For Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft," 1 Sam. 1523,
Halloween is celebrated by children in the United States. This issue is becoming debatable inside of Christian circle because of the rise of the occult in America.
Witchcraft-Satanism revivals and their obvious tie with pagan holiday causes Christians to question if the church should participate in Halloween.
Children in costumes and masks with Halloween pumpkins of 'Jack o' Lanterns' (a name for (Will o' Wisps) ancient symbol of a damned soul, too long considered harmless fun, and innocent pranks.
Masquerading as Church fund-raising bazaars decorated with black cats and witches; skeletons, scarecrows, haunted house, bats vampires, dummies in coffins, should not be integrated with the holiness of the scared house of God. It's wicked and brings a curse, Deut. 11-36, 28.
Some see it as evil and will have nothing to do with the celebration; others as harmless fun partake fully, costume parties, Halloween decorations & trick-or-treat. Still others try to find a "middle" approach, allowing trick-or-treat and masquerades, but as "Bible characters" instead of demonic and occult figures.
Some Churches are now seeing the influence of its fruit. One cannot deny the occult-metaphysical nature of Halloween is not in line with the Christian in character. Despite this clear contrast, Christians defend their complicity in the holiday asserting their "liberty" in Christ from the bondages of "legalism", declaring it is only innocent fun! God never gave us "liberty to engage ourselves in evil!.
"Learn not the way of the heathen... for the customs of the people are vain." (Jeremiah 10:2-3).
"And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, 11 Corinthians 6:15-17).
ALL HALLOWS EVE
Halloween or ALL HALLOWS' EVE, was originally a festival of fire - the dead and the powers of darkness. It is the evening of 31 October, the night before the Christian festival of Hallows' or ALL SAINTS DAY.
All Hallows' Day commemorates the saints and martyrs, and was first introduced in the 7th century. Its date was changed from 13 May to 1 November in the following century, probably to make it coincide with and Christianize a pagan festival of the dead. All Souls' Day in the Roman Catholic calendar is 2 November. It is marked by prayers for the souls of the dead.1
Before the coming of Christianity, the pagan Celts in northern Europe held two great fire festivals each year, Beltane of the eve of 1 May and Samhain on the eve of 1 November to mark the beginning of summer and winter. These dates have no connection with the equinoxes or solstices, or with sowing and reaping, but seem to date from from very early times when Celtic society depended heavily on cattle for subsistence. Samhain marked the beginning of winter and was the time when the cattle were brought in from pasture to spend the winter under cover. It was also the beginning of a new year. Because the Celtic day started at sunset, and ran to the following sunset, the festival began on the eve of 1 November.
Bonfires on high hills were a blatant feature of the Old Halloween rites, though in England they have been gradually transferred to 5 November to mark the arrest of Guy Fawkes. In the 1860s a traveler in Scotland counted 30 fires on the hilltops between Dunkeld and Aberfeldy, each with a circle of people dancing round. Done to the end of the 19th century fires blazed on the hills in Lancashire on the eve of All Hallows. In north Wales every family built a bond fire and each person threw into the ashes a white stone which he had previously marked. Prayers were said round the fire and next morning if a stone was missing, it was thought that is owner would die before he saw another Halloween. The same belief existed in the Scottish Highlands and many forms of fortune telling were a traditional feature of Halloween - probably because it was the Celtic New Year's Day and so a suitable time for predicting the events of the coming years.
In Aberdeenshire and Buchan in the 19th century, boys collecting fuel for the bonfire would ask for a 'peat to burn the witches. When the fire was lit the boys danced round it shouting "Fire! Fire!" Burn the witches'. When the fire died down, the ashes were scattered and when the last spark had gone out, the cry went up into the ominous darkness. "The devil take the hindmost" and they all ran for their lives. In Wales 'the cropped black sow' would take the hindmost.
