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Pagan Apologetics

'The Dark Side of Halloween' Rebuttal

By Tyler Roberson

2000, minor changes May 16, 2001
[I need to find the original article again...]

My replies to the original article are in bold. All spelling in the orignal has been left intact.

Excited children masquerading as witches, pirates, devis, ghosts, Dracula and other creatures ounding thorugh the neighborhood, going from door to door shouting, "Trick or Treat" the party at school or a friend's house where they tell ghost stories, bob for apples or tell fortunes the visit to the community "haunted house" and homes decorated with witches, skeletons and eerie looking Jack O Lanterns...IT MUST BE HALLOWEEN! Sounds like harmless fun, doesn't it? But there is THE DARK SIDE TO HALLOWEEN YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT, a side that I never liked because it was associated with evil, the devil, fear, death and violence. That side of Halloween always gave me "the creeps." And after a thorough study of Halloween I know why I felt that way because BENEATH HALLOWEEN'S CANDY COATING IS A HISTORY OF DIABOLICAL EVIL. In a moment I will share with you some of my findings relating to THE DARK SIDE OF HALLOWEEN. I will share with you briefly three things. 1) The History Of Halloween 2) The Heroes Of Halloween 3) The Harm Of Halloween.

I will warn you now that the following essay may be hard to read for some people. Not because of the "truths" revealed within but rather because of the poor grammar and overuse of CAPITALIZATION FOR EMPHASIS. From the common mistakes that occur in this piece of work, it is clear that the author did not do the thourough research that is claimed. The author's purpose is to convince you through misinformation, fear, hatred and religious slurs that Halloween is evil. My purpose is to use actual scholarly research and uphold the traditions of our ancestors from being openly raped and abused.

The History Of Halloween

Halloween is a "religious day" but it is NOT a Christian day. Tom Sanguinet, formet high priest in the Celtic tradition of Wicca (witchcraft) said "The modern holiday we call Halloween has its origins in the full moon closest to Novemeber 1, the witches' New Year. It was a time when the "spirits" (demons) were supposed to be at their peak power and revisiting the earth planter." He went on to say, "Halloween is purely and absolutely evil, and there is nothing we ever have or will do that would make it acceptable to the Lord Jesus."

Yes, Halloween is a non-Christian holiday but so is Chaunnakah, Ramadan, and Groundhog's Day. It may be more correct to say that Halloween is based upon a non-Christian holiday - Samhain. The name Halloween comes from the Catholic All Hallow's Eve which was moved to Oct. 31 to coincide with the Pagan celebration of Samhain.

I have not yet researched Tom Sanguinet but it is likely that he is lying about being a Wiccan high priest. This type of misrepresentation for fun and profit is quite common in the Fundamentalist Christian community. It comes from the "I used to be a evil drug-using devil-worsipping sinner just like you but I found Jesus and He loves me so send me money and buy my books"-type of evangelist.

The phrase "Celtic tradition of Wicca (witchcraft)" is erroneous. Wicca is a modern religion based on the old Celtic traditions, Divine inspiriation, and imagination. The phrase is erroneous because it implies that there are other, non-Celtic traditions of Wicca. There are several traditions, however, within Wicca such as Garderian, Alexanderian and Dianic (feminist), but most Wiccans are ecclectic. Witchcraft is a term which has too many mutually exclusive meanings and should not be used.

The ancient Celts did not have the notion of evil spirits or demons. Samhain (pronounced Sow-een) was a time of transition from Summer to Autumn and the "veil between the worlds" was believed to be thin. During this time, it was believed, that the spirits of the recently departed would come back to join the festivities and the harvest celebration.

