Before it became
Halloween — (All hallows eve) or the night before Christianity celebrated Hallowmas or All Saints day on Nov. first
and All Souls on the second, which were ancient Christian holydays to pray for
the souls of the dead who were believed to be roaming around on that day before
they left for purgatory, which is the reason for the disguising so the “ghost”
would not recognize the people, the feast used to be a pagan one. There are
also many different opinions as to where it originated. The Christian custom of
praying for the souls of their dead goes as far back as the 15th
century, but the pagan originated earlier. Some say its roots are from Celtic
speaking countries, from Northern Ireland
and Scotland;
others say it was from Roman feasts of gods of the seeds or of the dead. The
name is an English contraction so it is most provably Gaelic. There were
offerings of food and drinks, for the dead who came to visit their home. Some
people even set places for them at their dinner table. And there were festivals
and rituals of divination games and bonfire to scare the witches of their
punishment in hell. (Go to Wikipedia.com to learn more)
I remember knowing
this tradition throughout my entire life. I was born a Presbyterian, went to a
Methodist school with American roots, used to go to Baptist schooling when attending
Summer Camps, and I had always seen that tradition as a fun one in all those denominations.
When I came to this country I attended a Christian high school (Presbyterian
Pan-American School at Kingsville, Texas where I met my first dear friends in
the US) There we celebrated it as any party where we dressed up, to have plain
fun and with no other bad intention. When I became a mother, I dressed my
babies as bunnies, chicks, little angels, Chinese vendors, and many pretty
customs. The adults dressed up as “red riding hood” or pirates, French maids,
and things as awkward as a TV set or a refrigerator, and participated in originality
contests. And at Church we had a blast where we had simply a lot of FUN. When
did the Church decide we could not have fun because it was diabolic? When do we
scare our children into not dressing up or go “trick or treating” having done
it ourselves? When does it all deteriorate and becomes a sin to celebrate
“Halloween”? Are we praising the devil? Is God going to punish us for it? Are
we praising other gods by having fun?
First of all we should
know what the Holy Scriptures say about our Creator. Precisely, the first of the ten Commandments,
which He Himself spoke to Moses: “You shall have NO OTHER gods before Me. You
shall not make yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above, or
on the earth, beneath, or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship
them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and fourth generations of
those who hate Me, but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love
Me and keep My commandments. (Exodus 20.3-6). . . For the Lord your God is a
consuming fire, a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4.24) So, anything that does not praise God is
praising and honoring “other gods” and many times people fall in the trap of
fun making the devil is tending us to make us sin, so Let no one deceive you with empty
words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of
disobedience. Therefore do not be partaker with them. (Ephesians 5.6-7)
It would be worse if our children do not have the chance to participate in life
eternal because of our stubbornness.
All throughout the
Word of God (our Creator, the Almighty One) we are going to find wisdom and if
the new church found it, it will teach us so we would not fall in the deceit of
not knowing. So we should thank God for the truth so we do not perish on
account of ignorance.
Churches have created
fun and candy festivals during these times and give them other names so their
children do not feel left out on a fun celebration, but one is responsible to
explain the truth to them on their understanding level so they know what to
defend in the future. Of course, many people might say there’s nothing wrong
with the tradition and we might fall in, so let’s read about it and do not be
ignorant. Read the Scriptures to obtain wisdom, go to a church and teach your
children so they become wise adults who are a blessing and not a shame to
society. Many parents whose kids are behind bars or dead would probably wish it
had occurred to the before it was too late.
How much better is to get wisdom
than gold! And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver. The highway
of the upright is to depart from evil; he who watches his way preserves his
life. He who gives attention to The Word will find good. And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
(Proverbs 16. 16,17, 20)
