Open The Eyes Of Our Hearts Lord…Is Halloween An Invitation to the Occult?Hidden dangers that we may not see, are often subtly just under the surface and cunningly disguised by the enemy of our souls as seemingly ‘harmless fun’.Despite economic gloom casting a spell on consumer confidence, this year America’s darkest holiday is looking bright for retailers.  According to industry research firm IBISWorld , Halloween sales are expected to exceed a record-breaking $6 billion, sales are up in treats, candy and costumes for even more scary numbers.Let’s not be among those who line the pockets of greedy retailers and the fat cats of commerce, who would like to get their hands on our hard earned income and who also seek to profit from scaring and frightening our children at such a young and innocent and impressionably tender age.

Rather let’s

protect our children

from anything that would frighten them

and cause them to have sleepless nights and nightmares;

and not subject them to fears and anxieties that may

follow and torment them for years to come!

Jesus said suffer, (do not prevent),

the little children from coming to Me,

(not to the occult things of darkness)

for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

The scriptures encourage us in Eph 5:11 KJV: And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Amp: Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] expose and reprove and convict them.Phillips Translation: For of this much you can be certain: that neither the immoral nor the dirty-minded nor the covetous man (which latter is, in effect, worshipping a false god) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Don’t let anyone fool you on this point, however plausible his argument. It is these very things which bring down the wrath of God upon the disobedient. Have nothing to do with men like that—once you were “darkness” but now you are “light”. Live then as children of the light.The light produces in men quite the opposite of sins like these—everything that is wholesome and good and true. Let your lives be living proofs of the things which please God. Steer clear of the activities of darkness; let your lives show by contrast how dreary and futile these things are. (You know the sort of things I mean—to detail their secret doings is really too shameful). For light is capable of “showing up” everything for what it really is. It is even possible (after all, it happened to you!) for light to turn the thing it shines upon into light also. Thus God speaks through the scriptures: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

 

Habbakuk 4:6 says ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge’.  When we have all the facts and understand the truth behind the curtains of seducing deception and we are educated, then we can make an enlightened and informed decision concerning future actions and participations. This is not a ‘party pooping exercise’, simply a heartfelt effort, with only a humble and loving motive, to protect and enlighten, while exposing the enemy.It’s always helpful to remember that darkness is looking for any way to capture our children and as fear is the opposite of faith, he uses things and events that scare and produce fear. The kingdom of darkness is based on fear and hate. Gods kingdom is the total opposite and is based on Faith and Love. It’s a good thing to consider which of these we would rather have our precious children exposed to. All the devil comes to do is steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).He uses seduction, temptation and deception among his arsenal of weapons. Many problems in adult life can be traced back to harrowing experiences associated with scary incidents at times such as Halloween. With this in mind… and not wishing to dwell on the subject more than to highlight its dangers...

Do we know where the word Halloween came from?

Halloween a day celebrated around the world when people dress up in costumes, collect candy from neighbors and have parties, but do we ever take time to think about the origins of Halloween? Most people don’t think twice about participating in it saying ‘It’s all in fun’ or ‘Its not evil to me’, but is this so called hallow evening really so innocent?

Do we know that a holiday named Samhain was celebrated on October 31st for centuries before the word Halloween was invented?

Do we know that Samhain is still celebrated by many, many people today?

Do we know that many Halloween traditions of today can trace back to the pagan practices of ancient peoples?

Do we know that the Lord commanded us not to be involved in the types of activities that take place on Halloween?

Once we learn the truth behind Halloween we’ll be stunned.

The Biggest Pagan Holiday Of All

“Halloween has been imposed by an esoteric- satanic culture which induces the community to perform rituals of witchcraft, spiritualism and satanism which can even lead to ritual sacrifices and violence. For satanists, Halloween is the most magic day in the year and during this night they perform black masses, esoteric-magical ceremonies and encourage witchcraft.”

“Christian parents and all those who believe in the values of life should know that Halloween is the adoration of Satan which has been disguised through games and parties for young people. Halloween is especially dangerous for young people because it encourages an esoteric-magical mentality which seeks to subvert religion by attacking spiritual values and what is sacred through an initiation of occult arts and images.”  
No fascination or pictures! – just the Facts!

This is always a difficult time for Christians, especially those with children. It has been suggested that for a Christian to be asked to celebrate Halloween is like asking a Holocaust survivor to celebrate Hitler’s birthday!

It is also a dangerous time for some, since many of the seemingly harmless involvements associated with Halloween can also be entries for the occult, and can prove very tragic for the unwary.In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of Samhain was observed on October 31, the end of summer. November 1 was the new year for both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon calendars and was one of the most important and yet sinister calendar festivals of the Celtic Year.

Settling in northern France and the British Isles, the Celtic people engaged in occult arts and worshiped nature, giving it supernatural qualities. The ancient Druids were the learned priestly class of the Celtic religion. Many of their beliefs and practices were similar to those of Hinduism, such as reincarnation and the transmigration of the soul, which teaches that people may be reborn as animals. The Druids believed that on October 31, the night before their New Year and the last day of the old year, Samhain, the Lord of Death, gathered the souls of the evil dead who had been condemned to enter the bodies of animals.The Druids also believed that the punishment of the evil dead would be lightened by sacrifices, prayers and gifts to the Lord of Death. 

The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired a 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.On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther drove a stake into the heart of many of the prevailing non-Biblical concepts by nailing his famous 95 theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, which started the movement known today as the Reformation. The single most important event in modern history. and appropriately, he did this on Halloween.In the eighth century Pope Gregory III decided to turn the pagans important day into a day of the church by calling it All Saints’ Day. 

Chosen to be a spiritual counteract against the previous nights occult activity; in the same way as many churches were constructed over pagan sites, to encourage those who were unsaved to participate in the Christian services that were then held in the same location.

In Western Christianity it’s celebrated on 1 November by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, and other Protestant churches.Also known as All Hallows’ Day, Hallowmas, Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints. This became a Christian festival celebrated in honor of all the saints, known and unknown.

So now we call Oct 31^st All Hallows Eve or evening, or as we are familiar with today, Halloween.

Various customs have developed related to Halloween. In the Middle Ages, poor people in the community begged for soul cakes, and upon receiving these doughnuts, they would agree to pray for departed souls. This is the root of our modern day trick-or-treat.

Modern Halloween Traditions

In early American history, Halloween was not widely practiced until the 20th century, when it was introduced by the Irish Catholic settlements. Gradually, Halloween became a secular observance, and many customs and practices developed. The carved pumpkin may have originated with the witches’ use of a skull with a candle inside to light the way to coven meetings.

The Occult is Increasingly Popular

Halloween is, for many, a crossover involvement in which innocent games can lead to serious entanglement with real witches, neo-pagans, New Agers, and other occultists.

A common pastime is the use of a Ouija board to attempt to contact ghosts or spirits that are believed to be roaming about. This can lead to serious consequences including unwanted activity from evil spirits.Evil spirits have a vested interest in Halloween because it supports the occult, and it also offers novel and unexpected opportunities to control and influence people.

Occultism includes Satanism, astrology, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, theosophy, witchcraft and many forms of serious magic. It includes activities seeking the acquisition of hidden things, which are expressly forbidden by God in the Bible.

Jesus paid the price for our freedom with His Blood. 

The Biblical View

Halloween practices can open the door to the occult and can introduce forces into people’s lives that they are not equipped to combat.

There is genuine power in the occult, but it has its origin from darkness not the power of God through His Holy Spirit.

Any serious study of Biblical demonology will reveal Satan as the power behind false religion, witchcraft, idolatry and the occult.

The Word of God makes it clear that these are all to be shunned as dangerous. There were many superstitions and false concepts in ancient Israel about which the Bible is silent. However, occultism, in any form, was punishable by death! Why?

Because – The spiritual power and reality behind idols involves evil spirits.

 A Halloween Project?

Every year, many people are perplexed as to how to deal with the children’s celebrations surrounding Halloween. On the one hand, participating in the perpetuation of the usual pagan (and occult) rituals are hardly the enterprise of a Biblical Christian however on the other hand, creating constructive alternatives can be challenging.

Many churches and families organize a ‘Harvest’ festival with games, prizes, etc., as an alternative. 

Your ProtectionIntellect alone is insufficient.

“If it were possible, it would deceive the very elect.”

This is another example of the necessity to truly understand the Armor of God as outlined in Ephesians 6.

It’s not just the physical dangers of Halloween, of pranks gone too far, or the dangers of tampered with treats, as serious as those are, there are real spiritual dangers of this season.There are other activities though that go on around Halloween that we who are Christians must be aware and wary of. In the past two decades there has been a resurgence of paganism and witchcraft in our culture, largely in response to the secularization of our nations.

If people feel a spiritual void, they will fill it with something.  

The often colorful, folksy rites and accoutrements of popular witchcraft and paganism are attractive and can be quite appealing to the senses.

Anything that is used to find power apart from our Holy God, can be dangerous to our immortal souls.It seems that it’s at Halloween time that many otherwise devout, God-fearing people will go to a seance, allow someone to read the Tarot for them, will dabble in a little harmless white magic and otherwise play around with things forbidden by Scripture.

(In truth, there is no such thing as harmless magic.)

THAT is where the danger lies. The Powers of Darkness draw us in, not so much by great temptations, but by little enticements. “Oh, but that Tarot reading was just silly fun! (But, the reader did seem awfully accurate, didn’t she?)”, “I know we Christians don’t believe in reincarnation…but that little past life regression game…well, it was so real!”, “Oh, I don’t really believe in these candle burning rituals, but the colored candles are so pretty and, well, they do help me feel better.” And on and on. But doing these things…small and innocent as they may seem to us…not only opens the door, (even just a little) to evil, these are sinful in the eyes of a loving and Holy God.They contradict the honor,

respect, and loving fear

that we owe to God alone.

Spiritual PlumblineWhen in doubt?… Don’tAs we accept Jesus,

we are saying

YES to LIFE

and

NO to DEATH Halloween is a celebration of death!

Just say NO because When God gives you light… walk in itwe are encouraged that…  so here are some real treats

to look at and think on..

The God we love who sent Jesus

has created so many, many beautiful things…

 

He is TheLets fill our hearts homes and gardens with

His love, beauty and peace…

Be Safe this week..

you are greatly loved!