What is the man talking about, you might be asking yourself? Let me explain. The origin of Halloween is the Celtic Festival of Samhain, lord of death and evil spirits. Long before Christ (at least 2000 years), Druids in Britain, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany and other Celtic countries observed the end of summer by making sacrifices to Samhain. The Celts considered November 1st as being the day of death because the leaves were falling, it was getting darker sooner and temperatures were dropping. They believed Muck Olla, their sun god was losing strength and Samhain, lord of death, was overpowering him. Further, they believed that on October 31st Samhain assembled the spirits of all who had died during the previous year. These spirits had been confined to inhabit animals' bodies for the past year, as punishment for their evil deeds. They were allowed to return to their former home to visit the lving [sic] on the eve (Oct. 31) of the Feast of Samhain. Druid priests led the people in diabolical worship ceremonies in which horses, cats, black sheep, oxen, human beings and other offereings were rounded up, stuffed into wicker cages and burned to death. This was done to appease Samhain and keep spirits from harming them. It is clear to see that HALLOWEEN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CELEBRATION OF DEATH.

Yes, what is he talking about? It has no basis in fact.

Samhain was never the "lord of death and evil spirits" nor a god, as the author states. The name "Samhain" means "end of summer". In 1770, Col. Charles Vallency wrote a six-volume set of books attempting to prove that the Irish came from Armenia. This idea was picked up in 1827 when Godfrey Higgins wrote a similar book trying to prove that the Druids came from India. Samana was an ancient Vedic/Hindu diety but never a Celtic one.

This is the first essay I have read which uses the name "Muck Olla". I actually had never heard of this until I looked it up. "Muck Olla" is something of a boogey-man from Yorkshire in England. To use these names which have no basis in reality is a major discredit to the believabilty of this essay but still we continue.

It was believed that the spirits of those who had died in the past year would return to celebrate the harvest festival. The harvest festival would include a sacrifice such as bread or animals. There is slim evidence (non-Celtic) that the Druids may have sacrificed humans in times of great need and to execute criminals.

Samhain is a harvest festival. It is a celebration of life and honoring those who had died.

Which brings me to my next point. How were these sacrifices obtained? Druid priests and people would go from house to house asking for fatted calves, black sheep, and human beings. Those who gave were promised prosperity and those who refused to give were cursed and threatened. In addition, it was likely that all of the "wandering spirits" would get hungry. If you set out a treat for them, they would not trick or curse you. Hense we have THE ORIGIN OF TRICK OR TREAT. "Trick of Treat is a reenactment of the Druidic practices. The candy has replaced the human sacrifices of old, but it is still an appeasement of those deceptive evil spirits. The traditional response to those who do not treat is to have a trick played on the. When you give out Halloween candy, you are, in essence providing a sacrifice to false gods. You are participating in idolatry" says the former high priest of Wicca, Tom Sanguinet.

Trick or treat is mainly an American phenomenon but it does have some of its roots in rural Scotland where local villagers go door-to-door to ask for donations to the New Year's festival.

The "wandering spirits" that the author refers to could be either the fairies or the actual spirits of the departed. It was customary to set out food and drink for the fairies and even set up a "dumb meal" for the ancestors. The attitude was not appeasement but rather celebration of harvest.

The phrase "high priest of Wicca" is misleading. Wicca does not have a great organizational structure - there is no one high priest of the whole religion. However, covens (Wiccan groups) do have high priests but the number of members is very small (usually about a half-dozen or so, 13 being traditional). A better phrase would have been "Wiccan high priest."

Did you know that even the Jack-O-Lantern has its origin with these pagan practices? In the book Occult Conceit the author says on page 190, "The candlelit pumpkin or skill served as a signal to mark those farms and homes that were sympathetic to the Satanists and thus deserving of mercy when the terror ("trick or treat") or the night began." Further, an old edition of The World Book Encyclopedia says "The apparently harmless lighted pumpkin face of the Jack-O-Lantern is an ancient symbol of a damned soul."

The Jack O' Lantern is indeed part of the Pagan Samhain celebration. Some American South folklore tells the legend of Jack O' the Lantern who was refused by God and escaped from Satan but this is irrelevant to the true origins of the Jack O' Lantern. The Jack O' Lantern comes from the practice of carving turnips into lanterns to light their way home from the bonfire. After the tradition came to America, pumpkins became popular because of the lack of turnips. The term "Jack O'" is used to refer to personify that which has to do with spirits. It was believed that when the candle flickered that spirits were present.

It is obvious that Halloween is a pagan day rooted in the worst kind of pagan rituals and worship. The Bible urgest Christians to "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness" (Ephesians 5:!1) [sic]. Through Halloween is diluted somewhat there is obviously nothing Christ honoring about the day. It is a pagan sacrifice day and the Bible warns Christians "the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that you should have fellowship with devils." (1 Corinthians 10:20). Halloween is the devil's day!

Yes, Halloween stems from a Celtic Pagan celebration of the harvest and worship of the Gods. Why should a Pagan holiday be Christ-honoring? There is no concept of Christ and so why should it honor a Christ they don't believe in anymore than a Devil which they don't either. Halloween is the Gods' day!

The Heros Of Halloween

You could not celebrate Halloween without the WITCH. The oldest known illustration of a witch dates back to the pre-Columbian era. He [sic] drawing shows the pagan goddess Tlazolteolf naked, wearing a pointed hat and riding a broomstick. Where you find witchcraft you will find nudity, divination, gross immorality and occultic practices just to name a few. According to the Old Testament of the Bible witchcraft and the whole spectrum of the occult where capital crimes, punishable by death. In the New Testament, in Galatians 5:20, witchcraft is listed among those things that are to be renounced by believers. In fact, Acts 19:18-19 records how that those who became Christians renounced all dealings with the occult and burned any occultic material they had. Popular west coast Bible teacher Dr. John MacArthur expresses it clearly when he says, "Dressing up like witches, ghosts, or goblins is incompatible with a Christian's testimony. Furthermore, many of the customs of Halloween are associated with the worst kind of pagan ceremonies; they are usually centered on the sinister things such as demons, witchcraft, and superstition."

This description of the Goddess Tlazolteolf (whom I had never heard of before) might be the origin of some of the misconceptions about Witches. The practice of being naked (skyclad) is not meant to be immoral but rather helps us become closer to nature. Wiccan ceremonies are usually performed either skyclad or robed. You hate divination? did the grounhog see his shadow? did you draw the long straw? did you throw your wedding bouquet? what is your zodiac sign? These are all forms of divination. It is hard to tell if divination actually "works" or if it is just self-fulfilled prophecy but either way it is harmless.

The other heroes of Halloween aren't any better. Consider Dracula. Did you know he was a real person? He live [sic] from 1431 to 1476. During his six year reign this demented maniac massacred 100,000 men, women and children in the most hideous ways. He devised a plan to rid his country of the burden of beggars, handicapped, sick and aged. He invited them to a feast at one of his palaces. He fed them well and got them drunk. Then he asked them, "Do you want to be without cares, lacking nothing in this world?" They yelled "YES!" Dracula then ordered the palace boarded up and set it on fire. No one escaped. This tragic event was the original House of Horror.

Count Dracula was despised during his reign and many myths came out about him (such as being a vampire). It is always hard to tell in these cases whether the person actually committed these horrific crimes. However, I'll tell you the story of a man that is absolutely true. There was once a man who was locked up in the insane asylum but during his stay he decided to write a book about what he would do if he ever ran a country. When he eventually got out of the asylum, he rose to power and was responsible for the gruesome murder of over a half-milion people. This man considered himself a good Christian. He was Adolf Hitler.

The overwhelming majority of Halloween Heroes are evil, demented or demonic. That should not surprise us. Halloween is the devil's day! But there is something else that concerns me even more

The Harm Of Halloween

Halloween is a dangerous day and here are the reasons why...

HALLOWEEN IS FOCUSES ON VIOLENCE

In January of 1988 I stopped at a restaurant to pick up a bite to eat before my next appointment. I picked up a paper on the way in. As I was eating I came across Ann Landers' column entitled "Parents must tackle violence." The parent wrote "I heard something today that made my hair stand on end...Last October, the teacher of a fourth-grade class asked her students to write a short essay on what they would like to do most to celebrate Halloween. Eighty percent of her 9 year-olds expressed the wish to "kill somebody." Where do children get such ideas?" she asked.

