Halloween: how to protect children. Halloween is a holiday of worship of the devil and the forces of evil
As you know, this vile holiday imposed on us by the West is approaching. I would like to warn all Orthodox Christians so that they are not accidentally dragged into this obscurantism.
still from the movie "Halloween"
Priest Alexander Usatov
“What does light have in common with darkness? What agreement is there between Christ and Belial?
(2 Cor. 6:14-15)
The Russian Orthodox Church does not bless its children to participate in the pagan holiday of Halloween in any form for a number of reasons:
1. The origin, form and essence of this “holiday of death” are pagan and incompatible with faith in the Risen Christ - the Conqueror of hell and death. Its origins date back to the beliefs of the ancient Celts, who believed that on this night the door to the other world opened and the inhabitants of hell entered the earth. Glorifying the pagan god Samhain (Lord of Death), the ancient Celts brought sacrifices to him, hoping that the “appeased” Samhain would allow the souls of the dead to visit their homes on this day. This is where the custom, rooted in the pagan world, originates of wandering around on Halloween night dressed in costumes of ghosts, witches and all sorts of other spirits, symbolizing communication with the afterlife and evil spirits.
The attitude of the Orthodox Church to the celebration of Halloween
The attitude of the Orthodox Church to the celebration of Halloween
2. Halloween is a blasphemous mockery of All Saints' Day and the saints themselves: on the day when saints are remembered, Christians dress themselves in costumes of demons, which, in accordance with church canons, is a grave sin.
3. In addition, the very celebration of All Saints Day on November 1 is unacceptable for Orthodox Christians, because the Orthodox Church celebrates All Saints Day not on November 1 (on this day the memory of all saints has been celebrated by the Western Church since 835), but on the Sunday following the feast of Pentecost, i.e. at the beginning of summer.
4. All the symbolism of this holiday is unacceptable for an Orthodox Christian, because it represents the replacement of Christian values and ideas with anti-Christian ones: fortune telling, witchcraft, the personification of death and spirits of evil, pagan rituals of making sacrifices to evil spirits, the custom of displaying a pumpkin with a scary face carved on it, serving as an image dead, as well as pranks of a dubious nature. The associative connection between the wild “rites” of Halloween and Satanist cults is so obvious that even in the United States itself, many consider Halloween a holiday for Satanists.
5. Halloween is a means of dehumanizing and demonizing children's consciousness, introducing fashion for paraphernalia and clothing depicting death, destruction, disharmony, and poeticizing cruelty. The game of demonic worldview, like any game for a child, is associated with trying on the image of a hero. Children copy the human sacrifices of Satanists, mock human suffering and death - this cannot pass without leaving a mark either on their mental state or on personal development. The removal of natural taboos and internal censorship for the human and especially vulnerable child psyche on mockery of death and human suffering, on the use of the blood of victims even in a playful form as a delicacy, acts of vandalism, etc. leads to serious mental and personal disorders of the child.
The attitude of the Orthodox Church to the celebration of Halloween
The attitude of the Orthodox Church to the celebration of Halloween
The attitude of the Orthodox Church to the celebration of Halloween
The attitude of the Orthodox Church to the celebration of Halloween
At the same time, all beliefs that Halloween and similar holidays, despite their obvious pagan origins and idolatrous essence, are harmless, innocent and of little importance, thereby undermine the traditional spiritual foundations. If for any reason an Orthodox Christian was drawn into the blasphemous rituals of this holiday, he must bring sincere repentance before God in confession.
I've been shut up again! That’s why I’m writing here: The authorities are on our side, hurray! And I just feel sorry for the non-believers.
Recently in Russia it has become fashionable to celebrate the so-called Halloween or similar masquerades, where the main participants in the events are various kinds of evil spirits - vampires, witches, sorcerers, werewolves, etc. Despite the growing popularity of Halloween in our country, most people have no idea about its essence and history. We can distance ourselves from participating in the pagan holiday of Halloween if we understand the spiritual danger it poses and learn the history of this anti-Christian holiday.
history of the holiday
It is believed that Halloween(Halloween, or as it is also called Hallow Evening) is a holiday that dates back to the traditions of the ancient Celts of Ireland and Scotland. Celebrated on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day, it is traditionally celebrated in English-speaking countries. But since the end of the 20th century, during the process of Americanization and globalization, the fashion for Halloween paraphernalia also arose in most non-English-speaking countries of Europe and the CIS.
The Halloween holiday originated in pre-Christian times among the Celtic tribes of Scotland, Ireland and northern France. The prototype of this holiday is the Celtic festival Samhain(Samhain). It is believed that in pagan times the holiday did not have any special meaning other than agricultural and seasonal. However, this is not quite true. Samhain (or Sauin, Samhain) is the Celtic god of Death. Some researchers considered the word "Samhain" to be derived from the name of Satan.
In the ancient lands of what is now England and in the cold parts of France lived Celtic tribes. These tribes were pagans and, like all pagans, they worshiped the elements of nature; their most revered god was the Sun. The ancient Celts divided the calendar year into 2 parts - summer and winter. And each of these parts of the year had its own god. With the arrival of winter, November 1 - the Sun God was captured by Samhain - this is the lord of the dead and the prince of darkness. The Celts also believed that the (correct) day begins with sunset, and on this night the mysterious doors of the dark world opened, all barriers between our material and other worlds were eliminated, and the inhabitants of the dark hell came to us on earth, the door between the worlds opened just one night.
An important part of the pagan cult was the act of sacrifice to the dark forces in the service of Samhain. It was believed that the souls of the dead, reigning in the world of darkness, cold and death, experienced insatiable hunger on the day of their visit to the world of the living. Therefore, the Kel pagans prepared treats for the spirits wandering in the darkness of the night, because they believed that if they were not appeased with offerings, then the wrath and curses of Samhain would fall on the people.
