I know Halloween can be controversial among believers; my goal is not to judge anyone. There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus!
I’m passionate about this topic because I myself was deceived by it. I was involved in witchcraft. It caused a multitude of problems that destroyed me, were destroying my family, and almost took my life. Thankfully, the Lord prevented me from going nearly as deeply as I wanted to.
Five or so years back, I actually made a slideshow defending Halloween and criticizing the way my parents raised us. I was a rebellious teenager, hurting a lot because of school situations, depression, etc. It was so frustrating how my parents seemed apathetic and unwilling to see our point of view. Although they let us wear costumes and visit the church each year, where we enjoyed apple bobbing, cake walks, waterslides, candy, and more, I felt deprived of trick or treating and high school Halloween parties. It was only later, after Jesus delivered me from so much, that my eyes were opened. I began to learn that many things which seem harmless are or can be very dangerous.
When we are born again, our spirit is delivered from one kingdom and adopted into another. As Christians, we realize that these two kingdoms are CONTINUALLY at war with each other. Peter is addressing the church, not the unbelievers, when he says:
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
What does that have to do with Halloween? Halloween is All Hallow’s Eve shortened. Hallow is Old English meaning holy or sanctified.
Some history of All Hallow’s Eve: It was believed that the boundaries between the living and the dead became blurred and that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. ***“Celebrations took place halfway between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. The celebration also involved prayer, and sacrificing cattle. Many of the traditions we still associate with Halloween in the modern world come from Samhain. To mark the occasion of Samhain, the Druids (pagan religious leaders) used to light enormous bonfires, where the community burned crops and animals as sacrifice to Celtic deities.
According to Inside History, during the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, on returning home everybody re-lit their hearth fires from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. All Souls’ Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils.”
Halloween is inherently a religious holiday.
For Druids, Satanists, Wiccans, Shamans, etc., Halloween is a very important night. The ‘stars align’ for rituals, spells, tarot readings, animal sacrifices, and summoning demons.
In **her testimony on the YouTube channel Jesus is Truth, Chelsea shares a heartbreaking story from a Satanist she was friends with before she was saved. In the initiation to his coven, he was stripped naked, bound up with ropes, and whipped repeatedly. Eventually, he reached a hypnosis state where he was outside of his body, and invited demons into his body for power and knowledge. This is not remotely the worst that devout Satan worshippers do.
Outright devil worship doesn’t appeal to all spiritualists, but any form of magic is still aligning with Satan. ‘Good witches’ and others who think they’re on the ‘light side’ of magic believe their rituals are good. Nature worship, yoga, etc. is quite common today. It all appeals to our desire for happiness and higher purpose. To keep people from discovering the power/redemption/healing of Jesus, the enemy causes them to search for it in themselves, creation, anywhere else. They think the demonic spirits are their ‘spirit guides’ or even ghosts of loved ones. When they turn to Christ, they realize the spirits are not their friends. The spirits’ become furious because their ‘puppet’ is no longer duped. Their true nature is revealed in physical attacks, nightmares, mental torment... For people who haven’t been saved, ‘light magic’ could also be a gateway drug to dark magic.
All of it strengthens the dark kingdom.
Halloween is also a celebration of fear. We watch horror movies designed to make us afraid, we scare children, we adore all things ‘spooky’. Take it from someone who was controlled by fear, you do NOT want to play around with it.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Because of all this pagan activity, and the welcoming of spirits, the boundary for evil spirits is weakened on October 31st. The enemy was handed power over the entire earth through a single sin.
As Christians, he doesn’t have any access unless we give it to him. We don’t need to fear him:
1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
I am not saying we shouldn’t celebrate! Personally, I love dressing up. We shouldn’t celebrate the same ways the world does. Jesus calls us to be set apart. It’s easy to say ‘it’s just a costume’, but if we dress as wizards, zombies, skeletons, vampires, monsters, and so on, we’re honoring them. As a temple of the Holy Spirit, why would I want to glorify death or the spirits who used to torment me? Instead of Halloween, let’s celebrate Christ.
By all means, take your children pumpkin picking, to church, fall festivals, play games, celebrate with friends and family, but please be wary of going door to door. Even if they’re wearing an adorable knight costume, if an impressionable child is taken trick or treating to houses decorated with gravestones, body parts, and scary creatures, and surrounded by other children/adults who are wearing far wickeder costumes, they’re receiving a strong message that darkness and murder are thrilling. If they’re old enough to understand, you can explain to them why we don’t enjoy the gore/frightening aspects, but which do you think will have more of an impact? Words or the atmosphere of one magical night a year? Why take the risk of exposing your children to hexes/spells?
Next year, If you’re able, I encourage you to separate some extra time to spend in the presence of the Lord on October 31st. Fasting, prayer, worshipping, reading his Word, sharing his message, or whatever he inspires you to do. If the world gets darker, we have to get brighter!
***What is the history and meaning of Halloween? (msn.com)
**Halloween warning from an ex-witch (warning heavy talk) - YouTube
Ex-Witch Reacts to Christians Celebrating Halloween - YouTube
I’m passionate about this topic because I myself was deceived by it. I was involved in witchcraft. It caused a multitude of problems that destroyed me, were destroying my family, and almost took my life. Thankfully, the Lord prevented me from going nearly as deeply as I wanted to.
