Who Celebrates Halloween

I wanted to give an alternative thought process on the issue of whether a Christian should celebrate Halloween or not. I encourage your opinions and that you vote in the poll on the home page of this blog.

As is written and abundantly documented on the internet and other sources Samhain that is Halloween is said to have been traced to the priestly-class of Celts known as the Druids as early as 500 BC. That it was a social and religious celebration and fire festival that was to honor the end of the light of summer and the coming darkness of winter, as well as to protect the last harvest of the year. During this time October 31 through November 1 it was understood by them that the veil between the visible and invisible worlds was at it thinnest, which allowed easy access for the spirits of dead ancestors and demons to cross over in communication and in destructiveness to the harvest, homes, and life in general. They saw that the darkness and cold of winter brought forth death causing them to develop a two prong strategy of appeasement and fear towards their gods and the souls of those who had previously crossed through the veil.

The appeasement was the veneration (honoring) of their chosen gods of light, warmth, summer, and darkness, cold, winter, by invocation and evocation through specific magical (majikal) rites, rituals, and gifts of blood sacrifices that included favorite foods of the gods and the departed souls of their ancestors.

The fear was expressed not only in the act of appeasement but by the extinguishing of the household fires with the building of a sacred bonfire. This also helped to ensure that gods and dead souls would come to the required location of the bonfire when invoked as opposed to entering into the households. The donning of masks and of sacrificed animal heads was to hide their personal identity while making them seem more like the spirits that they were summoning thus with equal or greater authority. For when the gods (demons, evil spirits) and departed souls appeared at their invocations they would appear as part human, part animal, and as disfigured humans which is well documented in ancient religions, the Goetia, and various grimoires. The wearing of animal heads and masks of disfigurement is generally misunderstood as a tactic of scaring the gods (demons) and the departed souls but should not be misunderstood by the Christian for as it is written they made themselves “like god(s)”, Gen. 3:5; Isa 14:14.

The priests known as the Druids were satanic in the fact that they were worshipers of the god of this world as expressed in veneration of the goddess, gods and the horned god of this earth and the souls of departed loved ones in addition to those that they considered great leaders. They are known to be animist worshiping the gods of the seasons as outlined in the “Wheel of the Year” and nature as a whole.

Many ancient cultures had various holidays at this same time of year to venerate their chosen gods and the souls of the dead such as the Aztecs who worshipped the Lady of Death, Mictecacihuatl the queen of the underworld who presided over the ancient festivals of the dead having the task of guarding the bones of the dead. The Aztecs, as others, are well known for their spiritual associations with demon gods, skeletons, and human sacrifice.

The Wiccan Bible also lists Samhain (Halloween) as a greater Sabbats (greater holiday); a cross quarter day that is like no other holiday. Understand that the Wiccan bible promotes the use of the word holiday over that of sabbat in an effort to make it more acceptable to the non-witch. I insert here a quote from the Wiccan Bible for your reading "In its aspect as being the day on which the veil between worlds at its thinnest, we can compare this day to Mardi Gras. No, it is not so much the day that is between the last and the new year, but it is the last day of that transition. This is much the way Fat Tuesday is not the whole of Mardi Gras, but it is the last and most celebrated day. Which brings us to our ancestors and why they are celebrated on this day. Like no other Holiday, Samhain speaks to us about death, thus reminding us of the value of life. On this day, it is considered common courtesy to invite our passed relatives back into our lives by preparing their favorite meals, telling their stories, and calling their names to the night. Candles are placed in bowls of milk and honey to invite wayward spirits. And what do we tell them when they arrive? That while we miss them, we know that we will be with them again, and for now we  celebrate the days we have left."

The Satanic Bible also lists Halloween as a major religious holiday informing us again that it is a fire ritual of the Druids and is associated with the spirits of the dead, the demons, witches, and sorcerers whom are unusually active and propitious.

In this short dissertation we could also make mention of African, Brazilian, and Haitian magic, voodoo (majik, vudu) and other religions of ancient and modern times that deem the time of Halloween as a holiday, sabbat (sabot), or festival of great importance. But instead let us once again simply mention that Samhain (Halloween) is only listed as a major day on the pagan’s calendar known as “The Wheel of the Year”.  To state it clearly It is interesting to note that the ancient fire ritual/festival is listed as a holiday/ritual day only on the calendars of the wicked until the catholic church attempted to bring forth an alternative for the Christians introducing the same time period as All Saints Day and All-Hallow-Eve. Inducing the Christian world to worship (venerate) and pray for the spirits of the dead saints and loved ones.

In regards to the church and Christendom, I do not believe that the Lord Jesus was ignorant of their fallen ways and may have very well been a second Exodus for on Halloween day (October 31, 1517) the Lord Jesus raised up Martin Luther having him nail his 95 point thesis to the Wittenburg Castle door starting what is now known as the Protestant Reformation.    

If we now turn our attention to the Holy Scripture (The Holy Bible) we see in Leviticus 23:33-43 That the Lord God called for the Feast of Tabernacles also known as the Feast of ingathering (harvest) which was to be held in mid-October but due to the structure of the Hebrew calendar rotates from the end of September to the end of October. Seeing that the Feast of Tabernacles that was to commemorate the Exodus and the wonderings in the wilderness was commanded by God (Jesus) about thousand years (1440-1400 BC) before the Druid festival of the Dead and ingathering of the harvest that their Halloween is a satanic version of the feast called for by God (Jesus).

Unlike other holidays in the Christian world which are often times maligned as Occult holidays Halloween has no saving grace and is strictly related to and associated with the Darkness of Pagan religions the world over.  Therefore, I feel compelled to leave you with this concept and thought: To participate in evil is to condone evil. Why should one who is called by the Name of Christ Jesus participate in an event that promotes death, hell, and destruction; and that is ONLY listed as a 'holiday' on the calendars of the wicked and worldly?

 The only alternative that I believe that would be acceptable to the Lord and therefore to Christendom is a Reformation Day celebration. Celebrating the previously stated second Exodus of the church by reading the ninety five thesis of Martin Luther and underscoring the comparisons of that thesis with today’s church, your church, and the fact that by this act of reforming the church the Holy Bible was finally placed into the personal hands of the true church, you.

Grace and Peace to you and May the Lord of Hosts scatter HIS enemies as chaff in the wind. Amen and Amen.

Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.

In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite, willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.

2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests.

3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh.

4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons.

6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven.

7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest.

8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying.

9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity.

10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory.

11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept.

12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition.

13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them.

14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear.

15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair.

16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety.

17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase.

18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love.

19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it.

20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself.

21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved;

22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life.

23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest.

24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and highsounding promise of release from penalty.

25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish.

26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession.

27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].

28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.

29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal.

30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission.

31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare.

32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon.

33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him;

34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man.

35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia.

36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.

37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.

38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission.

39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition.

40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them].

41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love.

42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy.

43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons;

44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty.

45. 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God.

46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.

47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.

48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring.

49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God.

50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep.

51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold.

52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it.

53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others.

54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word.

55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies.

56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ.

57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them.

58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man.

59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time.

60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure;

61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient.

62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last.

64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first.

65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches.

66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men.

67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain.

68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross.

69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence.

70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope.

71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed!

72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed!

73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons.

74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth.

75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness.

76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned.

77. It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope.

78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii.

79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy.

80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render.

81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity.

82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial."

83. Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?"

84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?"

85. Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?"

86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?"

87. Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?"

88. Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?"

89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?"

90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy.

91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist.

92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace!

93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross!

94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell;

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace.