From:          hadavar@juno.com
To:            heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject:       Halloween

Dear Eddie,
Below is an article I wrote regarding the origin and history of
Halloween.  It is followed by discussion questions which may be used by
small groups or individuals.  If interested, perhaps you would like to
share it with your newsgroup.

Shalom,
Ruben Barrett
HaDavar Ministries
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HALLOWEEN
(c) 1998 by Ruben Barrett

HALLOWEEN, a holiday celebrated in various countries, can initially be
traced back to the 9th century when Pope Gregory III moved All Saints Day
from May 13th to November 1st. All Saints Day, or Hallow's Day, was to
commemorate all saints who did not have their own day of remembrance.
This was done in part because for about a thousand years that day had
been celebrated by the Celts and British islanders as a feast of their
own, and the Pope wanted to stamp out remaining pagan influence among
that group of people. The term Hallowe'en is a gloss form of Hallow Even,
short for Hallow Evening, because it preceeds Hallow Day.

Before the Church tried to convert this pagan holiday it was known as
Sahmain (pronounced SahWEEN or SAHwin), a word meaning "end of Summer."
When the Romans conquered the British Isles in the first century the
Celts had already been celebrating Sahmain for several hundred years. The
Romans did not object to it because it coincided with a similar feast of
their own called Pamona, named for the goddess of fruits and gardens. In
certain areas the Romans and Celts lived among each other and Sahmain may
have been merged with or at least influenced by the Roman holiday.

The Celts were ruled by a mysterious order of people called Druids, who
controlled both civil and religious life. An agrarian society, the Celts
celebrated four distinct fire festivals: Ormelc, Beltane, Lughnasad, and
Samhain, which commemorated the final harvest and functioned as a New
Year celebration. Each festival corresponded with one of the four
seasons, and the Druids believed that each seasonal change thinned the
veil between the spiritual and material worlds. Like many cultures in
that day, the Celts followed a lunar calendar. Like the Jewish tradition,
the Celtic day began at sunset. Thus October 31st evening was actually
part of November 1st. Since Samhain represented the end of the harvest
and seasonal death of their crops,etc., it was also a time to
acknowledge, remember, and possibly consult with the spirits of the dead
as well.

This was the time of year when departed and/or troubled spirits, faeries,
goblins and ghosts could most easily cross over into the material world.
People dressed up as these beings and went from house to house asking for
food so that they might be appeased. Others wore scary masks in order to
ward off them off. The festivities were marked by animal sacrifices,
offerings to the dead, and bonfires in their honor.

By the time of Pope Gregory III the Celts were no longer a physical
threat to the Empire, and the Druids had long since disappeared. Only the
traditions remained. With the conversion of Sahmain into All Saints Day,
old traditions took on new meanings, yet little actually changed. Instead
of appeasing ghosts and faeries, trick-or-treaters gathered food in honor
of the saints. The more food that was given assured more prayers to be
said at mass the next day. One interesting tradition involved the carving
of potatoes or turnips with scary faces, and inserting candles inside to
serve as lanterns. The Jack-o-lantern commemorated a fellow named Jack,
who supposedly was unable to enter Heaven or Hell and was stuck wandering
about with his lantern until Judgement Day.

This day was further immortalized when on Hallow's Day 1517 the
parishioners of All Saints (Castle) Church in Wittenberg, Germany came to
the Hallow Mass surprised to find nailed to their church door a tract
contesting some of the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, and
specifically the Pope himself. They were placed there by a priest who
decided to be true to the Holy Scriptures, even if that meant breaking
with the culture he lived in. His name was Martin Luther. This paper,
called the 95 Theses, sparked the eventual Protestant Reformation and
significally affected church life.

Only two decades before this was the New World discovered by Columbus,
and when people flocked to America years later they looked down upon
Halloween as well as other holidays. In early America people did however
celebrate the Fall harvest in what were called Autumn play parties.
People assembled for feasting, offering thanksgiving for their food,
dancing, plays, raising of barns, etc. The late 1800's brought a boom in
immigration from Europe, many being from Ireland. These Irish immigrants
(predominatly Catholic) brought their long held tradition of Halloween
with them. They found pumpkins more plentiful than turnips, and turned
them into Jack-o-lanterns.

Those who celebrated Halloween pushed for it to be a recognized holiday,
and when it finally showed up on the calendars it took off in popularity.
In 1921 the first all-city Halloween celebration took place in Anoka, MN
with New York and Los Angeles shortly following suite. By the mid-part of
the twentieth century advertising marketers had caught on to the craze,
and Halloween became a major money maker. The demand for costumes, candy,
decorations, greeting cards and pumpkins gave it a niche in the business
world to be taken advantage of. To this day Halloween is celebrated
voluntarily. The U.S. Government does not recognize it. There is no
national observance. It is not a paid holiday. It is kept alive through
retail marketing, local school districts, city governments, and houses of
worship. People just do it.

Since the 1960's there has been a tremendous revival in the occult,
satanism, witchcraft, New-Age groups and neo-paganism, all of which hold
Halloween night in high regards. Satanic ritual abuse, animal sacrifices,
arsons, poisoned candy, cruel tricks, graffiti, etc. all get attention
around Halloween due to their increase. So then, how should the Christian
respond? Traditionally there are three options:

(1.) TOLERANCE - Do nothing differently than an unbeliever would.
Decorating the house with images of the occult, witches, skeletons, etc.
and dressing your children in costumes does not negatively affect your
faith. You pass out candy to visitors, wish others a happy holiday, and
enjoy the spookiness of the occasion. Even if you don't care to celebrate
it, you enjoy seeing children having fun. The images or history of the
day mean nothing to you and you don't believe there's anything wrong with
observing it.

(2.) ABSTINENCE - Total rejection of anything associated with Halloween.
Do nothing differently than on any other night. You find Halloween to be
satanic or at least offensive. You believe it is spiritually wrong to
celebrate it, and want others to know about its dark history. You see it
as a poor Christian witness to be associated with such darkness.

(3.) COMPLIANCE - You are uncomfortable with Halloween's dark history,
but question how something as simple and innocent as giving out or taking
candy could be wrong. You recognize the difficulties of raising your
children against the holiday while having to face public school carnivals
or at the very least, any retail store. You accept Halloween as just a
day, and make what you want of it. You avoid scary costumes, treat it as
a fall festival, offer thanks to God for the year's crops, and maybe even
use it as an opportunity to share your faith.

Which one are you?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
About HaDavar:
HaDavar (The Word) Ministries exists to promote that Word who became
flesh and dwelt among us (John 1), namely Messiah Yeshua--Jesus the
Christ, so that people might know the Word, both written and living.
Ruben Barrett is a member of Brit Hadasha Messianic Synagogue in Memphis,
TN  Email: hadavar@juno.com
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From:           David G. Hallowell
To:                heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject:       Some information about Halloween


                                HALLOWEEN

Halloween has every appearance of evil, yet some Christians
celebrate it. Why? Historians, anthropologists, encyclopedias and the
media tell us that Halloween and its traditions are rooted in
witchcraft and Satanism. Why don't all Christians see this? Can they
not see the houses decorated with witches, demons, ghosts, vampires,
sorcerers, devils, death, mutilation and horror? Can they not discern
that celebrating Halloween is out of the question for a Christian?

Of course they can. But level of spiritual discernment is not the
problem when Christians continue celebrating a day devoted to Satan.
What's at issue is obedience, and their unwillingness to suffer shame
and ridicule for refusing to celebrate a popular holiday. If you are a
Christian who says that Halloween practices are "harmless," have "lost
their original meaning" and are "just some fun for the kids," this
letter is for you. If you beg to differ, take issue with the sources
cited, especially God's word, the Bible.


                      ORIGIN OF HALLOWEEN IS EVIL


ROOTED IN PAGANISM

"For the ancient Celts it [Halloween] was Old Year's Night, and the
night of all the witches." [Dunkling, Leslie. A Dictionary of Days.
New York: Facts on File, 1988. p54.]

"October 31: All Hallow's Eve, Halloween, Hallowmas or Allhallow Even,
the night when spirits, witches and other supernatural agencies are
abroad; a popular belief having its origin in pre-Christian times."
[Frewin, Anthony. The Book of Days. London: Collins, 1979. p332.]

"It is clearly a relic of pagan times." [Chambers, R. ed. The Book of
Days. London: Gale, 1967. p519.]

"Halloween, a festival of Scottish-Irish origin, held on All Hallows
Eve, the night of October 31. Elements of the customs connected with
Halloween can be traced to a Druid ceremony of pre-Christian times."
[The Encyclopedia Americana, Vol 13. Connecticut: Grolier, 1991.
p725.]

"All Saints' Day was originally a pagan festival of the dead that
began at sundown." [MacDonald, Margaret Read. The Folklore of World
Holidays. London: Gale, 1992. p518.]

"In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV introduced All Saints' Day to
replace the pagan festival of the dead." [Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The
Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. New York: Facts On File, 1992.
p4.]

