Hello my friends..and maybe family? To those who have left comments I have read them..thank you so much and I know I keep saying, with each blog, that I am going to be more diligent in writing and it always ends up that I do not keep my word. Forgive me and I say to you I am going to TRY and write about relevent things and maybe even about the goings on in my life!
Now..on with the blog............
Yes..we are in the beginnings of the pagan holidays....their Helloween is today. What do I think? Well, I am disgusted by it but as a former pagan Christian who enjoyed...NO....LOVED...this holiday..I can only speak from experience and from the truth I now know.
My life no longer runs by the Roman Gregorian calender so today is 23 Cheshvan according to our Elohim's calender. If you desire to look at one, scope it out to see what it is all about, you can find His calenders at Chabad.org or Aish.com.
I must say this though, while my house and my life runs by this calender, I do keep track of the world's calender. In fact, any of the Jewish calenders you find will also have the Gregorian along with its own dates. I keep track it because of work and school and because not everyone in my family is walking in the Way of Elohim.
As I saiD, we are now in the beginning of the pagan holidays....Halloween, Christmas, New Years, Velentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter. And of course there are others but these are the main ones.
I will address Thanksgiving briefly, though. I have always felt it alright to celebrate because it is NOT a Catholic pagan holiday. It was and is a day of thanksgiving to G-d and was patterned after the our Elohim's Sukkot or Feast of Tabernacles. Some feel that because it is Christian that it should not be celebrated but as long as there are no connotations of paganism I and my family will continue to have a Thanksgiving meal together (I will, however be looking into it.)
Now onto the holiday at hand....Halloween or as I prefer....HELL-O-WEEN!
The following was taken from the PENSACOLA NEWS JOURNAL on October 24, 1994 in the children's section called "Chalk Talk":
Vocabulary - Costume (Kas toom): The style of dress, including accessories, of a certain country, period or profession.
Druid (droo id): A member of a Celtic religious order in ancient Britain, Ireland and France.
Halloween (Halo ween): The evening of Oct. 31, which is followed by All Saints' Day.
Samhain (Sa man): The demonic god of death worshipped by the Druids.
Q. When and where did the customs that eventually evolved into Halloween begin?
A. Three hundred years before JESUS was born; among a group of people called the Celtics who lived throughout the British Isles, Scandinavia and western Europe.
Q. Who started it?
A. A secret society of priests and pagans called the Druids, who served the demonic god of death -- Samhain.
Q. How did the custom begin?
A. Each year on Oct. 31, the Druids celebrated the eve of the Celtic new year with the Festival of Samhain.
Q. What did the Druid priests do during the festival?
A. They would go from house to house demanding all sorts of foods to offer to Samhain. If the village people would not give them the foods, they would speak a curse over the home. History claims then that someone in the family would die within a year. This was the origin of "trick or treat."
Q. Where did the Jack-O-Lantern come from?
A. When the Druids were going house to house seeking food for Samhain, they would carry a large turnip that had been hollowed out. A face was usually carved on one side and a candle was placed inside to provide light as they walked from house to house. The Druids believed a SPIRIT inhabited the turnips and helped the Druids carry out their spells. The name of the SPIRIT eventually became JOCK.
Q. How did pumpkins come to be used and where did the name Jack-O-Lantern come from?
A. When the practice came to America in the 18th and 19th centuries, turnips weren't that prominent, so the pumpkin was substituted. JOCK became Jack, who lives in the lantern or Jack-O-Lantern.
Q. Where did the name Halloween come from?
A. During the ninth century, the pope declared Nov. 1 be called All Saints' Day and would be set aside to honor all the martyred saints of the Catholic church. Oct. 31 became the eve of All Saints' Day. The Mass said on All Saints' Day was the Allhallowmas. Over the years, the evening before All Saints' Day became known as All Hallow's Eve, All Hallowed Eve, All Hallow E'en and finally Halloween.
Q. Where did the tradition of dressing in costumes come from?
A. In Ireland, during the festival of Samhain, children would dress like IMPS and fairies to lead the ghosts and goblins out of town after the Feast of Samhain. In England, after All Saints' Day was created, children would dress in each other's clothes and go door-to-door begging for soul cakes.
No matter what you think of halloween, know that it is the very highest satanic holy day. As a Christian, you should not be observing it in any way, especially IN your church. The catholic church is responsible for this day to be placed in the church.
Halloween has never been a Christian holiday, and it has no place in the life of a born again Believer in JESUS CHRIST. In fact, it is an abomination to God, and we should take our stand firmly against it. As we look at its history, we find that its roots go deep into heathenism, paganism, satanism and the occult; and its modern expression is no better.
HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
Celtic New Year
October 31 is the most important day in the satanic year. [It is known as the devil's birthday.] It marks the Celtic new year. It was the end of the growing season. It became a festival of death. On this day, the god of the Celtics was to have called up the spirits of the wicked dead who had died during the past year. At the same time, other evil spirits arose and went about the countryside harassing the people. On October 31, the Celtics expected to be harassed by ghosts, evil spirits and demons; and it was no fun and games to them. They would light bonfires to guide the spirits to their own town and to ward off evil spirits.
DRUIDS
The Celtics had priests called druids. On October 31, the druids went from house to house demanding certain foods, and all those who refused were cursed. The people were tormented by means of magic. As they went, the druids carried large turnips which they had hollowed out and on which they had carved demon faces as charms. Each one was believed to contain the demon spirit that personally led or guided that priest: his little god.
DIVINATION
Those who practiced fortune telling and divination found that this was the night that they had the most success. They called upon satan to bless their efforts. One form of divination was to put apples in a tub and bob for them. The one who first successfully came up with one without putting them in his teeth was to have good luck throughout the year. They would then peel the apples and throw the peeling over their shoulders and then quickly look around. They expected to see a vision or an apparition of the one they were to marry.
SACRIFICES
These things happened several centuries before CHRIST. Sacrifices were made to the gods, especially the god of death - Samhain (pronounced Sah win). Sacrifices all the way from vegetable to human were offered. This went on and on, and, in some parts of the world, still goes on today.
8th CENTURY
In the 8th century, the Pope, in an effort to get the people to quit the festival of Sam hain, invented All Saints Day (Nov. 1). This was an attempt to get the people to turn away from the horrible observance of Sam hain. All Saints Day was intended to honor the martyrs of the Roman persecutions. It did not work! It never works to Christianize a pagan holiday. The holy and the profane do not mix.
THE MIDDLE AGES
In the Middle Ages, there was a great revival of satanic practices and witchcraft and magic - like there is today. During this time the belief developed that witches traveled on broomsticks to the black Sabbaths to worship satan on October 31. They were guided by spirits in the form of black cats. The Druids worshiped cats believing them to be reincarnated evil people.
CHURCH INVOLVEMENT
This festival of death has survived all the efforts of the church to stamp it out. The church is joining the opposition by celebrating this festival.
All Saints Day became All Hallows Day. Hallow means holy or sacred. October 31 is the evening before All Hallows Day and came to be called in the western world all hallows evening and then all hallows een. Een is an abbreviation for evening. Finally, the word was reduced to the way we have it today, Halloween. That's where the name came from, and even if it is called all hallows evening, it has nothing to do with Christian faith, and it never did.
MODERN HALLOWEEN
Now let's look at the present day celebration of Halloween. Isn't the whole theme one of darkness, death, fear, threats, destruction and evil? There are witches, broomsticks, bats, owls, ghosts, skeletons, death, and monsters. You dress up your children as demons and witches and ghouls and monsters and werewolves and send them out into the street in the darkness to reenact the Druids' practice of demanding food from people under threat of tricks (or curses) if they don't comply.
You take, not a turnip, but a pumpkin and carve demon faces in it and decorate with it.
At Halloween there will be apple bobbing, divination, fortune telling, haunted houses, candles lit and spirits called up. There will be seances and ouija boards in the name of fun and excitement. There will be sacrifices of dogs, cats, rats, chickens, goats and even humans!
You say, "Well, we don't take it seriously." But the devil does and so does G-d.*
Here is some more about this evil day.............
History traces Halloween back to the ancient religion of the Celtics.
The Celtic people were very conscious of the spiritual world and
had their own ideas of how they could gain access to it – such
as by helping their over 300 gods to defeat their enemies in
battle, or by imitating the gods in showing cleverness and
cunning.
Their two main feasts were Beltane at the beginning of summer (May 1),
and Samhain at the end of summer (Nov. 1). They believed Samhain
was a time when the division between the two worlds became very
thin, when hostile supernatural forces were active and ghosts
and spirits were free to wander as they wished.
The Celtic priests who carried out the rituals in the open air were
called Druids, members of pagan orders in Britain, Ireland and
Gaul, who generally performed their rituals by offering
sacrifices, usually of animals, but sometimes of humans, in
order to placate the gods; ensuring that the sun would return
after the winter; and frightening away evil spirits. To the
Celtics, the bonfire represented the sun and was used to aid the
Druid in his fight with dark powers. The term bonfire comes from
the words “bone fire,” literally meaning the bones of sacrificed
animals, sometimes human, were piled in a field with timber and
set ablaze. All fires except those of the Druids were
extinguished on Samhain and householders were levied a fee to
relight their holy fire which burned at their altars. During the
Festival of Samhain, fires would be lit which would burn all
through the winter and sacrifices would be offered to the gods
on the fires. This practice of burning humans was stopped around
1600, and an effigy was sometimes burned instead.
