Midnight is the climax for divination, witchcraft, trickery, sacrifices and sorcery. On this day they believed spirits revisited the earth and evil had power over men.

The Druids used to carry hollowed out turnips with a burning lamp inside. They I; carved into the side of the turnips a monstrous face. They believed it to be representative of the spirit that dwelled inside. English speaking Celtics called his spirit Jock or Jack who dwelled in the lantern, thus, our term "Jack-O-Lantern". It is legend, that supposedly Jack tricked the devil after making a contract with him. Instead of using turnips, the common people later used pumpkins which were easier to carve. On October 31st the Druids would wait until the sunset, and prepared fires on the hilltops to release the spirits of the evil dead and to offer sacrifices to their god, Samhain. The native people referred to them as "Bonefires" and would avoid going near them, for evil and the smell of death was still present. The Druids gradually faded into the backgound and the common folk started celebrating Samhain. They didn't sacrifice anything, but they used several forms of divination. One form of divination was to kneel around a tub with apples floating on the water. Whoever could get an apple without using their hands or teeth, would have good luck with the spirits in the following year.

Nuts were another form of divination. Men and women would put nuts beside each other in a dying fire. If the nuts burst apart, fighting and catastrophe would follow. But if they burrred together brightly they would have a peaceful marriage. "Souling" or "soulcaking", is a custom descended from prereformation times, of going about on All Saint's or All Soul's Day and begging for cakes in remembrance of the dead. These cakes sometimes had images of skulls or skeletons on them.

"Cakes for the dead were substituted for human sacrifice, fortune telling for heathen augury, lighted candles for the old Baal fires" (Year Book of English Festivals, Spicer).

Pope Gregory III in the eighth century tried to reform the festival of death. He changed its name to All Saint's Day to be celebrated on November lst. The Church adopted it as "All Soul's Day" and celebrated it by saying prayers for the Christian dead. The pope was trying to take a pagan holiday and make it Christian but it didn't work. All over the world people are still celebrating the festival of Samhain. All Hallows, All Saints, All Souls, or Halloween, it doesn't matter what they call it! All of them have the same face and they are all thoroughly pagan.

"The ancient Romans had a popular feast to the dead in February, the Ferralia. In the year 610 AD the then pope of Rome Boniface IV ordained that the heathen pantheon should be converted into a Christian church and dedicated to all the martyrs. Their festival was first held on May 1st, but in 834 AD the celebration was altered to November 1st, and in Great Britain it was assimilated in character to the old druidic feast, and called Haligan or All Hallows. In 993 AD the feast of All Souls, kept on November 2nd was added. The relics of fire worship are the great characteristics of these festivals, which first symbolizing the cult of the sun-god, [also known as Samhain] afterwards transferred themselves by analogy to the PURGATORIAL FLAMES from which the dead were released at this time to come and revisit the living" (Festivals, Holy Days, and Saints'Days, Urlin)(Emphasis mine).

Bonfires were used in druidic ceremony to Samhain.

"The Hallows bonfire was always a great feature in Celtic countries...From Layton Hill to Pendle,Parlick-Pike and Beacon Fell, brightly shone the tier-lowe, the 'sacred fire' of the Druids. On every hill throughout the Fylde, men stood in circles, raising aloft platted wisps of blazing straw on forks to ward off the bar-gheist or boggart [poltergiest or boogyman]. But in Catholic countries the custom was observed with different meaning; it was to beg intercession for the souls of the faithful departed - the 'mournful fire,' reminding the faithful TO PRAY FOR SOULS IN PURGATORY" [This doctrine has no scriptural foundation]" (Festivals, Holy Days, and Saints' Days, Urlin).

"Some very interesting customs seem to have been observed among the Roman Catholics in England at Hallowstide, either on Hallows' Eve or the evening of All Saints Day. The Tablet gives the following account of a Lancashire practice: 'Eve of the first of November, or Tean Day (Tean we must say in explanation would seem to be a corruption of the Celtic 'Tan' or 'Teinidh', fire, or light) On this night as was customary for Catholic families in the district to assemble at midnight. Outside on their different farmsteads, one of the party holding up aloft, at the end of a long fork, a large bundle of ignited straw.'" (Festivals, Holy Days, Saints' Day)

This sounds hauntingly like the same druidic feast where they ran around and through the fire. But Christ says:

"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. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." (Deut.18:9-12)

There is a growing number of witches, satanists, and spiritists, etc. Children are being abducted, murdered, and drugged through Halloween candy. The problem is so severe that in certain places they are outlawing this "holiday". It's a sad day when the churches join in a pagan celebration simply because of lack of biblical and historical knowledge. To the churches I would have to ask them to read these scriptures carefully:

"Therefore shall ye keep mine ordinance, that ye commit not any one of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God." (Lev.18:30)

And again in Colossians 2:8 we read:

"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

Parents, you love your children and they are the innocent lambs of God. Why would you allow the infliction of emotional damage or possibly open them up to demonic interference? You go to the store and buy costumes of demons, ghouls, ghosts, vampires and even angels. What's the difference? You are still participating! In Festivals of Death, Tom McKenney makes an interesting statement:

"It's sad, but true, that the most significant days in the Christian year have all been invaded by the enemy, bringing in pagan practices and appealing substitutes jolly old elves, benevolent bunnies, etc.) to take our eyes and affections from the Lord. But Halloween is the exception, there was nothing Christian to invade! This one was the devil's holiday all along, and Satan has somehow duped the Christians into embracing it and accepting it as their own!"

Of course, I disagree with Mr. McKenney's statement in that Christianity has adopted ALL of pagan's festivities and claimed them as her own...they NEVER were "Christian" to begin with, including Christmas and Easter. But Halloween is so obvious that it boggles the mind to think that "Christians" even entertain the idea that Halloween is innocent fun or just another secular festivity not to be taken seriously. Satan is real! Buying devil costumes as a "fun time" or witches outfits, etc. is unacceptable as true God-fearing Christians. We do not mock what God says to beware of. Those things are there as a trap to seduce men. Jos 23:13 says: