Halloween can be fun but it can be a time of evil if not watchful
BEWARE THE DARK SIDE OF HALLOWEEN
WHY Avoid the DARK Dangerous Side of Halloween?
There really are many reasons and I’ll explain
I recently learned that Halloween has surpassed every other holiday in the amount of money spent to celebrate this time of year.
At first glance that didn’t surprise, nor phase me. We have the candy to hand out, the parties, the fun foods, the costumes, decorations for our homes and yard, we even have fun dressing up our pets
Then I began to ponder this a bit.
The next holiday in line for most spent is Christmas. I do not know if the statistical amount includes these: but consider if you will – Christmas financial spending to comprise:
- Gifts for others
- Service projects
- Donations for worthy causes
- Sub for Santa to ensure others have a Christmas
- Food contributions of all sorts so families can have a meal, and children have food during the holidays
- Halloween spending, to my knowledge does not do deliver any humanitarian aid nor relief. Well, possibly to dentists, or to those who are given the candy in the trades for sweets by the dentists; which is brilliant! Again, I am not saying we should do away with Halloween, so please stay with me.
POSITIVES
Halloween can bring fun, parties and lots of good times.
If you have looked at my blog you will see I enjoy making food festive and theme related.
I sewed my kid’s costumes as they grew up and even a grandson’s costume.
The rule was/is the costume had to be family-friendly. Nothing gory, inappropriate, supernatural in nature, etc.
Stan and our kids thoroughly enjoyed decorating the house and yard with lights, cotton webs, wood and ceramic figures, pumpkins and the like to bring in the celebratory mood.
– Halloween can bring communities and neighborhoods together through ‘Trunk or Treats’
– When visiting as people come to your home with their children.
These opportunities are tremendous because often in our busy life we don’t have/take the time to chat with those who live close by, or friends that we see on these occasions other than this holiday.
In fact I try to have hot chocolate, cider, scones, cookies or something to hand to the adults (of course candy to the kids) so we can say HELLO.
Make new friendships or renew old ones.
Halloween provides this possibility where none others do.
HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
The tradition of Halloween is well….nothing too good……that I could find anyway.
For example, Easter and Christmas have definite Christian reasons for celebration. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are sacred Jewish holidays.
Beginning as soon as the decorations are out for Halloween we spend a ton of money, plan like crazy, and yet is it just a party? Is there nothing more to it?
Sources I read stated that going clear back to the Celtics, they declared November 1st as Day Of The Dead since the weather was cold, the leaves would fall and it was getting dark earlier; everything was dying. It was thought that a “Lord of Death and Evil Spirits”, we now know as “The Grim Reaper” was coming.
It was believed that on October 31st the Lord of Death and all the spirits of those who had died that year, were allowed to return home and visit the living. As a way to keep these spirits pacified and be able to not harm them, or any other humans, the Druid priests held diabolical worship ceremonies; in which animals and even people were burned to death.
As time past, early Christians, desiring a part in the traditional festivities though not desiring a part of the original traditions, created All Saints’ Day to coincide with the pagan rites. Satanists–acting true to form–reversed the Christian procedure. Because November 1st was All Saints’ Day (All Souls’ Day, November 2nd, memorializes the dead), Satanists established October 31st as an”All Demon’s Night.” As surely as the Christian martyrs and saints dominated their own holiday, so did the demons permeate the preceding evening. All Hallows’ Eve predictably became a time of spells, curses, and horrors for those who did not believe, but for the Satanists, particularly the witches, it was a joyous festival and major sabbat. So it remains in a diluted form, ironically celebrated by Christian society far more vigorously than All Saints’ Day. (*http://logosresourcepages.org/Holidays/halloween.htm Quoted from The Occult Conceit – A New Look at Astrology, Witchcraft and Sorcery, by Owen S. Rachleff, from page 189-190.)
So with this information, some Cautions to consider
You can research quite easily the origins behind the symbols we use for Halloween (I found none inspiring, but all depressing actually).
The occult’s that sprang because of Halloween include many appalling fixations and introduce corrupt and immoral behavior and ideas never before thought of or seen such as*:
- Black & heavy metal music
- Fantasy Role playing games
- Slasher/horror movies & sadistic pornography
- Reading occult & satanic literature
- People who would not ever involve themselves with the occult at any other time will experiment at Halloween parties with séances, Ouija boards, levitation, rituals and ritual sex.
- Arson tends to become a huge problem in many areas across the country the week of Halloween.
- What about the candy itself? In most cities hospitals and medical facilities open their doors encouraging parents to bring their children’s stash in to be x-rayed for precaution that there are no foreign objects such as pins, razor blades, etc.
- Pranks that are malicious are common practice at such as tossing pumpkins off of overpasses onto passing cars. People have even been harmed and killed this way.
- The desensitizing and violence is rampant in all its forms as it’s associated with haunted houses, movies, etc.
Keep Going or Stop?
I personally will continue to enjoy the fun parts of Halloween.
However, I will use it as a learning analogy, as I like to do with everyday situations.