The answer is a simple one. Halloween accentuates mutilation, murder, blood, guts and gore. It even glorifies it! I well remember seeing the large picture in the newspaper of a mutilated corpse in a blood stained bathtub. It was utterly repulsive. The accompanying article lauded a community organization's youth work using this "haunted house."

The truth is, millions of people, and likely your kids will be exposed to some of the almost endless string f TV programs, video, community and church activites that GLORIFY MUTILATION, TORTURE and BIZARRE MURDERS this Halloween. Now before you say "it won't hurt them, it's only fantasy," perhaps you should consider what a horrified mother discoved in her teenage son's diary. She read "Last year I stole a car at Halloween and ran over a kid and killed him for the Devil. I plan on doing it again this year." The boy is now incarcerated.

The two stories here are almost certainly Christian Urban Legends - a created story, told as truth, that illustrates a Biblical message. I believe that the "eighty percent" in the first story is probably inflated. But to make it clear to the reader, Pagans are generally a peaceful people, some are pacifists. You cannot blame the "moral decline" of a nation on the ancient Celts and equate the secular Halloween violence with the feasting and celebration of the religious Samhain.

HALLOWEEN IS HARMFULL BECAUSE OF ITS FOCUS ON VIOLENCE.

Don't you see the paradox? When we read of a violent murder any other time we gasp. But we laugh, tease, call it fun and glorify the same things when Halloween comes. Halloween's focus on VIOLENCE breaks down the inhibitions of our children toward murder. They have difficulty separating between fantasy and fact. And that is taking its toll on our society. There is another reason Halloween is harmful...

Don't you see the paradox? Christians will worship a dead man undergoing a horrific form of capital punishment as a human sacrifice (or a god sacrifice). But they spit, curse, slander, and call it satanic when the Pagans invite their deceased ancestors to visit them for a harvest festival. The Christian's focus on VIOLENCE breaks down the morality of the people toward murder. They have difficulty separating between fantasy and fact. (They murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent people trying to destroy "witches" and perform exorcisms). And that is taking its toll on our society.

HALLOWEEN IS HARMFUL BECAUSE OF THE EMPHASIS ON FEAR

I read an article in The Milwaukee Journal entitled "Haunted house fun: It could become nightmare for kids." It started out "IT'S JUST FOR FUN, you know that. But to a young child, a trip through a "haunted house" created for Halloween could be a nightmare." Fear is no joke. Fear is a powerful and often damaging emotion. The writer of the article quoted developmental psychologist Marvin Berkowits of Marquette University. Berkowitz said "Some haunted houses can frighten an adult." Children must "go in with the right mental set. Make sure they know it's going to be a fun scare, not a real scare." The article went on to say, "even the most careful parents can misjudge their child's reaction. If the child is horrified, if the kid's traumatized and shrieking, you hold him and comfort him. Give him physical security." The question is, why expose your child to such traumatizing influences? They serve no useful purpose. In fact long lasting emotional problems can develop as a result of the frightening experiences that are encountered at Halloween activities, such as going through a "haunted house."

"Fear is a powerful and often damaging emotion...Why expose your child to such traumatizing influences? They serve no useful purpose. In fact, long lasting emotional problems can develop as a result..." Christianity is based not on love and joy but on fear. It is with the threat of Hell (in the afterlife, as well as on Earth) that Christians force their message.

The last "haunted house" I went to was a Christian one - a "Hell House." It showed scenes of drinking, sex, drugs, violence, suicide, car crashes, runaways, heroin abuse, prostitution, domestic violence, abortion, and the eternal punishment of Hell. The point is to convert someone to Christianity based on the belief that if they don't they will be tormented forever. Fear is damaging to all people. Why would you want to expose your child (or yourself) to such traumatizing influences?