In the 9th century, when Christianity spread to Great Britain, these pagan traditions mixed with the Christian holiday - the Catholic All Hallows Even. The Catholic Church has long struggled with pagan customs of frightening and appeasing evil spirits, so it moved the celebration of All Saints' Day from May to November 1st. The idea of combining Christian veneration of saints and pagan worship of evil spirits belonged to Pope Gregory III, who hoped to thus Christianize the holiday and eradicate paganism. However, it should be noted that the Christianization of the pagan holiday Samhain failed. A few centuries later in medieval England it would receive the name "Hallowe'en"(All Hallows Eve). Even later, the name is transformed into Hallowe’en, and eventually Halloween will become familiar. Thus, the pagan holiday not only survived, in the minds of people it simply merged with the church holiday. Therefore, the celebration of Halloween is rather a blasphemous mockery of the Saints, because... it does not promote the Lord Jesus Christ as Christmas and Easter do. Quite the contrary, the person celebrated at Halloween is the devil.
Attributes and customs
On the night from October 31 to November 1 Druids- the priests of the ancient Celts - gathered in oak groves on the tops of the hills (the Celts considered oaks to be sacred trees), lit fires and made sacrifices to evil spirits to appease them. And in the mornings, the Druids gave people coals from their fires so that they could light the fires of their homes. The fire of the Druids warmed houses during the long winter and protected the house from evil spirits.
A very important attribute of this celebration is the pumpkin, namely the pumpkin head - the “Jack-O-Lantern”. It represents a head carved from a pumpkin illuminated from the inside. What is the meaning behind the Jack-O-Lantern tradition? The World Encyclopedia (1977 edition, volume 9, pp. 24-26) states: “The innocuous-looking glowing pumpkin, depicting the face of Jack O'Lantern, is the oldest symbol of the damned soul.” There are different versions of where this symbol of the Samhain holiday came from. On the one hand, the orange pumpkin is a symbol of the completion of the harvest from the fields, on the other hand, it is a symbolism of the evil spirit and the fire that scares it away. But still, the true source of the origin of the pumpkin tradition is the legend of a drunkard named Jack, who signed a deal with the devil himself. After this, Jack could not go to either Heaven or Hell, and was cursed to wander the earth until the Last Judgment.
Also part of the festival is the “fun” Trick-or-Treat, which is a ritualized act of offering to the dark forces. On this evening, according to the custom of the ancient Celts, treats are offered to the spirits so that they do not invade the house. On this night, animals are sacrificed and the winter hearth in the house is lit from the sacred fire.
The main themes of Halloween are death, evil, the occult and monsters. Traditional colors are black and orange.
The holiday menu must include hellish dishes and vile cocktails. It is necessary to please all the invited guests so that they do not starve to eat the host of the party. This could include “severed hands and fingers,” soups made from Old Dead Joe’s “eyes,” “ears and nose,” as well as various drinks and desserts made from “bloody hearts and poisonous fly agarics.”
The essence of Halloween
The ancient meaning of Halloween is to establish a connection between the other world and ours. On this night, the gates to both the past and the future are open. Witches and demons are the guardians of this gate. It was believed that on this evening all evil spirits come to life and have their own celebration - goblins, witches, evil spirits, werewolves.
The creation of this holiday was not without the influence of dark forces, otherwise where would there be so many attributes of death, evil and fear. It's sad that many people, having fun in intricate holiday costumes, forget or don't even know the main essence of Halloween. Halloween Spirits That's what it is those same ones demons who seduce human souls from the righteous path. This holiday is associated with sacrifices and with worship of dark forces, because the objects of veneration at Halloween events are devils, demons, witches, evil spirits, etc., constituting the “bottom row” of the religious cult of serving Satan as the enemy of God. By the way, For Satanists, Halloween is the most important holiday of death, directly glorifying Satan.
Therefore, while celebrating the day of evil spirits, without knowing it or not taking it seriously, we celebrate it together with the Satanists, because the connection between their cults and the wild “rites” of Halloween is obvious. After all, for the Druids, the Night of the Spirits is the time of death of the solar God.
Many celebrate this holiday without thinking about its meaning and content. For some people, Halloween is another reason to get together and have fun. But flirting with evil spirits, even if they are not taken seriously, leads away from faith in the One God. Young people are mistaken in thinking that such celebrations are nothing more than a fun pastime.
Halloween is an attempt to make friends with evil spirits. This is a twist of the occult, and the devil cleverly uses it, convincing people that this is a wonderful, harmless holiday where it’s just fun and interesting. The most common reaction of people for whom Halloween is a holiday is a call to consider the phenomenon neutral.
However, Halloween is not a fairy-tale carnival, but a quasi-ritual action of a very specific nature, which is directly related to religious Satanism. Celebrating Halloween is a hidden form of spiritual and cultural genocide. Society, convincing us that Halloween and similar holidays, despite their obvious pagan origins and idolatrous nature, are harmless, innocent and of little importance, thereby undermines our spiritual foundations and contributes to the spread of lack of faith and atheism.
It should be borne in mind that the religious culture of Satanism is largely based on primitive magic. According to magical ideas, it is believed that a person’s participation in a certain ritualized action changes his essence (spiritual and physical) so much that this change can no longer be eliminated, “erased.” Related to this is the “trick” of Halloween as a “holiday of all saints.” It is believed that a person, even deceptively drawn into the religious veneration of Satan (even in a “joking” form), is so changed in his spiritual essence that he will never be able to serve God, even if he does not later become a “conscious” Satanist. Thus, the religious goal of Satanism, which is to prevent a person from achieving religious salvation and eternal life with God (to destroy the soul), is in any case achieved. A person demonstratively renounces God (putting on a “demonic mug”) and, thus, cannot serve God and count on life after death, even if he does not later become a “dedicated” follower of the religious cult of Satan and does not perform Satanic rituals , participate in satanic rituals, etc. His soul will “perish” anyway; God “will not accept” it.