In fact, the story, ‘The Devil and Daniel Webster’ is a classic and fits my purpose here perfectly. (I thoroughly enjoy the old black and white movie and is a regular at our home.)
From internet description:
“The Devil and Daniel Webster” is narrated as a folktale told in the border country of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, regarding the famous American orator Daniel Webster. Like so many folk legends, this one contains some exaggeration and several important lessons.
Jabez Stone is an unlucky New Hampshire farmer who, in a moment of frustration, sells his soul to the devil. His farm prospers, but when the devil returns near the end of the seven-year contract, Stone sees the soul of his neighbor Miser Stevens in the devil’s pocket, and his dread grows. Although the devil grants him a three-year extension on his contract, the time weighs on Jabez Stone and, in desperation, he goes to see Daniel Webster, who was born near Stone’s farm but who now lives and practices law in Marshfield, Massachusetts. Webster says that he has not argued such a “mortgage case” in some time, but he agrees to take it. The two return to New Hampshire to await the arrival of the devil, who comes at midnight to claim his property.
The heart of the story is the debate between the devil and Daniel Webster. At the beginning, it looks as if Daniel Webster has met his match. He argues that no American can be pressed into the service of a “foreign prince,” but the devil cleverly demonstrates that he has a long American history: “When the first wrong was done to the first Indian, I was there. When the first slaver put out for the Congo, I stood on her deck.” Not to be outdone, Webster stands on the Constitution and demands a trial for his client, with an American judge and jury. Mr. Scratch…
Why this story?
Is there a way to find a positive to the tradition of Halloween celebrations?
I do personally believe that there is a devil and that he is real.
In this fictional story, the devil shows just how much he wants a person, actually each one of us on his side, to be his, and to serve him and not God.
The main character in the book – movie, Jabez, in desperation put himself and his family in a terrible situation.
Luckily it was a fictional story and a hero, Daniel Webster was able to rescue him.
It can be enticing to look to the darker side whether on Halloween, or any day of the year.
The unknown, the tantalizing a different way of life that is not wholesome.
While in reality, the repercussions of poor choices will reverberate and affect you and others for years, even generations to come.
- Of course, we can be redeemed and change!
- But why go there in the first place?
- Why even consider the sinister, evil and sinful aspects?
- It will never bring good.
- It will never make us happy.
- It will never help us be a better person, one that others can trust, or one that can be followed as a guide for a life of integrity and moral strength.
- By experimenting in the foul and vile immoral ways, it only brings unhappiness and deep misery.
Let’s use caution and intelligence when choosing what to participate in during the Halloween festivities
- as well as any activities
- and what we see in movies
- and hear in music that could affect our good standing.
Passing up the provocative and anything that does not ‘feel right’, is truly worth the self control.
It’s worth the sacrifice to be a good example and one others trust to do the right thing even when it’s not easy.
CONSEQUENCES OF PARTICIPATING IN THE DARK SIDE OF HALLOWEEN
Everything has its opposite; light has dark, flat has round, happiness has pain, etc.
As I pointed out above I believe there is a Satan, you may also believe there is a force of bad or wickedness that tempts us to stray from God or the good/right.
If you agree, then you believe there is a struggle for our loyalty, devotion, allegiance.
Let’s look at how it applies to Halloween for our purpose here:
Halloween time particularly promotes psychics, spirits, mediums, seances and such over looking to God and Him only.
The promotion of violence and death is especially focused this time of year, desensitizing our mind and spirit. During the rest of the year we would probably not consider going to certain places or putting our family in certain situations, yet pay for these experiences in October! Think about what Haunted Houses, horror movies and the like encourage –
- torture
- mutilation
- satanism
- bizarre murders
- sexual practices that exploit
- none of these would be permissible in normal daily life!
When children, teens, even adults, are exposed to the evils that are prevalent at Halloween can do incredible physiological and emotional damage that may be irreparable.
Halloween is a time to be very vigilant and aware of looking at what is going on at the parties our family members/we are attending, the movies they/we are watching, avoiding any appearance of evil basically.
HOWEVER
When you let your children know that you are striving with all your might to protect them spiritually, emotionally and physically, the bond of trust and love is unbreakable.
So by having an open and continuous conversation about good and evil, choosing right and wrong, Satan and God. teaching them the scriptures and how to protect them-self, you are doing an remarkable and extraordinary job as a parent, helping them to have a happy and joyful future and life.
CONCLUSION
My point is, we live in this world.
Halloween is generally celebrated with the family-friendly emphasis,.
Only allow that approach in your home, than we can have fun with the festivities while not succumbing to the malicious aspects.
I say YES to Halloween, and great memories!
Be watchful to ensure that only wholesome family traditions and activities are the result.
Never fear of peer pressure, no matter your age. That’s how there will be happiness and good feelings all around.
I hope you will enjoy your time as family and friends, with positive and uplifting events, get-together’s and lots of GOOD will come.
Copyright Carrie Groneman, A Mother’s Shadow, 2015, 2018
Recognize a blessing and be a blessing today
Halloween can be fun but it can be a time of evil if not watchful