HALLOWEEN IS CHARACTERIZED BY WITCHCRAFT,
IDOLATRY AND SUPERSTITION

"The Celts had festivals for two major gods-a sun god and a god of the
dead (called Samhain), whose festival was held on November 1, the
beginning of the Celtic New Year." [The Encyclopedia Americana, Vol
13. Connecticut: Grolier, 1991. p725]

"Halloween . . . is derived from the rites of the druids celebrating
the day of Saman, when the Lord of Death called together the souls of
the wicked who had died during the past year. The theme of the
harvest, which runs through modern Halloween celebrations, comes from
both the old druidic celebrations and the old Roman festivals in
honour of Pomona, goddess of fruit, which were brought to Britain
during the Roman occupation." [Collier's Encyclopedia, Vol 12. New
York: Macmillan, 1991. p192.]

"November Eve, All Hallow Eve, the Gaelic fire festival of Samhain or
Samhuin, strikes a more eerie note than the other festivals. It is
summer's end, when the powers of the underworld are felt to be
growing, with its gates opened and all its forces let loose-the evil
as well as the good." [Farrar, Stewart. What Witches Do: A Modern
Coven Revealed. Washington: Phoenix, 1983. p88.]

"Halloween was thought to be the most favourable time for divination
concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on
which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes." [The New
Encyclpedia Britannica, Vol. 5. 15th ed. Chicago: Encyclpedia
Britannica, 1992. p646.]

"Certain fortunetelling methods began in Europe hundreds of years ago
and became an important part of Halloween." [The World Book
Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. Chicago: World Book, 1993. p25.]

"According to a medieval Irish document, the Druidic priests burned
live children on the Samhain fire [precursor to present-day Halloween
bon fires] to gain favour of the gods they worshipped." [Halloween:
Trick or Treat? Pagan Invasion: Vol 1. Jeremiah Films Inc, 1991.]


PRESENT-DAY HALLOWEEN IS EVIL STILL ROOTED IN PAGANISM

"The festival of the dead was gradually incorporated into Christian
ritual." [The Encyclopedia Americana, Vol 13. Connecticut: Grolier,
1991. p725]

"Most of Halloween's customs are the remainders of pagan superstitions
relating to Samhain, the Druidic New Year. The Druids were the
influential sorcerers, magicians and priests of the nature religions
that prevailed in early Northern Europe." [Halloween: Trick or Treat?
Pagan Invasion: Vol 1. Jeremiah Films Inc, 1991.]

"Many of the customs of the Celts survived even after the people
became Christians. During the 800s, the church established All Saints'
Day on November 1. The people made the old pagan customs part of this
Christian holy day." [The World Book Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. Chicago:
World Book, 1993. p25.]

"Thus it is clear that the main celebrations of Hallowe'en were purely
Druidical, and this is further proved by the fact that in parts of
Ireland the 31st of October was, and even still is, known as Oidhche
Shamhna, "Vigil of Saman." [Encyclpedia Britannica, 11th ed.
Cambridge: University Press, 1910. p858.]

"Even after November 1 became a Christian feast day honouring all
saints, the peasants clung to the old pagan beliefs and customs that
had grown up about Halloween." [Compton's Encyclopedia and Fact Index.
Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1984. p12.]

"Numerous [Halloween] folk customs connected with the pagan
observances for the dead have survived to the present."
[Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits. New
York: Facts On File, 1992. p4.]

From the video, Halloween: Trick or Treat?

All of today's seemingly innocent Halloween customs have their origin
in the ancient Celtic Day of the Dead:

Trick-or-treating is from Celtic tradition, where people gave food in
exchange for blessings from spirits of the dead. Failure to supply
treats would result in demonic retaliation.

Jack-O-Lanterns grew out of the Celtic tradition of carving the faces
of demonic spirits on turnips and, later, pumpkins. The World Book
Encyclopedia says that the apparently harmless lighted face of the
Jack-O-Lantern is actually an ancient symbol of a damned soul.

Candle-lit pumpkins or skulls at a home once signified that the
occupants were sympathetic to Satan and therefore received
mercy by trick-or-treaters on their Halloween rounds. Bon fires stem
from the Druidic ritual midnight fires in which adults and children
were thrown into huge fires while the celebrants danced around them in
demonic fits of abandon. The Druids believed that black cats were
reincarnations of the evil dead and were possessed with supernatural
power and knowledge. Bobbing for apples was part of the Druidic new
year sexual divination ceremony of fertility.

Witches' broomsticks and hats were originally considered phallic
symbols. When used in the rituals of witchcraft, these objects
supposedly transformed the sexual energy released during orgasm into
psychic energy. [Halloween: Trick or Treat? Pagan Invasion: Vol 1.
Jeremiah Films Inc, 1991.]

