Origin
At least 4,000 years ago, the ancient Celts settled in a vast land that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Their priests were called Druids. To them, October 31 was the end of summer. Animals could no longer graze, the last crops for the year would have been harvested, leaves were falling, the sky was getting darker sooner and temperature was dropping. Nature seemed to be dying. Hence the Druids taught that Muck Olla, their sun god, was losing strength and Samhain, the lord of death, was overpowering him. To honour the victor of the Druidic pantheon, they dedicated November 1 to him and celebrated a festival on that day and named it after him – Samhain[1].
On Samhain Eve (October 31), the Celts celebrated the festival by burning animals (and even humans[2]) as sacrifices to Samhain to appease him[3]. They also masqueraded in animal skins and heads. The Druids taught them that the souls of the departed were transferred by magic to and confined in the bodies of animals. However, every Samhain Eve, Samhain would assemble the souls of all who had died during the previous year and release them to their former homes to visit the living[4]. So, the costumes, which resembled their places of captivity, were meant to confuse the returning souls to prevent them from bothering the people. The Celts also carried food to the edge of their towns and left them there to entice away the returning souls (who would feed on them as they were thought to be hungry).
According to 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.:
“In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of Samhain eve was observed on October 31, at the end of summer. This date was also the eve of the new year in both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon times and was the occasion for one of the ancient fire festivals when huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits. The date was connected with the return of herds from pasture, and laws and land tenures were renewed. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favourable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes.”
“Samhain also spelled SAMAIN (Celtic: “End of Summer”), was one of the most important and sinister calendar festivals of the Celtic year. At Samhain, held on November 1, the world of the gods was believed to be made visible to mankind, and the gods played many tricks on their mortal worshipers; it was a time fraught with danger, charged with fear, and full of supernatural episodes. Sacrifices and propitiations of every kind were thought to be vital, for without them the Celts believed they could not prevail over the perils of the season or counteract the activities of the deities. Samhain was an important precursor to Halloween.”
Records by Ephraem Syrus (deceased around 373 A.D.) show that by the fourth century the churches in the east were holding a feast dedicated to all martyrs on May 13. Hence in 609 A.D. when Pope Boniface IV wanted to dedicate the Pantheon in Rome as a cathedral in honour of Mary and all martyrs, he picked May 13 for the occasion. From then on it was known as Festum Omnium Sanctorum (literally “All Saints’ Day”). However in the eighth century Pope Gregory III (731-741 A.D.) moved this holiday to November 1 to coincide with Samhain. The move was effected by dedicating a chapel in St. Peter’s, Rome, in honour of all saints on that day. Subsequent ecclesiastical documents, such as the 800 A.D. Alcuin records and a ninth century English calendar, show that Festum Omnium Sanctorum was kept on November 1. Finally in 837 A.D. Pope Gregory IV ordered its general observance. In medieval England, the festival was known as “All Hallows’ Day”. The eve would, of course, be All Hallows’ Eve which became abbreviated to just Hallows’ Eve and eventually constricted to Halloween.
Encyclopædia Britannica[5] put it this way:
“The pagan observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows’ Eve, celebrated on the same date. In the Christian church, a day commemorating all the saints of the church, both known and unknown, celebrated on November 1 in the Western churches and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern churches. Its origin cannot be traced with certainty, and it has been observed on various days in different places. A feast of all martyrs was kept on May 13 in the Eastern church according to Ephraem Syrus (d. c. 373), which may have determined the choice of May 13 by Pope Boniface IV when he dedicated the Pantheon in Rome as a church in honour of the Blessed Virgin and all martyrs in 609. The first evidence for the November 1 date of celebration and of the broadening of the festival to include all saints as well as all martyrs occurred during the reign of Pope Gregory III (731-741), who dedicated a chapel in St. Peter’s, Rome, on November 1 in honour of all saints. In 800, All Saints’ Day was kept by Alcuin on November 1, and it also appeared in a 9th-century English calendar on that day. In 837 Pope Gregory IV ordered its general observance. In medieval England, the festival was known as All Hallows, and its eve is still known as Halloween.”