Five or so years back, I actually made a slideshow defending Halloween and criticizing the way my parents raised us. I was a rebellious teenager, hurting a lot because of school situations, depression, etc. It was so frustrating how my parents seemed apathetic and unwilling to see our point of view. Although they let us wear costumes and visit the church each year, where we enjoyed apple bobbing, cake walks, waterslides, candy, and more, I felt deprived of trick or treating and high school Halloween parties. It was only later, after Jesus delivered me from so much, that my eyes were opened. I began to learn that many things which seem harmless are or can be very dangerous.
When we are born again, our spirit is delivered from one kingdom and adopted into another. As Christians, we realize that these two kingdoms are CONTINUALLY at war with each other. Peter is addressing the church, not the unbelievers, when he says:
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
What does that have to do with Halloween? Halloween is All Hallow’s Eve shortened. Hallow is Old English meaning holy or sanctified.
Some history of All Hallow’s Eve: It was believed that the boundaries between the living and the dead became blurred and that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. ***“Celebrations took place halfway between the fall equinox and the winter solstice. The celebration also involved prayer, and sacrificing cattle. Many of the traditions we still associate with Halloween in the modern world come from Samhain. To mark the occasion of Samhain, the Druids (pagan religious leaders) used to light enormous bonfires, where the community burned crops and animals as sacrifice to Celtic deities.
According to Inside History, during the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other’s fortunes. When the celebration was over, on returning home everybody re-lit their hearth fires from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter. All Souls’ Day was celebrated similarly to Samhain, with big bonfires, parades and dressing up in costumes as saints, angels and devils.”
Halloween is inherently a religious holiday.
For Druids, Satanists, Wiccans, Shamans, etc., Halloween is a very important night. The ‘stars align’ for rituals, spells, tarot readings, animal sacrifices, and summoning demons.
In **her testimony on the YouTube channel Jesus is Truth, Chelsea shares a heartbreaking story from a Satanist she was friends with before she was saved. In the initiation to his coven, he was stripped naked, bound up with ropes, and whipped repeatedly. Eventually, he reached a hypnosis state where he was outside of his body, and invited demons into his body for power and knowledge. This is not remotely the worst that devout Satan worshippers do.
Outright devil worship doesn’t appeal to all spiritualists, but any form of magic is still aligning with Satan. ‘Good witches’ and others who think they’re on the ‘light side’ of magic believe their rituals are good. Nature worship, yoga, etc. is quite common today. It all appeals to our desire for happiness and higher purpose. To keep people from discovering the power/redemption/healing of Jesus, the enemy causes them to search for it in themselves, creation, anywhere else. They think the demonic spirits are their ‘spirit guides’ or even ghosts of loved ones. When they turn to Christ, they realize the spirits are not their friends. The spirits’ become furious because their ‘puppet’ is no longer duped. Their true nature is revealed in physical attacks, nightmares, mental torment... For people who haven’t been saved, ‘light magic’ could also be a gateway drug to dark magic.
All of it strengthens the dark kingdom.
Halloween is also a celebration of fear. We watch horror movies designed to make us afraid, we scare children, we adore all things ‘spooky’. Take it from someone who was controlled by fear, you do NOT want to play around with it.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Because of all this pagan activity, and the welcoming of spirits, the boundary for evil spirits is weakened on October 31st. The enemy was handed power over the entire earth through a single sin.
As Christians, he doesn’t have any access unless we give it to him. We don’t need to fear him:
1 John 4:4 Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
I am not saying we shouldn’t celebrate! Personally, I love dressing up. We shouldn’t celebrate the same ways the world does. Jesus calls us to be set apart. It’s easy to say ‘it’s just a costume’, but if we dress as wizards, zombies, skeletons, vampires, monsters, and so on, we’re honoring them. As a temple of the Holy Spirit, why would I want to glorify death or the spirits who used to torment me? Instead of Halloween, let’s celebrate Christ.
By all means, take your children pumpkin picking, to church, fall festivals, play games, celebrate with friends and family, but please be wary of going door to door. Even if they’re wearing an adorable knight costume, if an impressionable child is taken trick or treating to houses decorated with gravestones, body parts, and scary creatures, and surrounded by other children/adults who are wearing far wickeder costumes, they’re receiving a strong message that darkness and murder are thrilling. If they’re old enough to understand, you can explain to them why we don’t enjoy the gore/frightening aspects, but which do you think will have more of an impact? Words or the atmosphere of one magical night a year? Why take the risk of exposing your children to hexes/spells?
Next year, If you’re able, I encourage you to separate some extra time to spend in the presence of the Lord on October 31st. Fasting, prayer, worshipping, reading his Word, sharing his message, or whatever he inspires you to do. If the world gets darker, we have to get brighter!
***What is the history and meaning of Halloween? (msn.com)
**Halloween warning from an ex-witch (warning heavy talk) - YouTube
Ex-Witch Reacts to Christians Celebrating Halloween - YouTube