Samhain was the supreme night of demonic jubilation. Spirits of 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 fruit and nuts. This is the origin of our present
day “trick-or-treat.” They began the tradition of placing plates
of the finest food and bits of treats that the household had to
offer on their doorsteps, as gifts, to appease the hunger of the
ghostly wanderers. If not placated, villagers feared that the
spirits would kill their flocks or destroy their property.
The problem was… if the souls of dead loved ones could return that
night, so could anything else, human or not, nice or
not-so-nice. 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. Wearing masks and other disguises and blackening the face
with soot were originally ways of hiding oneself from the
spirits of the dead who might be roaming around. This is the
origin of Halloween masquerading as devils, imps, ogres, and
other demonic creatures.
Trick or Treat has been thought to have come from a European custom
called “souling”. Beggars would go from village to village
begging for “soul cakes” made out of square pieces of bread with
currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the
more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead
relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the
dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer,
even by strangers could guarantee a soul’s passage to heaven.
In many parts of Britain and Ireland this night used to be known as
‘Mischief Night’, which meant that people were free to go around
the village playing pranks and getting up to any kind of
mischief without fear of being punished. Many of the different
customs were taken to the United States by Irish and Scottish
immigrants in the nineteenth century, and they developed into
‘trick or treat’.
When Christianity spread to parts of Europe, instead of trying to
abolish these pagan customs, people tried to introduce ideas
which reflected a more Christian world-view. Halloween has since
become a confusing mixture of traditions and practices from
pagan cultures and Christian tradition. The Romans observed the
holiday of Feralia, intended to give rest and peace to the
departed. Participants made sacrifices in honor of the dead,
offered up prayers for them, and made oblations to them. The
festival was celebrated on February 21, the end of the Roman
year. In the 7th century, Pope Boniface IV introduced All
Saints’ Day to replace the pagan festival of the dead. It was
observed on May 13. In 834, Gregory III moved All Saint’s Day
from May 13 to Nov. 1 and for Christians, this became an
opportunity for remembering before God all the saints who had
died and all the dead in the Christian community. Oct. 31 thus
became All Hallows’ Eve (‘hallow’ means ’saint’). Sadly, though,
many of the customs survived and were blended in with
Christianity.
Numerous folk customs connected with the pagan observances for the dead
have survived to the present. The various activities traditional
to Halloween are mostly associated with the idea of obtaining
good fortune and foretelling the future. The idea behind
ducking, dooking or bobbing for apples seems to have been that
snatching a bite from the apple enables the person to grasp good
fortune. Samhain is a time for getting rid of weakness, as
pagans once slaughtered weak animals which were unlikely to
survive the winter. A common ritual calls for writing down
weaknesses on a piece of paper or parchment, and tossing it into
the fire. There used to be a custom of placing a stone in the
hot ashes of the bonfire. If in the morning a person found that
the stone had been removed or had cracked, it was a sign of bad
fortune. Nuts have been used for divination: whether they burned
quietly or exploded indicated good or bad luck. Peeling an apple
and throwing the peel over one’s shoulder was supposed to reveal
the initial of one’s future spouse. One way of looking for omens
of death was for peope to visit churchyards, because the spirits
of those who were going to die during the coming year were
thought to walk around the churchyard during this night.
The Jack-o-lantern is the festival light for Halloween and is the
ancient symbol of a damned soul. Originally the Irish would
carve out turnips or beets as lanterns as representations of the
souls of the dead or goblins freed from the dead. When the Irish
emigrated to America they could not find many turnips to carve
into Jack O’Lanterns but they did find an abundance of pumpkins.
Pumpkins seemed to be a suitable substitute for the turnips and
pumpkins have been an essential part of Halloween celebrations
ever since. Pumpkins were cut with faces representing demons and
was originally intended to frighten away evil spirits. It was
said that if a demon or such were to encounter something as
fiendish looking as themselves that they’d run away in
terror,thus sparing the houses dwellers from the ravages of dark
entities. They would have been carried around the village
boundaries or left outside the home to burn through the night.
Bats, owls and other nocturanal animals, also popular symbols of
Halloween, were originally feared because people believed that
these creatures could communicate with the spirits of the dead.