All Hallows' Eve was a night when the dead stalked the countryside. Offerings of food and drink were put out for the ghosts. They passed by to the west always, the direction of the dying sun at sunset.
The fairies could also bee seen moving from one fairy hill to another with the music of bells and elf horns. They were sometimes identified with the dead.
Darker and colder creatures still roamed through the night on Halloween - demons and hobgoblins, witches who straddled broomsticks or shankbones, flew in sieve or egg-shells, or rode on coal-black horses. The fires helped to keep them off and at Balmoral in Queen Victoria's time the effigy of a hideous old witch was ceremoniously burned on a bonfire at Halloween.
The guisers went from house to house, singing and dancing. Their blood-curdling masks and grotesque costumes may have been meant to keep evil at bay or, more likely, were a visible representation of the ghosts and goblins that lurked in the night. The masks have now been transferred to the children who, in the United States, visit the neighbors for the food-offerings which once belonged to the dead - or play ticks akin to the legendary destructiveness of witches and imps abroad on this night 2
"When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, through shalt not learn to do after the abomination of those nations" (Deut. 18-9).
MASKS
A very popular Halloween custom is the wearing of masks, (false faces) . . . witch masks, devil masks, cat masks, bat masks, monster masks, and the list goes on. People hide behind all sorts of 'masks.' Some hide behind 'hats' and still others, including many of today's youth, and others a, hide behind dark sunglasses.
From earliest times, people all over the world have worn masks for all sorts of reasons . . droughts, epidemics, or other disasters. They hoped that the demons who had brought the disaster would see the mask and think they were demons, too, and be frightened off. Imaging primitive societies a mask was more than a means of changing one's appearance; it was a link with the world of the spirits, a channel by which men could tap the forces of the supernatural. The wearing of a mask was believed to change a mans identity and faculties, for the assumed appearance was believed to affect the wearer's inner nature and to assimilate it to that of the being represented by the mask.
During the middle ages, witches often put on masks or smeared their faces with soot and paint. People of nobility attending a witches' Sabbath would always arrive 'masked.'
Masks can be divided into two categories, the religious and the profane. Masks are worn by the dancers in the religious ceremonies of West African Tribes. The theater of ancient Greece is an example of the secular use of the mask. The use of the masks enabled actors to double and triple the number of parts they could play during any one performance.
Protection against supernatural dangers is a function of masks worn in certain ritual situations, such as at funerals. This is done 'in order to avoid recognition by the souls of the dead.' Masks are sometimes worn by 'warriors' to symbolize a superior power by identifying themselves with this force. While there are civilizations where the mask plays an important role in ritual activities, there are regions of the world where the wearing of mask is unknown.
Mask are worn in some initiation ceremonies of certain organizations. The wearer of the mask partakes of the power of the divinity or spirit which the mask symbolizes. Thus the wearer of the mask is believed to be elevated above the common mass of the uninitiated.
PAGANISM OCCULT
History traces to the ancient religion of the Druid, a religion so evil that Rome forbad its practice.3 The American Peoples Encyclopedia explains: "The origin of Halloween customs antedate Christianity. The Druids, members of pagan orders in Britain, Ireland and Gual, Festival of Samhain. It was a night of ghosts and faeries, in which bonfires were built and futures were foretold and witches rode through the sky."
Superstitions linking cats with reincarnation made them special objects of notice on Halloween. Numerous legends surrounded the Holiday, but two significant things supposedly occurred on that night:
First, it was believed that the dead would rise out of their graves and wander the countryside, trying to return to the homes where they formerly lived. Frightened villagers tried to appease these wandering spirits by offering them gifts of fruits and nuts. If not placated villagers tried gifts of fruits and nuts. If not placated villagers feared that the spirits would kill their flocks or destroy their property. This the origin of our present day "Trick-or-treat! In a custom born out of superstition, and pagan superstition at that!
