Does THE chick site about Halloween explain it well?
http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/1053/1053_01.asp

Also did anyone go out trick or treating?

I believe that we all should use this as an opportunity to reach as many people as possible. God takes evil and works it for good.

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3rd Day Studios

"So many laughing at Jesus,"
"Well the funniest thing that He's done,"
"Is love this poor stubborn rebellious world,"
"While the hate for Him just goes on."

okay, no. I just play computer games instead.

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Soterion Studios

To celebrate halloween our church has a Trunk-Or-Treat. The kids are challenged to dress up as something appropriate and they can get candy from the back of our cars. The cars are parked in the church parking lot. Also we give out cards with christian sayings on them. Also the community is informed about it as a safe place to "Trick-or-treat". So we took something that has been changed once already and changed it back again.

[This message has been edited by HeardTheWord (edited October 15, 2004).]

The next day is celebrated with cake, ice cream, and presents .

Presents for me, that is . I was born on Nov 1.

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Reasoning with non-believers without encouraging them to read the Bible, I have found, is quite useless. God's word convinces - not our own reason.
--CobraA1

Switch Mayhem now available! Get it here
Codename: Roler - Writing object code and GUI.

I used to read chick tracks as a kid, and some of them are decent, but they are prone to some inaccuracies.

Halloween has both pagan and christian roots.

The origins of Halloween go back originaly to the Gaelic people, primarily of Ireland and Scotland, but they did also spread to other areas of the british isles. In the Gaelic culture the two most important holidays of the year were Beltane and Samhain which correspond roughly to the spring and autumn equinox's (beginning of may and the end of october) they days when the sun travels in an even ark giving exatly 12 hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere. In the gaelic (celtic) year, beltane in the spring signified the beginning of summer and samhain in the fall signified the beginning of winter. They were both primarily festivals related to the agricultural cycle, but also took on great religious significance as well (people in the ancient world were more deeply religious than most now so all aspects of life became religious to them... most today call this superstition).

Technicaly Samhain was the day, Nov. 1st. The night before was the feast of the dead. However, the chick site is incorrect in its assertion that samhain was ascociated with samhan god of the dead. This is incorrect because there was no samhan god of the dead. The only name even close to that ever mentioned in any gaelic/celtic source was the name of a minor hero (not a god) who was not ascociated in any with either death, or samhain. The name Samhain actually comes from the gaelic "samhraidhreadh" which means "summers end".
Technicaly the celtic year was devided into four quarters, like our year, winter, spring, summer, and autumn. However, in importance summer and winter tended to overshadow the other two and consume them (which is why samhain is summers end, not autumn's end). Samhain marks the end of the celtic calander year and the beginning of their new year (interestingly enough the celts day also began at night rather than at dawn, like the Jewish day).
The celts attached alot of mystical significance to transitional times. They believed that dawn and dusk were the most magical times of the day etc, because they believed that at these times two worlds were mixing together, they believed very strongly in a spiritual world the "other world" that existed along side the physical world and at times of transition like dusk and dawn the barrier between the two worlds was lowered. They also believed that this was the case on Samhain. It was the transition from summer into winter, the transition from the old year into the new year. They believed that on samhain the barrier between the spiritual world and the physical world was lowered.

As a result, they did believe that the spirits of the dead (and also the spirits of those who had not yet been born) could come into the physical world. Unlike the depiction in the chick comic, however, this wasn't something frightening to them, or terrifying, it was something they viewed as magical and wonderful. They believed that the spirits coming to visit were their ancestors, and also their future descendants and so they would leave out food offerings and the like to honor them.
Thus the night before Samhain, they held a great feast to honor the dead, specificly their dead ancestors and loved ones who had passed on.

On the eve of samhain when it got dark, the leader of the tribe would build a huge bonfire. People would throw offerings into the fire (there is no record of humans being offered in samhain fires) because on this night the believed the spirits of their ancestors were closer, but also they believed the gods were closer.
Once the fire was blazing high, all other fires in the surrounding village and country side (except for other village samhain fires) had to be extinguished, then there was a great feast honoring the those from their tribe or family who had gone before (dying honorably was a big deal in celtic society). Then at some point before the night ended, each family would take tinder lit from the village samhain fire home and light their own family hearth fire with it. This was symbolic of their unity with the tribe and that they were loyal to the cheif for another year etc. (this symbolism plays strongly into the story of St. Patrick actually).

The chic site speaks about the pagan priests going door to door demanding food or sacrificing children (as the explanation for "trick or treat"). First off, the celts didn't have a priesthood in the way that we commonly understand priests. The druids were celtic wise men that served a number of functions. They were "holy men" in that they performed religious rituals and were in a sense the keepers of the rituals, they were the ones who were taught proper way of doing things etc. They also served as political advisors to kings and chiefs, and there is evidence that in the hay day of celtic society they served as a kind of supertribal court system. However, druids didn't control celtic religion in the same way that priests of other religions did. Rather than the druid telling people what to do or else, it was people, when they needed, or thought they needed some kind of ritual performed would go to a druid and have him do it, of course they usualy had to pay him in some form as well.