HALLOWEEN IS HARMFUL BECAUSE OF ITS FOCUS ON THE OCCULT

The two most frequent ways children are introduced into the occult are through rock music and Halloween. I was introduced to the occult at a Halloween party. Tragically, more an more children are being introduced to the occult by teachers in the public schools. And unfortunately, Halloween is one of the two Holidays that public schools celebrate. They choose Halloween (and Valentine's Day) because there is no "religous" significance. How wrong they are about Halloween. To be sure, there is no Christian significance to Halloween but it is obviously a religious day.

Of course rock music is satanic, you know if you play it backwards you can hear Satan speak :-) Rock bands such as KISS, Black Sabbath, and Marilyn Manson use Satanism for its publicity purposes and for shock value. Their purpose is not to be a religious band but just to be rock stars.

Yes, Halloween is a religious holiday. It is a festival which celebrates life and the gift of the Earth Mother to Her children. It also honors those who died in the previous year. I'm all for separation of Church and State but I wonder if we should teach the origins of the holidays to children in school, it is history. However, I feel that there could be an uprising of Fundamentalist Christians in opposition to the public school system if the truth were to be taught to their children.

Our forefathers recognized Halloween's association with the occult. The Pilgrims banned celebrating Halloween in America. The ban lasted until 1845. At that time multiplied thousands of Irish emigrants flooded into New York because of the Irish Potato Famine of 1845-46. They brought Halloween with them and gradually it spread throughout the rest of the country.

Of course these are the same Pilgrims that murded several innocent people in the Salem witchhunts. The influence from the Irish's celebration of Halloween is much less dramatic than the forceful and violent actions of the early Americans to convert the native "barbarians" to the Christian religion.

Alternatives

An increasing number of people are seeing the dangers associated with celebrating Halloween. Christians, when exposed to the dark side of the day, are deciding that celebrating it is not pleasing to the Lord Jesus Christ. Wise parents are replacing Halloween with family night activities. Others are having "Glory Gatherings" where all references to Halloween are removed and wholesome games are played, Christian songs are sung and Christian videos are shown. Others are using Halloween as a night to pass out Gospel literature. Whatever you do, "Be no overcome of evil, but over come evil with good." Romans 12:21

An increasing number of people are seeing the true history of Halloween and Samhain despite the gross misinformation and propaganda spread by the Fundamentalist Christians. Replacing Halloween with "Glory Gatherings" or "Harvest Festivals" is still celebrating the life, love, and harvest that was celebrated by the Celts at Samhain. To take each part of Halloween and Christianize it simply further distorts the origins of the holiday. But Christians aren't worried about preserving or honoring other people's traditions, they're worried about getting new converts and "saving people's souls" any way necessary.

I hope you will carefully consider the information I have related in the pamphlet and decide NOT to celebrate Halloween. But there is an even more important decision you should make first. That is deciding to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Here's what to do...

REALIZE that God loves you - John 3:16; Romans 5:8

RECOGNIZE that you cannot be saved from sin by your own good works - Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5

ADMIT that you are a sinner separated from God - Romans 3:23

REPENT of your sins - Luke 13:3-5; Acts 3:19

CALL upon Christ in faith believing that He died for your sins and arose from the dead - Romans 10:13

I hope you will carefully consider the information I have related in the rebuttal to the pamphlet and decide for yourself what holidays to celebrate. But there is an even more important decision you should make first. That is deciding to receive the truth rather than lies. Here's what to do...

REALIZE that Christians will do lie, steal, and cheat to "save" you.
RECOGNIZE that every person has the right to hold his or her own religious beliefs free from persecution and intolerance.
ADMIT that you do not know as much as you thought you knew.
REPENT of your intolerance and hatred.
CALL all of your friends and help them to see the truth.

We can fight hatred and intolerace through the dissemination of true scholarly research. Praise be to the Goddess and God and may all creatures worship their Mother in peace.

Blessed Be.