Also, its a blasphemous perversions of the Christian belief in the Resurrection. In a glorified, immortal body. In Druidism, the dead are raised as horrifying creatures of the night, hideous monsters, decaying skeletons, vampires, etc. they received not glorified bodies but grotesque ones; not immortal bodies but inhuman ones.
Second, Samhain was the supreme night of Demonic jubilation. This was a celebration of the beginning of Winter and Darkness, as day light grew noticeably shorter, and night lengthier. The hoards of hell would roam the earth in a wild celebration of darkness and death, all in honor of Samhain! the poor mortal forced to travel on such a night! The only thing the superstitious people knew to do to protect themselves on such an occasion was to masquerade as one of the demonic hoard, and hopefully blend in unnoticed among them! This is the origin of Halloween masquerading as devils, imps, orgies, and other demonic creatures.4
STATEMENT WITCHES IN MODERN TIME
Bats... Brooms... Witches ... Ghouls ... Ghosts ... Goblins ... Skeletons ... Jack o' Lanterns ... every type of gory ugly thing that can be imagined and people dressed as creatures of the world of the dead or the unknown world of hobgoblins and devils.
The modern sophisticate, who do not realistically face the evil and danger surrounding this time of year, may say, "Witches are for Halloween. It is a time for children to visit the neighborhood to get candy and apples. There is no harm in celebrating Halloween with its witches and devils." To some, 'witches' are a figment of the imaginations of the superstitious seventeenth century Salem primitives.
If witches are for Halloween - a thing of the past, then why are so many young people and older ones alike being swept into the grips of Satan by 'dabbling' in those things which relates to him?5
Anyone informed about witchcraft would tell you that there are certain rituals and spells that can only be cast on Halloween night. That is the night when the "veil" believed to separate the living from the dead is thought to be the thinnest and futures are easier and more accurately foretold by diviners.6
Those who oppose Christ are known to organize on Halloween to observe Satanic rituals, to cast spells, to oppose churches and families, to perform sacrilegious acts, and to even offer blood sacrifices to Satan. Last year, newscasters in numerous cities warned their viewers to guard their animals on Halloween nights.7
Dogs and cats are thought to be the most often sacrificed animals on Halloween. In rural communities it is not uncommon for farmers to awake to find the mutilated remains of their farm animals (cows, calves, chickens, even horses) that were ritualistically slaughtered in Satanic sacrifices. The practices that accompany such rites are almost too revolting to believe-the drinking of animal (or human) blood and urine, the digestion of entrails and organs,m orgiastic rituals, substance, abuse, becoming more frighteningly common across the U. S., human sacrifice.8
Paulus Grillandus said of the practice of witchcraft: "Those witches who have solemnly devoted themselves to the Devil's service, worship him in a particular manner with ceremonial sacrifices, which they offer to the Devil, imitating in all respects the worship of Almighty God, with vestments, lights, and other ritual observance, so that they worship and praise him, just as we worship the true God.
THE HALLOWEEN WITCH
If you thought Halloween was a time for cornstalks, pumpkins, apples, and apple cider - a time for children dressed in cute costumes of witches, goblins, ghosts or devils to knock at you door call "trick or treat", you had better wise up. There is more to Halloween.... much more! Halloween is not child's play. It is an abomination in the eyes of God!
The Halloween Witch is a strange-looking female in black cloak and peaked hat riding a broomstick along with her symbolic cat. Her name is derived the the Saxon word wica, which means "wise one."
Artists of the Middle Ages often showed witches preparing to fly off to one of their Sabbaths. It was believed that angels and devils were supposed to be able to fly, so it was easy to believe that witches, too, could fly. The broomstick, originally made from a stalk of the broom plan with a bunch of leaves at the head, was said to be used by poor witches who went on foot. The broom or pole was used to vault over brooks, streams or thorny patches. Due to its use as an indoor cleaning supply, the broom became the symbol of women. Before setting out for a Sabbath, witches would rub 'Sacred' ointment called ungent into their pores. One ingredient in the ointment confused the mind. Another speeded up the witch's pulse. Still another numbed the feet. This gave them a feeling of flying. If they had been fasting, the ointment seemed to make them feel even giddier. Bat blood was another ingredient in that ointment. In England, during initiation ceremonies, new witches were sometimes blind-folded, smeared with the ungent, then placed on a broom.