HALLOWEEN STILL CHARACTERIZED BY WITCHCRAFT,
IDOLATRY AND SUPERSTITION

"Witches celebrate eight major festivals or sabbats each year. . .
.The first is Yule, 20 or 21 December .. . . 31 October is Samhain or
Hallowe'en." [Russell, Jeffrey B. A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers,
Heretics, and Pagans. London: Thames and Hudson, 1980. p168.]

"The leading idea respecting Halloween is that it is the time, of all
others, when supernatural influences prevail. It is the night set
apart for a universal walking abroad of spirits, both of the visible
and invisible world." [Chambers, R. ed. The Book of Days. London:
republished by Gale, 1967. p519.]

[Halloween: Trick or Treat? Pagan Invasion: Vol 1. Jeremiah Films Inc,
1991.]

"Modern witches do the same [as in the past], deliberately trying to
contact dead friends and relatives [on Halloween]-all too
successfully." [Farrar, Stewart. What Witches Do: A Modern Coven
Revealed. Washington: Phoenix, 1983. p88.]

From the video, Halloween: Trick or Treat?

While Halloween is largely a secular holiday, true witches and
followers of witchcraft still preserve the early pagan beliefs and
consider Halloween a sacred and deadly powerful time." Glenn Hobbs, a
former Satanist, says that children all over the world are sacrificed
on Halloween night during Satanic rituals. He witnessed
child-sacrifice as a boy.

Detective Kurt Jackson, of Beaumont Police Department in the United
States, confirms that humans are sacrificed every year on Halloween.

There are confirmed cases of women who were used by Satanists as
"breeders" of children who were later sacrificed to Satan.
Halloween is the one time of the year when Canadian and American
community service organizations warn that children and
animals are most likely to be abducted. [Halloween: Trick or Treat?
Pagan Invasion: Vol 1. Jeremiah Films Inc, 1991.]

HALLOWEEN PRACTICES ARE CONDEMNED IN SCRIPTURE FROM
GENESIS TO REVELATION

IN THE BEGINNING "And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou
hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every
beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou
eat all the days of thy life" (Gen 3:14).

HISTORICAL BOOKS "And he caused his children to pass through the fire
in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used
enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit,
and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to
provoke him to anger" (IIChron 33:6).

THE LAW "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his
son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth
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" (Dt 18:1-11). "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live"(Ex
22:18).

PSALMS "Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto
devils, and shed innocent blood . . . . Therefore was the wrath of the
LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own
inheritance" (Ps 106:37-40).

PROVERBS "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil" (Prov 8:13a).

WISDOM "Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more
ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider
not that they do evil" (Ecc 5:1).

MAJOR PROPHETS "And they built the high places of Baal, which are in
the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their
daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them
not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this
abomination, to cause Judah to sin" (Jer 32:35).

"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar
spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a
people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?" (Isa 8:19).

MINOR PROPHETS "And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and
thou shalt have no more soothsayers" (Mic 5:12).

GOSPELS "When the even was come, they brought unto him [Jesus] many
that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his
word, and healed all that were sick: that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our
infirmities, and bare our sicknesses" (Mt 8:16, 17).

ACTS "And [Paul] said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou
child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not
cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" (Acts 13:10).

"Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books
together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price
of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver" (Acts 19:19).

CHURCH EPISTLES "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are
these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred . . . . they which do such things shall not inherit
the kingdom of God" (Gal 5:19-21).

"The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils,
and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with
devils" (1Corinthians 10:20).

PASTORAL EPISTLES "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to
wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the
doctrine which is according to godliness . . . from such withdraw
thyself" (ITim 6:3-5).

GENERAL EPISTLES "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour"
(IPet 5:8).

IN THE END "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all
liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death" (Rev 21:8).

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO NOW?

These Scriptures lead you to the following conclusions about
Halloween:

1 You are to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
    but rather reprove them (Eph 5:11).

2 You are to abstain from all appearance of evil (IThess 5:22).

3 You are to keep no company with people who call themselves
Christians
   while living in open sin (ICor 5:11).

4 You are to have no fellowship with devils (ICor 10:20).

5 You are to withdraw yourself from every brother that walks
disorderly
   (IIThes 3:6).

Any non-Christian you care to stop on the street will tell you that
the energizing person behind Halloween is not God. Surely no Christian
can say that he or she celebrates Halloween "as unto the Lord." Any
Christian who celebrates a day that is consecrated to Satan, sins.
Will you obey God's word? Will you have nothing to do with Halloween,
but rather reprove it?

God Bless you,
Kelly

(passed on with my blessing, David G. Hallowell)
May His peace in you increase,
David

Ukraine, Crimea
Rev. David Gerry Hallowell

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