As for human sacrifice, its known that some celtic tribes practiced human sacrifice. Every case of human sacrifice documented in celtic history, that I've ever seen, was a case were prisoners of war were burnt in celebration of victory. The only exception to this was a mummy found in a english swamp. The body was from the celtic era and had been sacrificed by throat cutting. No one knows what the reason was for the sacrifice or what aspect of religion it was ascociated with. To my knowledge there is no known refrence to human sacrifice ascociated with celtic samhain celebrations.

Celtic samhain celebration did have some aspects of fear, but it was fear of the onset of winter and lean times. Samhain was a celebration of unity and togetherness because they knew that only together could they survive in a harsh winter, the whole aspect of the spirits of the dead and the yet to be born was part of the togetherness aspect because it unified them with both their past and their future. Also it was a sense of encouragement because their ancestors had always survived so it was a remembrance that in hard times they could endure. It provided them with a sense of continuity at a new beginning. a new year, another winter, but a reminded that they were part of something bigger.

With the advent of christian times, the church changed samhain to become "all saints day". It was no longer the new year, but it maintained the aspect of reminding people of the continuity they had as part of a larger community. All saints day celebrated all of the saints of the faith who had gone before to remind believers that we are part of a greater community a greater brotherhood. The modern name "halloween" comes from all saints day. The night before All saints day was called "all hallows eve" (or evening) through time and use all hallows eve became hallows eve which eventually became halloween.

It is certain that the ancient celts were pagans. They worshipped false gods, but personaly I'm of the belief that there have always been people in every society who have known the true God, regardless of the prevailing mythology of their day. The question I must ask is how much of their celebration is really paganism and false religion.. and how much is just a celebration of family, unity and rememberance of those who have gone before us?

Now, that is not to say that halloween in the modern world is harmless or totaly with out its own dangers. Halloween has, without question, been siezed upon by modern pagans and followers of the occult etc. So there is cause for caution. But at the same time, do we let evil people spoil something good for us?

sorry for the excessive length of the post

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-- ignorance can be educated, immaturity can be grown out of, and drunkeness can be sobered, but stupid lasts forever.

The few people who sacrifice animals or kidnap children are obviously nasty characters anyway, who are extremely messed in the head.

Hmm... it'd be ironic if that little girl in the comic was kidnapped from her home after opening the door to some trick-or-treaters. "Here, have my beliefs rolled up in your ca--MMPHH!" *gets thrown inside a duffel bag*

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I shall worship you all of my life. Till death do us together.

the point is we doing take these things lightly, however we neecd to be secure in Christ, and fear not for the Lord is with us, and perfect love casts out all fear.

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Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

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I shall worship you all of my life. Till death do us together.

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I shall worship you all of my life. Till death do us together.

Halloween is a day for little kids to go and get free candy. People have done it for years. I am sorry if I seem rude but I was raised in a christian family and I always went out on Halloween.

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* Eagles may soar, but weasels aren't sucked in jet engines.

Well, there is debate about wether it is evil for christians to celebrate halloween.. I personaly don't think it is, although I think christians should be careful how they celebrate it.

Its undeniable that halloween is a sacred holiday for witch craft and satanists. For the satanists its largely that way because it has an evil reputation and their only too happy to exploit that or pounce on it.. just like the way fantasy role playing has had alot of occult influences and connection, simply because it had an evil reputation it attracted alot of occult people.
As for the witches.. most modern witchcraft is in the form of "neo paganism" particularly wicca. These people believe that they are reclaiming the ancient pagan religions (although the reality is that their religion is vastly different than any ancient paganism). As a result of their beliefs they have taken ancient holidays and revived them as part of their ceremonial calander.. celtic holidays in particular are popular because many neo pagans tend towards psudo celtic styles and beliefs.

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-- All that is gold does not glitter,
Deep roots are not touched by the frost,
The old that is strong does not wither,
Not all those who wander are lost.

http://www.bible.com/answers/ahalowen.html read the link maybe you might like it.

one part is
"Because so many of us have grown up celebrating Halloween, and seemingly did not experience any negative effects, some feel that not celebrating Halloween at all is an extreme measure. However, we would encourage you to pray about this. Is any holiday that glorifies death and darkness (even in fun) a proper thing for a Christian to do since we have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light? "

[This message has been edited by warsong (edited November 03, 2005).]

All i thought about during haloween was dressing up cool and candy. We never dressed up as anything scary. My little brother went as "duct Tape man" my other younger bro went as a biker/50's dude, my little cousin went as zoro, my other two cousins (who came to our house) went as a 50's girl and Little Cindy Lu-who, and i went as a marine.

When i was little all i thought about was candy and a cool costume. I once went as a cowboy too.
Now i think its just for the cool costume i get to make.

Carving pumpkins are fun too.

hmmm..... i never thought about it that way....