The pealing of church bells was believed to be a defense against aerial witches.. In the Slav countries people used to fire muskets at the clouds, screaming as they did so, "Curse, curse Herodius, thy mother is a heathen damned of God," while other laid scythes and billhooks on the ground, edge upward, to assure that the witches would not have a safe landing.
The black of a witch's cloak reminds us that Halloween is a "festival of the dead."10
TRADITIONS OF WITCHES
Trick and Treat is the fun time of many unsuspecting children and adults, but the "trick" is really on the one who is playing right into the trap of the devil. Halloween is a day of celebration for the devil and his worshippers.
The cauldrons are boiling; potions are brewing; the yule logs are blazing; the forces of Satan are in their height rituals and ceremonies. The powers of the demonic world are loosed and they are running around crazily seeking bodies to enter 11
Real witches held high revel on All Hallows' Eve and this was one of the ways in which they preserved pagan customs. The witches of Aberdeen in 1596 said that they had danced round the market cross at midnight on Halloween and also round an old grey stone at the foot of the hill at Craigleuch, the Devil himself playing music before them
MODERN WITCHES HAVE KEPT UP THE TRADITION
In 1963, for instance, a journalist watched the Halloween festivities of a coven of witches at St. Albans. The high priestess, naked except for a string of beads and watched by the other 12 members of the coven, drew a circle on the ground with the point of her magic knife. A candle burned in each quarter of the circle, with a fifth candle on a altar in the middle. The reporter did not reveal the details of the ceremony but he did record a remark of the high priestess. "We are not anti-Christian', she said, 'we just have other means of spiritual satisfaction. It's hard to describe that satisfaction."11
WITCH GIVES INSIGHT TO MODERN RITUALS
Rev. Irene A. Park,12 gives insight to modern rituals. Secret ceremonials, rituals, obligations and covenants are being kept by cultists and Satanists on particular days and nights. Multitudes are gathering in worship, prayer and sacrifices to the god of the world, Lucifer.
Family spirits gather like a family reunion or holiday celebration" in the natural or earth realm; only these are the demons spirits of the departed dead that gather for rituals and sacrifice. (not ghosts but devils). Some of the demon spirits gather for rituals and sacrifice, some of the demon spirits present at the celebration come from embodied living clan or or tribal members. (Demons who lived in these people while they were alive).
These are the ones that are vying for the powers. Some come just to celebrate the traditional gathering and festivities 13
Sometimes the assignments that the demons spirits receive bring about rebellion in the supernatural Satanic realm. The spirits want to continue to control the area they are in, whether body, nation, society, system or whatever control they received for their obedience to Satan. They do not want to be dislodged. They like to continue to embody members of the same family; they prefer humans but will settle for animals.
Millions of person are vying for power, supernatural powers of evil to work curses, hexes, spells, power to manipulate, controlling power over lesser forces of darkness, power to control this present world system!
A reformed witch once told me that vying for power meant that a supernatural battle ensues between the other covens. Whosoever demonstrated the greatest power won the control of certain areas, such as, seas, city, etc. Satan would give the witch a part of all illegal finances collected in her area. For instance, Laura Cabot has political control over Salem Massachusetts and maybe over the entire state. Recently when Jeff Fendhold visited her occult book store, within thirty seconds the policemen where on the scene driving police cars with the symbols of a flying witch on the side. Then the Attorney General of the that state cited Jeff that he was wanted by the law for "harassing witches!"
Christians had better wake up and began old time prayers meetings for this nation!
