Where does this celebration come from, and should we be celebrating it?
This is an interesting topic to dive into...
One of the most celebrated festivals in the world that we used to look forward to as youth...
Why wouldn't we?
Candy! 🍭🍬🍫 Role Playing & Costumes! 🦸🏾♂️
A time to hit the streets and have fun!
A reason to get mischievous 😈
I liked Halloween, for all of those reasons...
Especially the last one...
As I got older though, I became more inquisitive...
I wanted to know "who, what, where, when, why?" about everything and this intensified as I grew...
Eventually, this age old tradition came up on my inspection list 📝
I would like to take this time to share some of the info I've discovered about this festival...
If you have any additions or corrections, please leave em in the comments below.
1) It is widely accepted that Halloween started as a Western European Celtic festival known as "Samhain" meaning "Summers End."
Apparently, the celebration started around the same time of year, marking the last day of harvest season...
In addition to observing the season's end, they also celebrated "the crossing over of spirits into another world," and therefore, many started lighting "sacrificial bon fires" and wore costumes, called "guising," to ward off ghosts.
2) "Halloween"actually derived it's name from the Roman Catholic holiday,
"All Hallows Eve," the evening before the Roman Catholic Church ordained "All Saints Day" under Pope Gregory III to honor all saints on the same day of Samhain, November 1st, back in the eighth century.
Eventually, "All Saints Day" and thus "All Hallows Eve" incorporated the same traditions of Samhain.
The practice of the "Holy Roman Empire" blending pagan rituals with godly titles is not limited to Halloween and can also be traced back to the biggest commercial holiday in the world, Christmas. We'll save that for another study though.
3) The "guising" of old eventually included young people dressing up and asking for food or money which preceded the door to door "trick-or-treating" tradition practiced today.
4) The tradition was brought to the States by Irish immigrants in the mid-1800's, fleeing the potato famine.
5) Currently, it's one of the largest celebrated commercial holidays in the world, second only to Christmas!
It's reported that consumers will spend a record $10 Billion this year on candy, costumes and decorations, according to USA Today.
6) Jack-O'-lanterns originated from a legend that an Irish man named "Stingy Jack" played tricks on the devil, preventing him to go to Heaven or Hell when he died. As a result he was banished to roam the earth in darkness, holding only a lantern to light his way.
7) Halloween is "a satanic holiday to celebrate indulgence and embrace the darkness and its aesthetic" quoted from the "satanic temple" website.
Former Satanist turned Christian Pastor John Ramirez said,
"I was a General to the kingdom of darkness in witchcraft,"
"I would sit with the Devil and talk to him like I'm talking to you today.
It was that kind of communication.
It was that kind of relationship."
"Sometimes people say,
'I celebrated Halloween 10 years ago, I did this 15 years ago, I did this 20 years ago.'
But the door's still open."
"You just cursed your family from three to four generations."
"You have to be aware it's a curse.
You have to go back to the place where you started, that year that you started that Halloween thing, the celebration when you started having that encounter with the dark side."
"You have to go back to that same spot and renounce and renounce it in the name of Jesus Christ and ask God to forgive you for that so that God can have mercy and close that door so your whole family can move forward."
Let me add that brother John's strong stance against Halloween comes from the perspective of one who used to serve satan in the kingdom of darkness with all his heart, who has been radically converted into the Kingdom of Light by the redemption power of the blood of our Lord Yeshua Christ Jesus. HalleluYAH! Therefore, his stance may come across as extreme, but better to be hot or cold than to be luke warm, Jesus said.
In closing, it is my conviction that the the human race is made up spiritual beings, indwelling earthly bodies, and thus, our infatuation with the spiritual world, including the after life, is inevitable.
Let me also add, that I believe we are fallen spiritual beings, born into the sin, or the debt, or the separation from our loving creator, that without the light, the way, the truth, and the life, none other than the savior Jesus Christ of Nazereth, the son of God, the dynamic word of the Creator made flesh, and his atoning blood, man kind is lost, and susceptible to all types of rebellion, superstitions, imaginations, paganism, idolatry, dark arts, necromancy, sin and the inevitable judgement of God...
Personally, I don't want to be lost or deceived into following a path that's associated or leads to darkness, no matter how accepted, popular, or harmless it might appear.
Thus my motivation to shine some light on this tradition and expose the roots of it.
If you would like to renounce this practice like I have, say this prayer with me:
"Lord Jesus, I have sinned against you in ignorance,
and I have sinned against you consciously.
Thank you for dying for me,
and shedding your precious blood to redeem me....
I renounce my practice of this festival,
and I plead the blood of Jesus against it.
I repent from these practices
and ask that you forgive me.
Cover me and my family with your blood,
bring us out of this dark world,
and keep us safe in your arms.
Show us the way that we should go,
and give us the strength to be obedient and zealous
Fill our hearts and lives with your love & your light
and Shine for this entire world to see.
In Jesus holy name.
Amen
Thank you
-J.Will Guide the Wheel