A researcher of modern witchcraft, Erica Jong, wrote this concerning Samhain:
“When the Christians changed this autumn holiday to All Saints’ Day, pagan symbolism lingered. Thus, October 31 has variously been called, November Eve, Samhain, All Hallow’s Eve and (today) Halloween.”[6]
Customs And Celebrations
Trick Or Treat
On Samhain Eve, the Druids as well as the common folks would go from house to house asking for fatted calves, black sheep, and human beings for sacrifices. Those who gave were promised prosperity while those who refused were cursed and threatened. Furthermore it was believed that the returning spirits would be hungry. If one were to set out a treat for them, they would not trick or curse him. However, if acceptable food were not provided, the returning souls would cast spells, cause havoc and terror, haunt and torment the living. This evolved into the modern customs of playing pranks (such as overturning sheds and outhouses, breaking windows, and damaging properties) and running from house to house, usually by children, requesting for treats (often candies) or threatening tricks.
Jack-O-Lantern
The World Book Encyclopedia explains:
“The apparently harmless lighted pumpkin face of the Jack-O-Lantern is an ancient symbol of a damned soul.” The Irish have a legend about an ill-tempered drunk named Jack. On one All Hallows’ Eve while in a pub, the devil came to claim his soul. Jack didn’t want to go and begged the devil to let him have one more drink. The devil said okay. It seemed that Jack was short on cash and so he asked the devil if he would transform himself into a coin so he could buy a drink and then he could change himself back. The devil agreed and changed into a coin. Quickly Jack grabbed the coin and put it in his coin purse, which had a cross on it. The devil was trapped! The devil yelled at Jack to release him immediately. Jack made another bargain, asking the devil not to bother him for a year. At the end of the year, Jack was to release the devil. The devil agreed. The following year Jack changed. He gave up drinking and carousing and began going to church. He began spending more time with his wife and children. However this did not last long. Soon Jack returned to his evil ways. All Hallows’ Eve was fast upon him and the devil was right there waiting for him. This time the devil demanded that Jack came with him, but Jack played another trick. He asked the devil to get an apple from a nearby tree. The apple Jack wanted was high in the tree, and as the devil went into the tree to get it, Jack quickly took out his knife and carved a cross on the trunk. Trapped again, the devil began screaming and said he would leave Jack alone for ten years. Jack didn’t like this and said that he would only release the devil if he promised to never bother him again. The devil agreed. Jack continued living as an ill-tempered drunkard. Jack died a year later, and at the gates of heaven he argued with St. Peter. St. Peter didn’t want him because of his evil ways and told him to go to hell. So down he went. But the devil didn’t want him either because of the tricks he had played on him. Jack was then in a state of limbo and didn’t know what to do. The devil said, “here” and threw him a hot coal. “Use this to light your way in the darkness.” Jack put the coal in a turnip and cut some holes in it to the let out the light. As a result, Jack had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day. The Irish people carved scary faces out of turnips, beets or potatoes representing “Jack of the Lantern,” or Jack-O-Lantern. When the Irish brought their customs to the United States with them, they carved faces on pumpkins because in autumn they were more plentiful than turnips.”
Masks, Costumes And Parties
On the eve of Samhain, the Celts masqueraded in costumes made of animal skins and heads to disguise themselves from the returning souls. They would dance, chant, jump through the flames and parade through the streets making loud noises in the hope of warding off or confusing these returning souls. These practices perpetuated in many parts of the world during today’s Halloween where revellers dance in elaborate ghoulish masks and costumes at wild parties, or parade in street carnivals.
