hope I can impart this to my future children someday.

1 Cor 10:20-21 – “I say the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink of the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in the Lord’s table and the table of demons”.

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