Black cats has religious origins as well. During the Middle Ages
it was believed that witches could turn themselves into black
cats. Thus when such a cat was seen, it was considered to be a
witch in disguise.
Witches and witchcraft are dominant themes of the holiday. Witches
generally believe themselves to be followers of an ancient
religion, which goes back far beyond Christianity, and which is
properly called ‘wicca’. Witches are really just one side of a
modern revival of paganism - the following of pre-Christian nature religions, the attempt to return to worshipping ancient Norse, Greek or Celtic gods and
goddesses. The apostle Paul said Witchcraft is one of the acts
of the sinful nature and those who practice it will not inherit
the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:16-21; see also Revelation
22:15). 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. The nations you will dispossess listen to
those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you,
the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.
[Deuteronomy 18:10-14]
Should Christians adopt such practices?
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind.” [Romans 12:2]
Can we borrow the pagan customs and superstitions of ancient
peoples and “Christianize” them?
“Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. [1
Thesalonians 5:21-22] Who can deny that virtually all of the symbols of Halloween are evil? Witches, monsters, ogres, vampires, ghosts, ghouls, goblins,
devils and demons all portray evil.
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
reprove them.” [Ephesians 5:11]
The sort of practices celebrated on Halloween are what defiled the ancient nations
[see Leviticus 18:24-30]. The Israelites were warned against such practices when they entered the Promised Land,
“When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou
shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.”
[Deuteronomy 18:9]
Is Halloween just another innocent holiday that doesn’t harm
anyone? Is it really just childish fun? Should the church be
compromised by accommodating itself to the culture? Vandalism
and wanton disregard for the property of others is common on
Halloween night. Even normally well-behaved children are driven
by unseen forces to destructive behavior. Police officials
everywhere report a great increase in such activities on
Halloween. Worse yet are the horrifying accounts of poisoned
candy and fruits booby-trapped with razor blades and needles.
Such threats are so real that many hospitals offer free X-rays
of Halloween treats in order to prevent children from being
harmed. Who but Satan could inspire such monstrous actions?
As an alternative to the celebration of evil and death, Christians
should rather do what Christians are supposed to do every day
and that is shine the light of Jesus Christ. We should emphasize
the Christian influences and strive to make Hallow’s Eve a
celebration of the acts of God through his people the saints. We
should make it a day when acts of charity instead of vandalism
and hatred abound. A day that emphasizes the light of Christ
instead of the darkness of evil. A day when people meditate on
the acts of Godly people instead of ghosts and goblins.
When America and the world celebrates the Festival of Samhain and the
powers of darkness by masquerading as evil creatures or
decorating our homes, schools, businesses and churches with
occult symbols, Satanic power is glorified. While you may have
participated “all in fun,” be assured, Halloween is serious
business for Satanists and witches. 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.
As evil prevails, Americans have embraced an evil day of Satan,
with the pranks of ‘would be’ hoodlums, combined with ‘demon
faces’ on pumpkins, clothing of ‘death’ being worn, and calling
it fun. When Christians participate in Halloween, it sends a
message to children that witchcraft, demonism, Satanism, and the
occult are something fun, entertaining and harmless.
Many years ago, C.S. Lewis wrote that one of Satan’s most deceptive
tactics is to convince people that he doesn’t exist. Apparently
he has done a good job in his deception. Sadly, many people
think of the devil as no more than a symbol of evil: like Santa
Claus, he is just a fictional symbol. Many people today also do
not think of witches as real people who practice magic, but
simply as imaginary figures who represent the supernatural world
and everything that is ’spooky.’ Recognizing this pagan holiday
gives the false impression that what is actually lethal is
innocuous.
Some children develop a fascination with the supernatural which leads
them later into more sinister occult practices. It’s the
spiritual equivalent of painting a loaded gun to look like a toy
and giving it to child to play with.
It is the kind of celebration that encourages kids like the
16-year-old in Pearl, Mississippi who stabbed his mother to
death in her sleep and then opened fire at his high school,
killing two students and wounding seven. Authorities found this
student along with at least six others involved in a small,
avowedly satanic clique that calls itself “Kroth.”
How some people can defend this kind of activity as just another
innocent holiday that doesn’t harm anyone is beyond me.
Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of
light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil
hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear
that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19-20)
Central to Satan’s goals is the widespread acceptance of the
supernatural, including the occult, on the part of North
Americans, accompanied by a great revival of spiritism all over
the world. Over the last 30 years, the occult has moved into the
mainstream of America – in television, movies, magazines,
business, and various aspects of daily life. Movies, books,
magazines and encyclopedias of the supernatural have abounded.
