The satanic feast of Halloween (or Samhain, as it is called by occultists and satanists) is back again and the world is enthusiastically going to embrace it for yet another year. Apart from a few isolated voices here and there in the Protestant world, and of course, most Messianics who have always consistently and faithfully opposed it as anti-Torah, only the Eastern Orthodox Church is currently speaking out against it. Indeed, the Russian Federation is seriously considering banning it altogether.

Eastern Orthodox Christians (Russian, Greek, Romanian, Serbian, Bulgarian, etc.) are rightly carefully examining every aspect of their involvement in the world, its activities, holidays and festivals, to be certain whether or not these involvements are compatible with their faith. At a time when eastern Orthodoxy is experiencing a resurgence (in Russia in particular), in part thanks to the endorsement of that denomination by the current Russian President (Orthodox Christianity being the primary denomination in Russia), we should be grateful that this part of the Body of Messiah is exerting a positive moral influence while the Werstern Churches sink ever deeper into the mire of sin.

I was in our local Red Cross shop the other day and shocked just how overboard they had gone in promoting this pagan festival, all the more surprising (and yet not surprising) that its organiser is a Buddhist. Halloween has acquired a larger and larger public profile the more society has sunk into sin as it seeks occasion to cerebrate something - anything - that does not require it to repent from its degenerate lifestyle. What's even more incredible is the the fact that when I arrived in Scandinavia in 1988, Halloween was non-existent. Looking around, and especially observing children busy painting pumpkins, cutting and pasting bats, ghosts and witches and planning the ideal costume in which to go trick-or-treating, you would be forgiven for thinking that this was an old tradition here. It isn't.

Most of our schools, local community organisations and entertainment on television, radio and press will share in and capitalise upon the festival of Halloween. It's big business. In whatever country you happen to be living in the West (and elsewhere, so widespread is this satanic festival), millions of people will participate in this festival by going to costume parties, or by taking their children trick-or-treating in their neighborhood after dark on 31 October. And they will do so sincerely believing that Halloween has no deeper meaning than fun and excitement for the children. Most people are entirely ignorant of the historical background of the festival of Halloween and its customs though the grandees of political correctness may know enough to justify in their own minds that this witches' celebration is Christianity's just desserts for persecuting witches in the past. For them, it's just another opportunity - especially for leftists - to snub believers.

A quick review for those of you not familiar with this custom. The feast of Halloween began in pre-Christian times among the Celtic peoples of Britain, Ireland and Northern France. These pagan peoples believed that physical life was born from death. Therefore, they celebrated the beginning of the 'new year' in the autumn (fall), on the eve of 31 October and into the day of 1 November, when, as they believed the season of cold, darkness, decay and death began. Instructed by their priests (the Druids) the people extinguished all hearth fires and lights and darkness prevailed.

According to pagan Celtic tradition, the souls of the dead had entered into the world of darkness, decay and death and made total communion with Samhain, the Lord of death, who could be appeased and cajoled by burnt offerings (including humans) to allow the souls of the dead to return home for a festal visit on this day. The belief led to the ritual practice of wandering about in the dark dressed in costumes indicating witches, hobgoblins, fairies and demons. The living entered into fellowship and communion with the dead by this ritual act of imitation, through costume and the wandering about in the darkness.

They also believed that the souls of the dead bore the affliction of great hunger on this festal visit. This belief brought about the practice of begging as another ritual imitation of the activities of the souls of the dead on their festal visit. The implication was that any souls of the dead and their imitators who are not appeased with 'treats', i.e. offerings, will provoke the wrath of Samhain, whose angels and servants could retaliate through a system of 'tricks', or curses.

In the early Celtic Church, the priests tried to counteract this pagan new year festival by establishing the feast of All Saints on that same day (in the East, this feast is celebrated on another day). The night before the feast (on 'All Hallows Eve'), a vigil service was held and a morning celebration of the Eucharist. This custom created the term Halloween. But the remaining pagan and therefore anti-Christian people reacted to the Church's attempt to supplant their festival by increased fervor on this evening, so that the night before the Christian feast of All Saints became a night of sorcery, witchcraft and other occult practices, many of which involved desecration and mockery of Christian practices and beliefs. Costumes of skeletons, for example, developed as a mockery of the Church's reverence for holy relics. Holy things were stolen and used in sacrilegious rituals.