Let us note that in the Christian understanding this is also considered as a “trick of Satan”, another lie - ANY PERSON IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CAN REPENTANCE FOR ANY SINS, INCLUDING INTENTIONAL OR UNINTENTIONAL WORSHIP OF EVIL SPIRIT AND COUNT ON GOD’S MERCY AND FORGIVENESS.
Cultivation of the holiday in Russia
The West has long been openly promoting the ideology of Satanism, which is why the holiday “Halloween” has become a “good” tradition in the West... The worst thing is that this holiday is increasingly being cultivated in Russia. There is no doubt that such a trend indicates the ever-increasing propaganda of Satanism everywhere.
Cultivating this holiday among our youth is one of the methods of pushing them away from the Church. The presence of elements of religious content in the celebration of Halloween (the cult of death or mockery of death, the personification of death and spirits of evil, etc.) contradicts Orthodoxy and has a destructive effect on the mental, spiritual and moral health of young people.
Orthodox Christians must understand that by taking part in such actions, they indulge in idolatry and thereby betray our Lord and our Holy Faith. Moreover, when distributing treats, we do not distribute sweets to innocent children, but make a sacrifice to the god of death Sauin, whose servants they become, wandering in the darkness in imitation of the dead.
Halloween symbolizes the victory over Christ, and also, like other aspects of modern rock and pop culture, preaches pathological aggression.
Impact on children
Many contemporaries perceive the holiday as a fun event for children. But playing with a demonic worldview, like any game for a child, involves trying on the image of a hero. Children copy the human sacrifices of Satanists, mock human suffering and death - this cannot pass without leaving a mark either on their mental state or on personal development.
According to many scientists - psychologists and psychiatrists - Halloween poses a great danger to children. Children who participate in such events often experience fear, depressed mood, aggression and suicidal tendencies. All Halloween events are destructive for children and adults psychologically, educationally and socially.
Halloween organizers capitalize on children's craving for the fabulous, magical and unusual. None of the children in their right mind would agree to take part in a ritual related to Satanism, while any child would be happy to participate in a costumed, colorful carnival with a humorous nature and even a touch of magic, as the organizers and propagandists of this event present Halloween to children. Do people dressed as ghouls and ghouls think about what and who they are paying?
The rituals associated with this day teach people from childhood that they need to pay some tribute to evil, reconcile with it, even cooperate - instead of fighting evil and decisively rejecting it.
The Church's attitude to the celebration of Halloween
Despite the growing popularity of this holiday in Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Council of Muftis of Russia have a negative attitude towards the celebration of Halloween and considers it a "carnival of Evil"».
In Eastern European countries, many representatives of the Orthodox Church are strongly opposed to the celebration of Halloween, believing that it is “a holiday of inner emptiness and a byproduct of globalization.”
However, some parishes of the Anglican Church support the holiday, considering it part of the Christian traditions of All Saints' Day. The reason for this is the mistakes of the liberalism of the Anglican Church.
It should be emphasized that even formal participation in paganism was always very strictly condemned by the Church and was tantamount to betrayal of the Faith.
Christians should not celebrate such holidays because they distance us from God and bring us closer to darkness. The “holiday” of Halloween undermines the very foundations of the Holy Church, founded on the blood of martyrs who refused to in any way honor or serve idols. The Holy Church must take a strict position of opposition to such phenomena, since Christ the Savior told us that the Lord God is our judge in all our actions and beliefs and that our deeds can be either “FOR GOD” or “AGAINST GOD.” There is no middle "neutral" path.
Bible vs Halloween
What does the Bible say: “Abstain from all kinds of Evil and do not participate in the bottomless deeds of Darkness, but also reprove, be sober, and stay awake, because your enemy the devil walks around like a roaring lion, walking around looking for someone to devour.”
In a figurative sense, the word “darkness” in the Bible personifies forces hostile to God, who, by virtue of His holiness and perfection, is light (1 John 1:5). Darkness serves as a symbol of the world of the pagans, who do not know the Lord and do not believe in Him (Isa. 9:2; 60:2). Darkness is the world of sin and ungodliness (Isa. 5:20; Matt. 6:23). Therefore, sins are works of darkness (Rom. 13:12; Eph. 6:12). In the world of sin, Satan rules, and the “spirits of evil” represent the power of darkness (Luke 22:53; Acts 26:18; Eph. 6:12). A Christian, being a son of Christ, does not belong to darkness (Eph. 5:4-13).
Conclusions for believers
Satan seeks to draw man into the world of darkness and keep him there. He tries to deceive people and turn them away from God (Gen. 3:5). If Satan succeeds in this, then the human mind is darkened and perception is dulled, and the whole person with his mind, soul and body becomes dark (Matthew 6:23.).
The world (in the meaning of this Age) is the enemy of the Christian and there is a deep gulf between friendship with the world and friendship with Christ. Nothing does more harm to the Christian as a whole than the influence of the world. It is not only obvious sins and open unbelief that rob Christ, depriving Him of His devoted servants, but also love for the world and worldly pleasures. Hitting this rock, thousands of young people are constantly shipwrecked in their faith, because they want to have everything that “this world” offers them.
Youth, young families and all Christians must know that the word “world” in its broadest sense is depravity and evil. Because of the world's hostility toward God, corruption reigns in it (2 Peter 1:4). It is impossible to be friends with the world and at the same time love God (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15-17).
It is not at all easy to leave the world. To renounce the sins of this world is a difficult task as long as the essence of man remains the same. Besides, the devil, busy with his menial work, is always somewhere nearby. Exiting the world requires continuous struggle and effort; it entails continuous inner self-denial.
When it comes to the world and worldly things, Christians must firmly know and remember that they need to follow a certain line of behavior; that they need to steadfastly and constantly refuse to follow the world's standards of what is right and wrong. A Christian should not go with the flow, behave “like everyone else,” follow the majority, imitating evil.
“This world is passing away,” and those who cling to it and think only about it will disappear with it and be punished with eternal destruction. Satan has deceived the entire universe. Teenagers and young people “eat of the tree of prohibition” without fear or shame. The main problem of young people is, on the one hand, deception and seduction, and on the other, ignorance. But ignorance of sin does not exempt us from the harmful consequences for the fragile human soul. “Ignorance of the law does not exempt you from responsibility” - neither in the next world nor in this.
Material prepared by Sergey Shulyak
On the territory of some Russian schools, Halloween is officially prohibited, while on the territory of others it is quietly celebrated. The Orthodox Church and Muslims are strongly against this; a special “Orthodox patrol” was even created in Krasnodar on the occasion of Halloween, but this does not make the event any less popular. What is the reason for this state of affairs?
The debate about what kind of holiday this is – Halloween – and whether Russia should adopt this Western tradition has been going on for several years now, at least since the beginning of the 2000s, and even earlier. Representatives of traditional Russian religions, primarily the Russian Orthodox Church and the Islamic Ummah, are categorically against it. But, despite this, Halloween continues to be celebrated, if not everywhere and officially, then quite widely within the framework of private and commercial initiatives.
Happy Halloween, Orthodox Christians!
“You have vampire fangs with Swarovski crystals or a fashionable mobile phone - what’s the difference, really?”
This year, All Saints' Day unexpectedly became the subject of a near-political agenda. The Governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksenov, said that in principle there should be no events related to Halloween in schools on the peninsula. He ordered the Ministry of Education of the republic to monitor the implementation of his demand. “Specialists - teachers, psychologists - express reasonable fears that games with images of evil can be dangerous for a fragile child’s psyche,” he said.
Journalists subsequently addressed a question on this matter to the press secretary of the Russian President. Dmitry Peskov noted that this topic is not discussed at all in the Kremlin, since “there are plenty of other issues on the agenda.” “In general, this is not really our holiday, and, apparently, there is no such celebration formally in any schools,” he said.
Formally, Peskov is not entirely accurate. Events related to the holiday are also held in some schools, for example, in Sakhalin " as part of getting to know the traditions of English-speaking countries" This formulation of church representatives usually does not reassure.
One of the first public statements on the theme of the holiday was the remark of Father Vsevolod Chaplin in 2003: “When one turns to an evil force, as if as a joke, glorifies it, flirts with it, this is reflected in the fate of a person, because it accustoms him to the idea of permissibility evil, about the normality of sin, about the fact that evil spirits are something pleasant, fun, or at least harmless.”
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And last year, among others, Father Dimitry Smirnov spoke sharply about Halloween: “People put on masks of demons, all sorts of antics, disgusting behavior - it’s more like all sorts of horror films than the holiday of All Saints. This is a completely emasculated European tradition. We have a completely different tradition in Russia. In our country, even when mummers walked around in some regions of Russia - at Christmas, they wore more cute forms, and the Church always said that any kind of clowning was completely unacceptable on the highly solemn and holy day when Christ came to earth.”
In the same monologue, Father Archpriest asks a rhetorical question: why then in Russia, along with Halloween, not glorify the Indian god Ganesha? And as I looked into the water, the question turned out to be not rhetorical. In 2015, a resonant event in religious circles was the holding of the “Indian festival of colors Holi” in a number of regions of the country. This is an event with a very clear Hindu and religious context and it too deals with the struggle of deities with demons. In general, some attempts at cultural infiltration are taking place not only from the West, but also from the East.
On the eve of this Halloween, a number of theologians also spoke out quite clearly. And not only Orthodox. For example, the imam-khatib of the White Mosque of Tatarstan, Ruslan Hazrat Farkhutdinov, stated: “The meaning of this holiday must be explained to the child. Any adequate person who distinguishes white from black understands that there is no benefit from this holiday. If children need miracles, then it is better to look for them in Christianity and Islam. Jesus Christ and Mohammed performed many miracles. They were prophets, and the Lord rewarded them with the gift of working miracles. And there is nothing wonderful about the disgusting satanic holiday of Halloween. On the contrary, it depresses the child's psyche. Now there is an inculcation of someone else’s ideology, which is close in spirit to the Shaitan himself – Satan. But we need to explain to children that we shouldn’t look for miracles in Satanism - we need to look for them in traditional religions.”
Echoing the words of the imam is the cleric of the Tatarstan Metropolis, Priest Sergiy Karpukhin: “Russian peoples have their own culture and their own religious traditions, so for us Halloween is not a holiday. Halloween is imposed from outside, from the West. The Russian Orthodox Church clearly says that this holiday is pagan and demonic, therefore Christians should not celebrate it. We must respect our traditions, including religious ones.”The notorious deputy of the St. Petersburg Legislature, Vitaly Milonov, who came up with something to replace the celebration of Halloween in Russia, also agrees with these theses. According to him, “if in the same park named after Babushkin you call the diaspora - Chechen, Tatar, Crimean Tatar, Evenks - and say: “Guys, let’s do this - come and make a festival of your cuisines,” do you know how many people will come with pleasure? And with children, and without children, and pensioners.”
Not all Orthodox Christians, however, are ready to fight Western tradition in such a peaceful way. For example, in Krasnodar, Orthodox social activists plan to “conduct several raids on clubs where Halloween will be celebrated.” The leader of the Orthodox Union, Roman Plyuta, stated this in the media, explaining that “if any excesses occur, the patrol members plan to make comments to violators of public morality.” “In case of open disregard for the rules of public behavior, activists intend to file complaints with law enforcement agencies - the police and the prosecutor’s office,” he said. In general, it’s a good deed, but why only on this holiday? They would introduce an “Orthodox public patrol” every Friday evening. They would teach morality to vacationers.
In this context, the initiative with a “justified Halloween”, which will be held in Khabarovsk, looks much more positive. The event is held by Orthodox youth from the Kurs-Vostok movement. The program includes a prayer service and pumpkin pie with a lecture on the essence of All Saints' Day.
Cult of consumption
In general, if you walk through the media field, a rather strange picture emerges. None of the federal speakers say anything good about the notorious holiday. Either bad or nothing. But many people continue to celebrate it. Like St. Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day, like the same Holi holiday, already mentioned above. Why is this so?Many theologians talk about some kind of “imposition from the West.” But who are these “imposers” and how can you even impose a holiday? You can impose hard work, which, due to the very fact of imposition, will be done under pressure and purely formally. The problem with Halloween, for example, is that it is colorful, noisy and, of course, stupid, like most carnivals - that is their task. Carnival action is a relaxation for the mind. And, of course, it is not imposed, but promoted commercially.
In Europe and the USA, any holiday, be it Halloween or Christmas, is, first of all, a commercial project, which, within the framework of some ritual conventions of a single cult of consumption, increases the voluntary spending of the population and, accordingly, the profits of various types of structures. From a pumpkin shop to a Christmas tree decorations factory - depending on the holiday.
As for schools, this amateur celebration is partly due to the fact that they need something to do with reporting on extracurricular activities. The Sakhalin teacher outlined this residual (since the 90s) trend with textbook clarity: “we introduce traditions.” In practice, we will add.
However, given the media resonance, it seems that in the next couple of years Halloween will disappear from schools and other educational institutions, remaining in clubs, bars and pubs, and not all of them. In principle, this is probably correct. Forbidding people to spend their time in this way, if it does not violate the law, means stimulating mass interest. Already heated commercially.
But to recommend not to participate - why not? There is freedom of speech in the country. The freedom of holidays, even the most exotic ones, also applies to this. From a religious and, more importantly, a moral point of view, in the case of Halloween, one should rather not talk about Satanism or the occult. There are also citizens who approach the issue of this holiday in exactly this way and call it, as a rule, Samhain, but this is a separate story, which is rather in the competence of cultists, law enforcement officers and psychiatrists (depending on the “hardcore” nature of the ceremonies held by particularly ideological citizens ).
In the case of Halloween, we are more likely talking about postmodern eclecticism within the framework of stimulating the thirst for consumption. This consumer cult penetrates so easily everywhere because it can mimic a variety of forms, while remaining fundamentally a simple, maximally material and based on simple things (such as the thirst for status and success) action. Vampire fangs with Swarovski crystals or a fashionable mobile phone - what's the difference?
“Test everything, hold on to the good. Refrain from all kinds of evil.”
1 THESSALONIANS 5:21-22
Festival of Evil
Halloween is a religious day, but not a Christian one. Tom Sanguinet, former high priest of the religion of sorcerers and magicians, said: “The modern holiday, which we call Halloween, originates from the day of the full moon closest to November 1st, this is the new year of the witches. This is the time when spirits (demons) are supposed to be at the height of their power and revisit planet Earth...Halloween is completely and utterly evil, and there is nothing and there will be nothing that can make it acceptable to the Lord Jesus.”
Day of death
Halloween has its roots firmly in paganism and witchcraft. It began as the Samhain Druid Festival. The Celts considered November 1 as the day of death because in the northern hemisphere this day was the beginning of winter, the leaves fell, it began to get dark earlier, and the temperature dropped. They believed that their sun god was losing power and Samhain, the lord of death, was superior in strength to the sun god. The Druids also taught that on the eve of the holiday, October 31st, Samhain gathered the spirits of all those who had died during the past year so that they would return to their former homes to visit the living.
Sacrifices of Humans and Animals
For thousands of years during Halloween, Druid priests performed devil-worshipping ceremonies in which cats, horses, sheep, cattle, humans and other victims were gathered in one place and stuffed into witches' cages where they were burned alive. Obviously, such sacrifices of people and animals were required in order to please Samhain and so that the spirits would not harm them.
Trick or Treat
In order to obtain people and animals for these sacrifices, the Druid priests went from house to house and asked for the fattest calves, black sheep and people. Those who gave were promised prosperity, and those who refused were threatened and cursed. This is the origin of the expression “ trick or treat”.
Jack-O-Lantern ("Lighting Jack")
“Glowing Jack” originated from the custom of lighting a candle inside a pumpkin or skull, which served as a signal marking those farms and houses that supported the Druid religion and thus sought “ life” as the Halloween terror began. The World Book Encyclopedia says: “The innocent-looking illuminated face of the pumpkin, the “Glowing Jack,” is an ancient symbol of the damned soul.”
Dance of Death
As people and animals screamed in agony as they burned alive, the Druids and their followers dressed in costumes made from the skins and heads of animals. They danced, chanted monotonously and jumped over the fire in the hope of driving away evil spirits.
House of Horror
One of the popular Halloween characters, Count Dracula, was also a real person. Dracula lived from 1431 to 1476. During his 6-year reign, he killed more than 100,000 men, women and children in the most horrific ways. He came up with a plan to rid his country of worries about beggars, the disabled, the sick and the elderly by inviting them to a feast in one of his palaces. He fed and watered them well. Then he asked: “Do you want to be carefree so that you don’t lack anything in the world?” When his guests shouted: “ Yes!”, Dracula ordered the palace to be surrounded and set on fire. No one has escaped from this present “ house of horror.”
Word of God
“When you enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, then do not learn to do the abominations that these nations have done: there shall not be found among you one who leads his son or his daughter through fire, a soothsayer, a fortune-teller, a sorcerer, a sorcerer, a charmer, spirits, magician and questioner of the dead; For everyone who does this is an abomination to the Lord, and for these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you; be blameless before the Lord your God; For these nations, whom you are driving out, listen to fortunetellers and soothsayers, but the Lord your God has not given you that.” (DEuteronomy 18:9-14).
They must teach My people to distinguish between the sacred and the profane and explain to them what is unclean and what is clean.” (EZEKIEL 44:23).
“My people will be destroyed for lack of knowledge: because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from serving as a priest before Me; and because you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.” (HOSIAH 4:6).
“Instruct a young man at the beginning of his path; he will not turn away from it when he is old.” (PROVERS 22:6)
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world from temptations, for temptations must come; but woe to the man through whom temptation comes.” (MATTHEW 18:6-7)
“Let love [be] unfeigned; turn away from evil, cleave to good;” (ROMANS 12:9).
“... let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the weapons of light.” (ROMANS 13:12).
“You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; You cannot be participants in the Lord’s table and in the demonic table.” (1 CORINTHIANS 10:21).
“Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship has righteousness with iniquity? What does light have in common with darkness? What agreement is there between Christ and Belial? Or what is the complicity of the faithful with the infidel? What is the relationship between the temple of God and idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell in them and walk [in them]; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch the unclean; and I will receive you.” (2 CORINTHIANS 6:14-17).
“And do not participate in the unfruitful works of darkness, but also reprove.” (EPHESIANS 5:11).
“Finally, my brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good report, if there is any excellence or if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (PHILIPPIANS 4:8).
“Now the Spirit speaks clearly, that in the last times some will depart from the faith, listening to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars, having their conscience seared in them,” (1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2)
“Submit yourselves therefore to God; Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (JAMES 4:7).
“Pure and undefiled piety before God and the Father is this: to look upon the orphans and widows in their afflictions and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (JAMES 1:27).
"Beloved! do not imitate evil, but imitate good. He who does good is from God; but he who does evil has not seen God.” (3 JOHN 11)
Participation in Paganism
Instead of taking part in paganism, walking with witches and being one with Halloween, instead of our children celebrating cruelty and mindlessly having fun on the day of death, we should focus the attention of our families and the church on the celebration of Reformation Day on October 31st.
Reformation Day instead of Halloween
It was on October 31, 1517 that Dr. Martin Luther nailed 95 Abstracts on the door Schlosskirche(castle-church) in Wittenberg, Germany. His bold challenge against the unbiblical principles of the papacy of medieval Rome inspired the Protestant Reformation. All Bible-based churches should celebrate the greatest revival of faith and freedom in history. The Reformation was one of the most important turning points in world history. The energy released from the rediscovery of the Bible in accessible language led to the most remarkable spiritual Renaissance in history. The Reformation freed the Christians of Northern Europe from the destructive influence of Renaissance paganism and led to some of the greatest freedoms and scientific discoveries in history.
Every Bible-believing Christian should celebrate the day of the Reformation. No Christian should take part in the celebration of the occult Halloween.
We are in a state of worldwide spiritual war. Animal cruelty, vandalism, and even murder occur significantly more frequently during Halloween. Every year during Halloween, many thousands of animals and even people are sacrificed in satanic rituals around the world, while millions of other people, including well-intentioned Christians, take part in Halloween celebrations. Halloween is a prime time for witches and Satanists to attract people to their ranks. Many people testify to being involved in the occult during a Halloween party. Halloween is a very religious holiday, but not a Christian one.
“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (ROMANS 12:21).
Choose Life
On October 31, this year, take an active stand against Halloween: organize your family and church to celebrate the day of the Reformation and take part in spiritual battle, sincere prayer; praying the Psalms, sharing the Gospel with your friends and neighbors, especially those who, perhaps unthinkingly, take part in this occult festival of fortune telling, divination, human sacrifice and cruelty to animals.
“Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the might of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can stand against the wiles of the devil, because our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in high places. For this purpose, take on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on the evil day and, having done everything, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girded with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; and above all, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery arrows of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Make all prayers and supplications at all times in the Spirit, and be diligent about this with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints” (EPHESIANS 6:10-18).
Dr. Peter Hammond, Africa Christian Action
PO Box 23632
Claremont, 7735
Cape Town, South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa
Shamil (Pavel) ZARIPOV
October 31 is approaching, when many people suddenly begin to prepare for the so-called Halloween - “All Saints' Day”. What does the pumpkin have to do with it, why do young people dress up as demons and monsters, and what does the saints have to do with it? The information was taken from a variety of sources, special thanks to the website of the Russian Orthodox Church in London (ROCOR) for publishing an interesting sermon.
Celtic festival of harvest... and death
The Halloween holiday originated among the Celtic tribes of England, Ireland and northern France (Gaul) in the pre-Christian era. Being pagans, the Celts believed in the origin of life from death. They celebrated the beginning of a “new” year, a new life in general, in late autumn, on the night from October 31 to November 1, when the time of cold, darkness and death began. There is a common view among Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants that the Celts worshiped a god of death named Samhain, propitiating him with sacrifices, and other sources say that "Samhain" (Saman, Sauin, etc.) should be translated from a number of languages of Celtic origin as " The end of the summer".
The Celts believed that on this day the god dies, only to be reborn later. Therefore, in Irish Samhain is November, and on this day the new year begins. Also on this day, grain storage was completed, livestock was slaughtered, making supplies for the winter. People jumped over fires. According to legend, people who violated ritual taboos died on this day.
And in the modern northern regions of Ireland and Scotland, all kinds of rituals to propitiate spirits are carried out, and on the eve of the “New Year’s celebration” the Druids (Celtic priests) extinguished hearths, fires, bonfires, and lamps. In the evening of the next day, they lit a huge bonfire, on which sacrifices were made to the prince of darkness and death.
The Druids believed that if the god of death (or simply spirits) was satisfied with the sacrificial rewards of his faithful, he would allow the souls of the dead to visit their homes on that day. This is where the custom, rooted in the pagan world, originates of wandering around on Halloween night dressed in costumes of ghosts, witches and all sorts of other spirits, symbolizing communication with the afterlife and evil spirits.
An important part of the pagan cult is also the “fun” of Trick-or-Treat (trick or treat), which is a ritualized act of offering to the dark forces in the service of Samhain. It was believed that the souls of the dead, reigning in the world of darkness, cold and death, experienced insatiable hunger on the day of their visit to the world of the living. Therefore, the Kel pagans prepared treats for the spirits wandering in the darkness of the night, because they believed that if they were not appeased with offerings, then the wrath and curses of Samhain would fall on the people.
It is clear that the holiday ultimately turns out to be quite sad and has little to do with Christianity. But why did it survive in the Christian world?
Missionary diplomacy
Since the day of Pentecost (the day of the creation of the Church), the servants of Christ have had to carry out missionary activities in a pagan environment. And sometimes they entered into deadly confrontations when preachers were killed. But then new people came, talked about Christ, and in the end, the Church won. Almost three hundred years of experience in the church’s struggle with Roman syncretism showed that Christianity won not by administrative or military force, but by something else. The supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, who inspired hundreds and thousands of martyrs to their feat in the name of Christ.
It is also inappropriate to believe that Christianity was imposed on the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. There were no more than ten percent of Christians at that time, but the intelligent ruler, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, understood that scattered, contradictory paganism was not able to oppose anything to the mysterious Power, which on the night before the decisive battle showed him the cross and said “with this you will win!” Showing a Roman a cross (an instrument of execution!) as a weapon of victory is truly powerful. But Constantine believed and entered both history and the calendar.
In the Eastern Roman Empire, Christianity became the state religion, with all the pros and cons of this position. The Church now had that same administrative resource, and sometimes this turned against itself - and again found itself in a position that seemed hopelessly persecuted. And sometimes Christian rulers suppressed the activities of heretics by force or decree. All this happened. But the Church could always show how it really won.
In the 7th century in England, the Benedictian scholar monk Bede the Venerable compiled the “Ecclesiastical History of the People of the Angles,” which gives the history of the missionary activities of the Church among the island peoples. And he cites an interesting letter from St. Gregory the Great himself to Abbot Mellitus, whom he sent.
“When God Almighty brings you to our most reverend brother Bishop Augustine, inform him of my decision, made after much deliberation regarding the English people. I decided that the temples of the idols of this people should not be destroyed. Having destroyed the idols in them, take holy water and sprinkle these temples, and erect altars in them, and place holy relics. For if the temples are built firmly, it is very important to replace the service of idols with the service of the True God. When these people see that their sanctuaries are not destroyed, they will drive away delusions from their hearts and will more willingly come to places they know to recognize the True God and pray to Him.
It is also possible to replace with some holiday the custom of sacrificing bulls to demons. Thus, on the day of the consecration of gifts or on the feasts of the holy martyrs, whose relics are placed in the temple, they should be allowed to erect huts made of branches around the temple and celebrate there. Do not let them sacrifice animals to the devil, but let them eat them themselves, thanking the Creator of all creatures for His generous gifts. Thus, through external joys it will be easier for them to come to internal joys; after all, it is impossible to deprive their stubborn minds of everything in an instant.
A person intending to climb to the top climbs along ledges instead of jumping over them. So the Lord, having revealed himself to the Israelites in Egypt, commanded them to serve Him with the same sacrifices that they had previously offered to the devil, and ordered them to sacrifice animals to Him. With different feelings, they put aside part of the sacrifice and left the rest, and although they sacrificed the same animals, they sacrificed them to the True God, and not to idols, and, therefore, it was already a different sacrifice. This is what you must convey to our brother, so that he, in his position, can judge how best to do this.”
And it was precisely this missionary methodology that led to the greatest effectiveness and largely shaped our liturgical circle. So, today we have holidays that have once replaced pagan ones. For example, it is not known for certain when exactly the baby Jesus Christ was born. But on December 25, the Roman Empire celebrated the day of the Invincible Sun (according to different versions, Mithras or Sol).
And so, in the 4th century, the hierarchy decided to establish the celebration of the Nativity of Christ - in order to tell people about the celebration of the birth of the “True Sun of Truth”. In Scripture and hymns, the Lord Jesus Christ is called the Unfading Light (Revelation, chapters 21-22), and the Sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2). The holiday contains joy that the Lord came into the world to bring us salvation, and the hymns contain dogmatic teaching about the teaching of the Church. Compare this with the recommendations of St. Gregory the Great, and you will laugh at the “revelations” that claim that Orthodox Christians celebrate pagan holidays.