Turn on your TV and hear from the ever-present “Psychic Friends”
hotline, or see lead characters in TV shows meet their “spirit
guide.” Entire bookstores devoted to the occult have become
common. Universities regularly offer courses on witchcraft and
magic – usually the so-called “white” variety. Myriads of
mystical Eastern religions, bizarre and often demonic, have
invaded North America and found in most cases an amazing
responsiveness.
Increasingly the curriculum in many public schools is becoming a primer in
occultism. Impressions, a curriculum used in many school
districts instructs teachers and students in how to cast spells.
One teacher’s manual reads, “Tell the children that a magician
has cast a spell on some children. Have them work in pairs to
write the magic spell the magician used. Have each pair write
another spell to reverse the first spell. Have them chant their
spells.” About 16,000 school districts use the Pumsey the Dragon
curriculum, by Jill Anderson. Many of the relaxation techniques
used are identical to those used in hypnosis. Another curriculum
called Duso the Dolphin employs relaxation techniques and sends
hypnotized youngsters off on guided fantasies to a place called
Aquatron.
Recently, a California skateboard manufacturer used a package enclosure
similar in appearance to a gospel tract to encourage purchasers
to sell their souls to the devil. The brochure titled, “Let’s
Make a Deal” has a smiley-faced devil who explains to Flame Boy
what happened in heaven after he was banished: “First off, they
set up a bunch of dumb rules, and then they imposed a really
strict dress code. I’l wager that people must be quite bored up
there, but hey, that’s what they get for being good.” He
contrasts this with, “Flame Boy, even a dimwit like you can see
that hell is by far the best place to retire. Just look at all
the fun to be had.” Children are asked to sign and return a
contract, by which they give possession of their souls to the
devil for eternity.
Satanism has become a phenomena that crosses the city limit into the
rural areas of our nation. It is reported there are some 6000
witches, and approximately 10 million people are involved in the
occult. However, it is very difficult to establish how many
actually participate. These individuals are involved in a wide
variety of activities from simply casting spells to human
sacrifice. The news wires carry story after story about young
children being kidnapped, only to be found later as victims of
some bizarre ritualistic crime.
As satantic involvement among our youth increases, we begin to see
the primary goal of such activity. According to Scripture (2
Cor. 4:4; Rev. 12:9), Satan’s goal is to deceive man by blinding
him to the truth of the gospel and to receive worship for
himself (Matt. 4:9; Isa. 14:12-14). It has become clear that the
primary goal is to alter an individual’s values and turn him
against himself, his beliefs, family, God and society.
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1
Peter 5:8
Young satanists believe the strong will rule with Satan. Once an
individual becomes involved, they often make a pact with Satan.
They commit themselves to a future date when they will take
their own lives by suicide. They believe if they submit
themselves to Satan in death, they will come back in another
life as a stronger being and rule with him forever. According to
recent statistics, fourteen young people a day take their own
lives.
What’s wrong with Halloween? It does not have even one single redeeming
virtue. It is custom born out of pagan superstition. It is a
demon-inspired, devil-glorifying, occult festival. It is an
evening holy unto evil, death, and divination. The Scriptures
tells us to
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” [1Thess. 5:22]
Wake up Christian! This is the night of evil and those who love
the Lord Jesus Christ should have nothing to do with it.
We are all accountable for our choices and decisions. Ignorance is
no excuse. The choice is up to you. Have you been involved in
this satanic holiday? Do you struggle with giving it up because
“it’s just fun” and an innocent opportunity for children to
dress up and collect candy? Don’t take my word for it. Let God
show you what He would have you do.**
THERE WAS NEWS RECENTLY ABOYT A NEIGHBORHOOD IN MIAMI, FLORIDA....THE PEOPLE WOKE UP TO HEADLESS ANIMALS STREWN UP AND DOWN THEIR STRET.....A PRANK? WELL, IT IS NOT A FUNNY ONE! THOSE WHO WILL BEHEAD ANIMALS IN SUCH A CRUEL WAY WILL OFTEN DO THE SAME TO HUMANS. THEY PROBABLY DESIRE TO DO IT! WATCH YOUR CHILDREN! AS THE SILLY VIDEO THAT IS POPULAR SAYS..."HIDE YER CHILDREN! HIDE YER WIFE!"
I love yoou and would not take the time to put this all in this blog if I did not care about you. Please pray and seek our Elohim about this pagan holiday and the others. We will discuss them in later blogs, LORD willing.
With love to all in and theu Yeshua HaMashiach, our Savior and soon coming King...His Ama gloria
*From http://www.demonbuster.com/halloween.html
**From http://lifeandtruth.com/2010/07/truth-halloween/
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