Whether we like it or not, Halloween has become an accepted part of western culture. In particular, the festival has always been big in the USA, with Americans spending over 5 billion Dollars during this event, making it the second biggest festival after Christmas.

When I was a lad, Halloween was hardly mentioned, yet now, like all Americanisms, Halloween has caught on here in the UK, being one of many events (like Bonfire Night, Christmas, Easter and other non-Christian religious festivals like Hannukah, Eid, Diwali etc) that the retail industry makes a large profit from.

So what are the historical origins of Halloween?

Halloween was originally known as Samhain some 1,900 years ago and was encouraged by the Druids. Back then it was a massive festival where our Celtic ancestors believed that the dead mingled with the living and all manner of devilish creatures roamed the earth.

Later when Christianity arrived on the scene in Britain, Ireland and other parts of Europe, the population largely converted to the new faith. Instead of Christianity eradicating the old Pagan beliefs, the church merely superimposed the festival of ‘All Hallows Eve’ over ‘Samhain’. Obviously, the thinking behind this was that Pagans would more quickly convert to Christianity if the Christian festival fell on the same day as the Pagan one. ‘All Hallows Eve’ or ‘All Saints Day’ eventually became shortened to ‘Halloween’.

Some churches hold alternative parties to Halloween, called ‘Hallelujah parties’, where everyone can still have fun but in a Godly environment and without wearing macabre outfits. Maybe it is time for the church to reclaim Halloween as its own and emphasise the Christian nature of All Hallows Eve? Hallelujah get-togethers would be one way of encouraging this.

Halloween is a time for Wiccans and other Pagans to celebrate the Celtic meaning of the festival. That is when the dead rise and all manner of evil entities according to the Pagan tradition are abroad. Some say it is harmless, while others say that its a celebration for Satanists. Either way, many Christians believe that it is honouring truly dark, spiritual forces and nothing good can come from that.

While the Bible does not specifically mention ‘Halloween’ it does condemn all the things associated with it. Whether you are trick or treating or actively involved in Paganism, the only force benefiting from this is Satan himself. As Christians, we should let the scriptures be our guide on this topic and remain strong during this dark time. The Bible clearly tells us that practices associated with Halloween (witchcraft, sorcery, Occult etc) are something the Lord hates. In fact, Leviticus 20:27 mentions that witchcraft, soothsaying, and mediumship is abhorrent to God and that whether we like it or not, Godly people should have nothing to do with such evil practices.

Deuteronomy 18:9-13 makes this abundantly clear: “When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of these nations. There shall not be found among you the one who practices witchcraft, or soothsaying or one who interprets omens or one who conjures spells, or a spiritist or one who calls up the dead. For all those things are an abomination to the Lord”.

In both the Old and New Testaments you will find similar scripture warning us about such things.

As Christian believers, we should never entertain the dark side and that is what a seemingly innocent event like Halloween actually is.

God bless you xx.