Christian Viewpoint
Christians cannot have anything to do with Halloween. Not only is Halloween and its festivities paganistic in origin, underlying Halloween is the treacherous deceit that spirits of dead men return. Ecclesiastes 12:7 says: “Then shall the dust return to the dust it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gives it.” Christians unwittingly promote this heresy by celebrating Halloween. Most importantly, Halloween is openly associated with the works of the devil like witchcraft, fortune-telling, divination and necromancy. Deuteronomy 18:9–13 warns:
“When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the LORD your God.”
At one time Manasseh “observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards“[7]. The Bible put down what he had done as “evil in the sight of the Lord” and notes that these acts of his “provoked the Lord to anger.” Acts 19:18-19 records that those who became Christians renounced all dealings with the occults and burned all occultic materials they had. Paul condemned witchcraft: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these … witchcraft“[8]. 1 Peter 4:3–5 adds:
“For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do–living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.”
And finally, the incipient danger of Halloween is the popularisation of the devil and the familiarization of the practices of darkness. The propaganda of its festivities makes the occult easier for children to accept. The devil remakes himself as a pop hero and a fun guy. Christians are warned: “I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils“. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you“[9]. “Neither give place to the devil“[10]. Ephesians 5:6-12 says:
“Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience… Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light … And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.“
[1] P. Phillips and J.H. Robie, Halloween and Satanism, 1987, p. 146 writes that Halloween marks the “end and the beginning of the witches year. It marks the beginning of the death and destruction associated with winter. At this time the power of the underworld is unleashed, and spirits are supposedly freed to roam about the earth; it is considered the best time to contact spirits.”
[2] Johanna Michaelsen, Like Lambs To The Slaughter, 1989, p. 190-192: “There is another religious group which is equally serious about its Halloween celebrations: the Satanists. Halloween to them is a more sinister and direct celebration of death and Satan; they celebrate [it] as one of his two highest holy days. At Halloween the sacrifices of some of these satanic cults are unspeakably vicious and brutal. … This includes a series of six weeks of rituals including the slaughter of a small animal like a bird or cat, progressing through each week with a larger animal such as a goat, and then the murder of a small infant or child until the final night where they ritually murder not only another child but also an adult female.” Ward Rutherford, The Druids and their Heritage, p. 24 explains that “the Celtic festival of the dead, Samain (was) an occasion marked by burning human offerings.” Richard Cavendish, The Black Arts, p. 334: “In the eighth century All Saints’ Day was moved to November 1 or Samhain from its original date, May 13, which in Roman times had been a day dedicated to the Lemures, malevolent gods which drank human blood.” Lewis Spencer, “Human Sacrifice” in The History and Origins of Druidism, p. 104-105: “… human sacrifice was a frequent and common element in their religious procedure. No sacrifice might be carried out except in the presence of a Druid. … We are informed by Keating that the Irish Druids on the eve of Samhain burned their victims in the holy fire.”
[3] Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, p. 87-88: “During the night of October 31, the enchanted souls were freed by the Druid god, Samhain [the god of the dead], and taken together into the Druid heaven. This festival was always accompanied by animal and sometimes human sacrifices and linked with all kinds of magic. … In spite of the coming of Christianity, this Pagan festival continued to be observed until the sixth century. Gregory the Great (A.D. 540-604) advised the Archbishop of Canterbury to retain the hitherto Druid sacrifices and celebrate them in honor of the Christian saints.”
[4] Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, 1979, Vol. 12, p. 152: “The observances connected with Halloween are believed to have originated among the ancient Druids, who believed that on the evening, Saman, the lord of the dead, called forth hosts of evil spirits.” MacCane, Celtic Mythology, p. 127 writes concerning the feast of Samhain, which took place on November 1, as such: “During this interval the normal order of the universe is suspended, the barriers between the natural and the supernatural are temporarily removed, the sidh lies open and all divine beings and the spirits of the dead move freely among men and interfere sometimes violently, in their affairs.”
[5] 1994-2000 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
[6] Erica Jong, Witches, 1981, p. 122.
[7] 2 Chron 33:6.
[8] Gal 5:19-20.
[9] James 4:7.
[10] Eph 4:27.