The practice of begging became a system of persecution of Christians who refused to take part in these festivities. And so the Church's attempt to counteract this unholy festival failed, as it was bound to, because of its attempt at some kind of religious syncretisation, as it did with Christmas, Easter and other pagan festivals. Today's soft-core followers of Samhain (Wiccans, Celtic Pagans, and other New Agers) perform outdoor -often semi-clad - pagan dances with lit torches (this is very prevalent in Brittany, France - see the March 2006 edition of National Geographic), honouring in their worship Samhain himself and various 'nature spirits', as they suppose. But the real hard-core worship is performed secretly by Satanists and Devil-worshippers who engage in orgies and ritual sacrifice of infants and adults where there can be no doubt that Samhain is none other than Satan himself.

Messianic Evangelicals have condemned this devilry, in all its forms, from its inception in the 1980's. Along with Orthodox Christians and other believers who are informed and have discerned the spirits, we cannot participate in this event in any form, even when it is labelled as supposedly 'harmless fun'. Any kind of involvement is an idolatrous betrayal of Elohim (God) and the emunah (faith) entrusted to us by Yah'shua (Jesus) and the apostles. Our imitation is only to be of them, not of the dead dressed up or wandering about in the dark, or by begging with them. To participate in any of this activity is to have willfully sought fellowship with the dead, whose Lord is not a Celtic Samhain, but Satan, the evil one, who defiantly stands against Yahweh. As the late founder of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey, knew all to well:

"I am glad that Christian parents let their children worship the devil at least one night out of the year."

Further, if we submit to the dialogue of 'trick or treat,' our offering does not go to innocent children, but rather to Satan himself. If our earliest forefathers refused participation in Halloween or Samhain, despite painful penalties and horrendous persecution, to worship, venerate or pay obeisance in any way to idols who are angels of Satan, and if Messiah and the apostles set no example to do so, then Yah forbid that we should have anything to do with such obscenities. The foundation of emunah (faith) is built upon their very blood.

Years ago, when I was working as a teacher in Norway, I informed the principal in advance that I would not be participating in the Halloween festivities the school had arranged for the day (all lessons had been suspended and various performances were put on in their place). I was informed that if I did not attend I would lose my job. When 31 October arrived, I locked myself in my classroom and spent the entire day working on educational matters while the rest of the staff and pupils engaged in the dark business of that day. Whether my absence was noticed or not I do not know but I was not fired.

It is not uncommon for Halloween parties to be put on by businesses and state institutions which the employees are expected to attend. You should refuse and explain, very simply and courteously, why you cannot, even if it means risking losing your job. If work-time has been set-apart for such a party, remain at work and carry on working as normal, if you can, so that you cannot be accused of skipping time for which you are paid.

In today's world of spiritual apathy and listlessness, which are the roots of atheism and turning away from Elohim (God), you are urged to disregard the spiritual roots and origins of secular practices when their outward forms seem ordinary, entertaining and harmless. The dogma of atheism underlies many of these practices, denying the existence of both Elohim (God) and Satan. Atheists have no problem celebrating the public version of Halloween, just as they usually have no problem celebrating Christmas because they know that the festival is rooted in paganism...which was why its observance continued in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia along with all its trappings.

The flesh will make excuses but we are commanded to crucify the flesh so that Messiah can live in us. I would not be surprised if, in the years ahead, the public version of Halloween does not acquire more of the elements of Wiccanism and occultism in general, in that it unapologetically becomes an overtly spiritual occasion. And it would not surprise me if at some point it does not become mandated by government on pain of severe penalties. Parallel with this, we will see more and more who have accepted the softcore version of Halloween being seduced into hardcore Devil-worship to the destruction of their souls.

Mankind's Fall began with listening to the devil's 'alternative' and partaking of something that looked 'harmless' on the surface - a deadly fruit. It did not look so 'harmless' once our first parents realised what they had done and what they had lost, foremost of which were their fellowship with Yahweh and their innocence.

Yahweh alone, through Yah'shua the Messiah (Jesus Christ), stands in judgment over everything we do and believe - whether our actions be either for Yahweh or against Yahweh. No one can serve two masters. Therefore, let us not, as the pagan Celts did, put out our hearth-fires and wander about in the dark imitating dead souls. Let us rather, with our families, ask Elohim (God) to grant us emunah (faith) and courage to do what is right and to preserve as our forefathers did in these very difficult times, interceed for those involved in these dark practices, and to deliver us from the Evil One. For this is the time of the Judgment of the West - this year Satanists are going all-out during Halloween to facilitate the Dark Kingdom of their master and are targeting believers especially who are an obstacle, because of their emunah (faith) and prayers, in this deadly game for world dominion and enslavement of mankind. Bless all those who refuse to partake of this wicked festival, in all its forms, and make common cause with them and warn the rest as you are able. Amen.

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