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"...The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
I Timothy 3:15
Halloween: Kid’s Treat or Pagan Trick?
Many Christians celebrate holidays such as Halloween without thinking about their
origins or true meaning. It is impossible to separate Halloween from the Druids because
they originated the "holiday".
For several hundred years before Christ, the Celts
inhabited what is now France, Germany, England, Scotland and Ireland. Celtic priests
were called Druids. These people were eventually conquered by the Romans. Information
about the Celts and Druids comes from Caesar and the Roman historians, Greek writings
from about 200 B.C., and very early records found in Ireland.
Greek and Roman writings
about the Druids dwell heavily on their frequent and barbaric human sacrifices, but
detail the Druid's use of magic to raise storms, lay curses on places, kill by the
use of spells, and create magical obstacles.
Davies, however, a 16th century writer who traced his family back to Druids priests
who fought against Caesar, clearly describes the human sacrifices of his ancestors
and the secret sacrifices still performed regularly by the Druids of his time.
By
47 A.D., Rome finally defeated the Druids in England and outlawed human sacrifices.
The few remaining Druids went underground. Today a growing group of people claiming
to be of direct Druid descent still practice their religion including human sacrifice.
Those in England still perform ceremonies at Stonehenge.
November 1st was the Celtic
New Year. October 31st was celebrated by the Druids with many human sacrifices and
a festival honoring their sun god and Samhain, the lord of the dead. They believe
that the sinful souls of those who died during the year were in a place of torment,
and would be released only if Samhain was pleased with their sacrifices.
Monks Fascinated
By Druids
Irish records tell of the fascination the Catholic monks had with the powerful
Druids, and the Druids soon became important members of their monasteries. Pope Gregory
the Great decided to incorporate the Druid's holiday into the church. He made the
proclamation, "They are no longer to sacrifice beasts to the devil, but they may
kill them for food to the praise of God, and give thanks to the giver of all gifts
for his bounty."
Pope Gregory III moved the church festival of October 31st to November 1st and called
it All Hallows or All Saints' Day. Pope Gregory IV decreed that the day was to be
a universal church observance. The term Halloween comes from All Hallows Eve.
The
founding fathers of America refused to permit the holiday to be observed because
they knew it was a pagan holiday. Halloween was not widely celebrated in the U.S.
until about 1900. In the 1840's there was a terrible potato famine in Ireland which
sent thousands of Catholic Irish to America. They brought Halloween with them.
The
modern custom of going from door to door asking for food and candy goes back to the
time of the Druids. They believed that the sinful lost souls were released upon the
earth by Samhain for one night on October 31st while they awaited their judgment.
They were thought to throng about the houses of the living and were greeted with
banquet-laden tables.
Pumpkins to Scare Demons
People greatly feared these spirits
and thought that the spirits would harm and even kill them if the sacrifices they
gave did not appease Samhain. They carved demonic faces into pumpkins or large turnips,
placing a candle in them to keep the evil spirits away from the homes.
The tradition
of bobbing for apples and giving out nuts came from a Roman addition to the Druidic
New Years Eve. The Romans worshipped Pomona who was the goddess of the harvest. They
combined their harvest festival to Pomona with Halloween.
Very little archeological
evidence of the Druids has been found, but there is excellent agreement between the
Roman and Irish documents. Both clearly state that the knowledge of the Druids was
never committed to writings but passed from generation to generation by oral teaching.
This was to protect their secrets. In his writings, Davies indicates that he came
under much persecution by his family for putting in writing his information about
Druids.
The same is true today. Nothing is put into writing. The Druids continue
on secretly with much the same traditions. The widespread problem of harmful substances
such as razor blades, drugs, poisons, needles, etc. being placed in Halloween treats
here in America is no accident. Testimonies of several ex-Satanists show that these
children killed and injured by the "treats" are sacrifices to Satan (or Samhain).
Satanists throughout the world continue to perform human sacrifices on Halloween.
Is this something you want your child to participate in?