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(yes, i know im stupid)

Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right.
The kingdom of hevan bleongs to them.-Matthew 5:10

PM ME YOUR DESCRIPTION OF ME! ILL PUT IT HERE!

Here's all the comments!

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I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes...

[This message has been edited by brandon (edited November 03, 2005).]

Also here another thing i found online.
"When the Christian Church came to the area, it was unable to get the new Christians to stop celebrating this pagan holiday and therefore chose to "Christian-ize" it by associating it with the Resurrection and dubbing it Halloween (All Hallows' Eve), and All Hallows (All Saints' Day, Nov. 1, and All Souls' Day, Nov.2). As is often the case, over time the meaning of many of the old rituals became distorted and mixed with similar feasts from other cultures (English, Danish, Mexican, etc.) until it became the commercialized feast we know today. Unfortunately, little attention is paid to the celebration of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day while much attention is paid to the "scary eve" of these feasts."

Just marines wiht rifles.

well... okay, a plastic pistol.

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(yes, i know im stupid)

Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right.
The kingdom of hevan bleongs to them.-Matthew 5:10

PM ME YOUR DESCRIPTION OF ME! ILL PUT IT HERE!

Here's all the comments!

REALLY brief decription of that, or maybe I just made it up, no one knows...
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Harm in halloween? No. Our school says you don't even have to bring a costume for the party. ...
I did go trick-or-treating, went with just a stupid football mask and got some candy. Out of my friends who wore real costumes, everyone said, "Hey, look, he's a football head!" I mean everyone. Little kids, their parents, even the homes just commented on me, lol...

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"Be nice to the nerds because later on, you'll be working for them" - Bill Gates

quote:

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What do you think of this comment Brandon.
"Father George’s Note: For children, regardless of age, the practice of visiting neighbors and receiving candy is something special. I think it is responsible parenting to perhaps permit your children to “Trick or Treat” but to not allow them to wear any type of evil or inappropriate costumes Dressing up as witches, Dracula, the devil or scary characters from movies should all be discouraged. Likewise, Christians should not decorate their homes with gruesome décor, and images of death and the devil. Spiders, Witches on broomsticks, even scary looking Jack-O-Lanterns should be avoided. Try your best to baptize this annual event. Make it a fun, not an evil day."

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I'm not for trick or treating at all really. If I ever have kids, then maybe we'll go by Grandma's house and pick some candy up. But asking strangers for candy just doesn't seem OK to me. I totally agree with that comment when it says that Christians shouldn't decorate their homes with the dark and gruesome devilish type things. I don't like the idea of celebrating death and darkness.

EDIT:
You know what I DO like about pumpkins though? I like Pumpkin pie! Ahhh... just a few more weeks until Thanksgiving

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I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation of everyone who believes...

[This message has been edited by brandon (edited November 04, 2005).]

but, at my work's Halloween BBQ, I was dressed up as a Mafia Hitman... won first place in the costume contest. haha.

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"Patience, my good citizen, patience. It's bad enough to rob a man of his dream"
-Sydney Carton, Tale of Two Cities
Soterion Studios

Karl

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Karl /GODCENTRIC
Visionary Media
the creative submitted to the divine.
Husband of my amazing wife Aleshia
Klumsy@xtra.co.nz

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Reminds me of a song...
"Cause He brings people to your door,
And you turn them away,
As you smile and say,
God Bless you, be at peace,
And all heaven just weeps,
Jesus came to your door,
But you've left Him out on the streets!"

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Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep.
O Lord , you preserve both man and beast.
How priceless is your unfailing love!

[This message has been edited by brandon (edited November 04, 2005).]

there are sooo many tings i need to remember and Do as a christain, how can I remember them ALL?!?!

gaaaaaaaa....

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(yes, i know im stupid)

Blessed are those who suffer for doing what is right.
The kingdom of hevan bleongs to them.-Matthew 5:10

PM ME YOUR DESCRIPTION OF ME! ILL PUT IT HERE!

Here's all the comments!

The issue was not at all that the church couldn't stamp out those evil pagan practices so they just slapped a christian name on them.. the fact was that the traditional beliefs of the celtic peoples in this area were pretty close so the placing of the feast of all saints was a natural fit to the traditional cultural practice.

The feast of halloween in celtic culture was entirely about community, remembering your ancestors and honoring their lives, and also looking forward to the future of your community. Yes, the celts believed that on this day the spirits of their ancestors could check up on them and could almost join them again for the feast.. but how different is this than the catholic/orthodox belief that the saints of the past are still with us and can pray for us and can aid us.

The feast All Saints was placed on Samhain not because the evils of samhain couldn't be stamped out.. but rather because samhain very closely approximated the intent and meaning of all saints.. In fact when you really examine it they are simply two the same thing.. one is pre christian and the other is christian.

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-- All that is gold does not glitter,
Deep roots are not touched by the frost,
The old that is strong does not wither,
Not all those who wander are lost.