Contents
The
History of Halloween 
a)
Its Ancient Origins
Halloween
goes back to the ancient Druid / Celtic festival of Samhain. No one
really knows what happened during Samhain but it's been suggested that
Celts used bonfires, human and/or vegetable sacrifices, and scary costumes
to repel the foreboding caused by lengthening nights of Autumn, falling
temperatures, and withering plants, and their strong belief in supernatural
evil.
These festivities were tempered somewhat by the arrival of the Romans,
whose harvest-time celebrations of the goddess Pomona emphasized fertility
and love. The Catholic church, however, was not very happy with this
state of affairs.
Taking the strategy of mixing past & present, truth and tradition,
that had worked reasonably well with formerly-pagan Easter and Christmas,
eighth-century Pope Gregory III decided to baptize Samhain, retaining
some customs but radically redefining their focus.
Gregory
moved All Saints', or All Hallows' Day from May 13 to November 1 (which
made October 31 All Hallows' Eve, i.e. Halloween) and instructed revellers
to dress as saints instead of evil spirits. Goodies that once had been
offered to propitiate wandering devils (see below) were instead offered
to poor people, who in turn vowed to pray for the souls of departed
relatives.
b)
Trick or Treat
Samhain
supposedly called up all the evil souls who had died the previous year,
and so demons, fairies, elves, & ghosts were believed to spring
up from the netherworld. To ensure fertility to cattle and crops, firstborn
children were offered as living sacrifices to satisfy these evil creatures.
It
was believed that these demons insisted upon "treats" to keep
them from performing their "tricks," or curses, on people's
lives. So, people would leave the finest food and drink for them on
their doorsteps, usually devoured by stray dogs, cats, wild animals
and vagabonds. If dissatisfied with the treats, it was feared they might
enter the house causing destruction of property or person, e.g. ruining
a water well, killing cattle, souring milk, and bringing sickness and
even death.
The
Modern Resurgence of Halloween
It
was Oxford academic and writer, C.S.Lewis, who said that if you take
away belief in God, people will believe in anything. In the latter part
of the twentieth century in Britain and many other parts of the West,
belief in God gave way to “belief in anything”! Thus today we find a
resurgence in Halloween, possibly for any or all of the following reasons:
1.
Superstition 
Deep
down people are still superstitious, perhaps even more so in the absence
of any real belief in God. Is there someone or something to appease?
2.
Belief in the Supernatural
Many
of us still believe in the supernatural (because it IS out there?) but
prefer ‘something’ or ‘some power’ to God, because once we really believe
in God, we know we’ll have to let Him rule, rather than self ruling.
The
‘supernatural’ speaks of unknown forces (which might give us a buzz)
but which make no apparent claims on us.
3.
Materialism
Without
doubt shops promote Halloween, like they do Christmas, Easter, Mother’s
Day etc., purely for commercial reasons.
Many
parents submit to what advertisers now call children’s ‘pester-power’
and simply buy Halloween goods without any thought to what they might
be promoting.
While
seeking to keep the peace, they may be sowing greater problems for the
future.
4.
Post Modernism Experience
Living
in the period of history that we do, means that many people want to
buy an “experience” as part of their memory making in life.
So
a ghoulish, spooky feeling is, for some, just another experience to
buy. They try not to think about what might be behind that feeling.
5.
Witchcraft
There
are also, of course, that minority of people who participate in witchcraft
(black or white), or who are even openly pagan worshippers.
For
these people Halloween is an opportunity to focus on that self-centred,
godless, power-controlling activity that comes under the general heading
of ‘witchcraft’.
The
Truth about Halloween?
So
what is the truth about Halloween? 
Your
answer will almost certainly depend on your world view, but for many
of us that is not a carefully thought out view. The fact that perhaps
you haven’t given it much thought may be dangerous.
To
illustrate what we mean by this, let’s consider a silly example.
Suppose
somebody said, “All mushrooms are good to eat.” An ignorant person might
agree, but would then be in a dangerous position, because in fact some
wild mushrooms are poisonous and will make you very ill.
When
it comes to the supernatural the same applies and there are, in reality,
only a limited number of options:
1.
There ISN’T such a thing as the supernatural.
This
would be the view of the atheistic materialist who maintains there is
nothing beyond the physical world (a view not actually held by many
people today).
Now
if this view was true, then any ‘celebrating’ of Halloween is pure nonsense
and a waste of money and an irritation to people having their evenings
interrupted by trick-or-treat children. Even more it may be putting
children at risk being out alone.
2.
There ARE supernatural powers.
The
evidence of increasing numbers of people using ouija boards or tarot
cards, or of those purporting to be followers of the New Age, indicates
that, apart from those with traditional religious beliefs, there are
considerable numbers of people with less than traditional beliefs in
supernatural powers.
a)
What Sort of Powers? 
Now
once we acknowledge that, the question that then arises is what sort
of powers?
Are these powers good and benign powers, or are they bad and harmful
powers?
Despite
the protestations of those involved in occult activities, traditional
evidence is quite clear that such things are linked to such words as
fear, horror, terror, blackness.
Even
if there is the slightest inkling of truth in this, are these the sort
of things that we should be involving our children in?
b)
Who is to Say?
A
second question arises: who is to say what is true about these things?
Those
of traditional religious faiths are able to refer to historical books
of authority, for example the Bible, which strongly speaks against using
occult forces instead of seeking God.
c)
The Testimony of Experts
If
we cannot have faith in such books, we are left with the evidence of
those who work in the area of helping those involved in the occult.
One
noted occultist, considered to be one of the leading authorities on
the occult in the 20th century wrote in the middle of that century,
“During the last 20-25 years I have had considerable personal experience
with persons who have complicated their lives through dabbling with
the Ouija board. Out of every hundred such cases, at least 95 are worse
off for the experience… I know of broken homes, estranged families,
and even suicides that can be traced directly to this source.”
We
use the example of the ouija board as it is one of the most commonly
used forms of occult involvement
Another
expert testified: “There are also hundreds of cases of innocent or naïve
occult involvement leading to spirit possession, insanity, financial
ruin, adultery, divorce, criminal acts (even murder), and other tragedies
as the books of… occultism and parapsychology proves”
Remember,
this is what is behind Halloween! And
you still want to encourage our children into it???
Some
Conclusions
From
what we’ve considered so far, the following are some things we ought
to note:
1.
Origins 
The
origins of Halloween, although murky, are clearly born out of pagan,
superstitious, occult activity.
2.
Present Day
The
reasons why people participate in Halloween activities are varied, but
are often driven by forces beyond their personal wishes.
3.
Reality
If
Halloween is superstitious nonsense, it nevertheless glories in “the
dark side” and at best is a waste of money and an irritation to many
people, but at the worst teaches superstitious nonsense which focuses
on darkness.
If
Halloween does in fact represent occult supernatural powers, then it
is representing and exalting a very dark side of existence which leads
many people into fear and worse.
It
is clearly opposed by traditional religious faiths which state that
God denounces such activities which promote human self-centredness to
the loss of a potential relationship with Himself.
It
is, indeed, something to be avoided!
Can
we help?
Should
you wish to talk further about these things, the leaders of Rochford
Community Church are available to help you.
Remember,
if you want to e-mail Tony, it's tony.thomas@rochfordcc.co.uk
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