Parks writes, "Many of the people are saturated in demonology with demonic spirits and are already in control of government establishments, military, religious organizations, financial systems, educational institutions, etc. These spirits are superior and receive their origin in Satan and are under the powers of the familiar spirits (spirits guides) that work divination and will only impart power to those totally yielded to obedience and in every obligation required by Lucifer.
Witches, druids, wizards, magicians, sorcerers, pagans of every breed are in high mass, tribe and clan leaders are calling a reunion in the supernatural realm. These are Sabbaths to the worshippers of Satan, "people in the occult," and they take these days very seriously.
Christians should begin to pray for their families, church leaders, and cover the children with the blood of Jesus and the protection of God during these days. There is no question that human sacrifices are occurring. Bind the powers of darkness and loose the power of God according Matt. 18:18. (there are over two million children missing every year. Many to young to run away. At least 7,000 are found dead every year).
Parks says, "The highest Sabbath mass is the eve of October 31... This a time of proclaiming powers for control and leadership in the Satanic realm world systems. There are blood sacrifices offered up to the go of Baal worship, the sun god Ra, and to the goddess of fertility Diana.
Christians should begin their defensive spiritual warfare weeks before Halloween. Witches begin their preparation on the 18th day of October.
"On the 18th day of October, faithful followers of evils spirits gather for 13 days before the eve of Halloween of Sabbath. During this timely offer sacrifices (human or animal) to the god of the spirit world, Satan. These sacrifices are to obtain super spiritual power. All the followers must give a blood sacrifice; some give their own blood, others offer an animal's blood, the more power they want, the greater the sacrifice.
There is every conceivable type of orgy happening from the 18 until 31st October. Disembodied spirits loosed from the bodies of animals are being vied for by spiritualists, witches, druids, wizards and Satan worshippers. All of the corrupt evil wicked, vile filth one could imagine is happening. Something is happening in the open, but most of the spiritual activity is well guarded from every corner of the earth at the command of the Lord Druid.:And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Ephesians 5:1, 11.
HOW TO BECOME BORN AGAIN
Accept God's Word, that He loves you and wants to give you an abundant life.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. "I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly" John 10:10.
1. Accept God's word: that you are a sinner; and this separates you from God: that you must truly repent or "turn away" from sin. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23). "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.." Rome 6:23. "But God commendeth His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8.
2. Accept: That Jesus Christ is our only contact with God. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6). "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5).
3. Receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord by your personal invitation. "But as may as received Him to them gave he the power to become the sons of God." John 1:12). "Behold I stand at the door and knock; If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into Him..." Christ speaking Revelation 3:20_.Do you feel a tug at your heart right now? This how He knocks. Jesus want in!
Will you receive Christ right now? You can be saved
ed in 30 seconds! Open the door and Pray! Dear Father, I'm a lost sinner. I repent. Please forgive me and come into my heart and save me. Thank You for saving my soul! In Jesus' name, Amen.
If you are backslidden, say the same prayer. The Lord loves you and will forgive you.
Obedience is the practical acceptance of the authority and will of God, including both the inward glad submission and the outward expressing of actions, reactions, words and thoughts.
Disobedience is evidence of rebellion and distrust in God, preference to self will and the lack of surrender to and desire for the will of God in all things. God expects obedience (Deut 11:26-28) To choose Christ is to choose obedience (John 14:15,21). To become disobedient is to sin or rebel against God's expectation and rights ( 1 Sam. 15:22,23).
"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not know." Deut. 11:26-28).
Sources:Richard, Cavendish Editor, Man Myth & Magic, An illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural, All Hallows' Eve, p. 67.; Raith Word Publications, P. o. Box 496, Arabi, La., 70032; Irene A. Parks, Seven Pagan High Masses & Halloween, Tampa, Fla., & The Witch That Switched.; Halloween and Satanism Phil Phillips and Joan Hake Robie Starbust Pub. P. O. Box 4123, Lancaster, Penn 17604.
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