Halloween: a diplomatic failure... or a reaction?
The Holy Fathers of the early Christian Church, which at that time was strictly Orthodox, tried to resist the pagan tradition of the Celts and around the 5th century established the Christian holiday of All Saints on the same day (in the Eastern Church, the commemoration of All Saints is celebrated on the first Sunday after Pentecost, then the fiftieth day after Easter plus a week).
The word Halloween comes from the holiday of All Saints - i.e. Аll Hallows' Even, which means "All Hallows' Eve," which over time was shortened to "Hallow E'En." Unfortunately, due to the ignorance or ignorance of people, the pagan festival, celebrated on the same day as the Christian holiday of All Saints (in the West), began to be mistakenly called Halloween.
The commitment of Western society to the pagan holiday indicates that the attempts of the Western Church to lure the pagan celebration with Christian holiday and concepts have not been successful. But why is a pagan cult, clearly contrary to the Orthodox faith, so firmly rooted among many Christians? The reasons for all this are rooted primarily in the spiritual apathy and lethargy of Christians, who abundantly nourish atheism, atheism and apostasy.
Society, convincing us that Halloween and similar holidays, despite their obvious pagan origins and idolatrous essence, are harmless, innocent and of little importance, thereby undermines our spiritual foundations and contributes to the spread of lack of faith and atheism.
As is the case with many neo-pagan cults (including Slavic), Christianity managed to overcome the essence of the religious system of the Celts. People have forgotten the terrible essence of some holidays and rituals. But the Church, as part of its missionary diplomacy, tried to take from it what was important and worthy in order to give people the old content in a new way - that is, the memory of ancestors and veneration of the dead.
How successful this turned out can be judged by the fact that on October 31 in the Western Church the memory of all saints is still honored - where such veneration exists. People remember the saints and pray for the dead. But in parallel, there is a certain residual phenomenon from the pagan holiday - with all the known attributes.
Individual Halloween participants are often considered Christians and on this day they calmly draw and carve pumpkin faces, dress in scary costumes and go to themed events, not realizing the incompatibility of a demonic appearance with the title of Christian. While the majority generally denies the religious background of what is happening and may even be atheists. But this is especially scary, because a person enters into idle communication with dark forces, rejecting God. And it becomes a toy in the hands of these forces.
Anti-Christian people responded to the efforts of the Church to overcome the pagan holiday with an even greater manifestation of jealousy that evening. Many rituals were performed while desecrating and mocking Christian worship, people dressed up as skeletons in mockery of the Church’s veneration of the relics of saints, stolen crosses and even the Holy Gifts were used for blasphemous acts.
Jack Lantern
Let's look at Wikipedia to see what a Jack-O-Lantern (aka an ominously smiling pumpkin) is. “The tradition of carving a face out of a pumpkin has a long history. According to an Irish legend (obviously created after the adoption of Christianity), the money-hungry blacksmith-drinker Jack once invited the ruler of the underworld to have a couple of drinks with him in a tavern.
When it was time to pay, the enterprising Irishman asked the devil to use a coin. After which Jack, without further ado, quickly put it in his pocket, where the silver cross lay. The devil found himself in a trap - “in Christ’s bosom.” And no matter how hard he tried, he could not take on his original appearance. In the end, the devil achieved his release by promising in return not to intrigue Jack for a year, and also not to lay claim to his soul after his death.
For the second time, the cunning blacksmith tricked the gullible Satan, asking him to climb a tree for fruit. As soon as the evil one perched himself on the spreading crown, Jack scratched a cross on the trunk. So he bargained for himself another ten years of carefree life. The drunkard Jack was unable to take advantage of the privileges he received because he soon died. After death, the sinner was not allowed into heaven. Neither God nor the devil needed Jack.
The restless Irishman, in anticipation of Judgment Day, was forced to wander the earth, lighting his way with a piece of coal that the evil one finally threw to him. Jack put a smoldering light in an empty turnip and set off on a journey. Hence the name of the lantern - English. Jack-o-lantern, abbreviated English. Jack of the Lantern."
The story is interesting and even instructive in some ways, but again, it has little to do with Orthodoxy. But it answers the question of who the glowing pumpkin head is showing us. More precisely, originally turnips. There we also read an interesting addition about the spread of Halloween pumpkin carving:
“Jack-o'-lanterns first appeared in Great Britain, but they were originally made from rutabaga or turnips. It was believed that such a fruit, left near the house on All Saints' Day, would drive away evil spirits from it. When the tradition of celebrating Halloween spread to the United States (thanks to Scottish and Irish migrants), lanterns began to be made from pumpkins, which were more accessible and cheaper. The first recorded creation of jack-o'-lanterns in North America was in 1837; this ritual, performed at harvest time, had no connection with Halloween until the second half of the 19th century.”
There is a similar story in the reading texts of our school English textbooks. So, we learn from open sources (which are easy to verify by others) that the tradition of using pumpkins is extremely late. But even the more ancient tradition of making such lamps comes from the legend of a fallen, restless soul. In Orthodoxy there is no teaching about ghosts of people. Only demons roam the earth restlessly, causing trouble for people.
Carols or Trick-or-Treat?
I grew up in a small military town, and I remember that on Christmas Eve well-known children from disadvantaged families went home. I studied in a parallel class with some of them, and we never felt sorry for sweets, cookies and small money for them.
In the biography of the father of the reformation, Martin Luther, I came across a point that in his youth, while studying at the Faculty of Law, he barely made ends meet and earned his living by singing psalms and other hymns under the windows. Apparently this was normal practice in Catholic countries. It turns out that the church people also quite successfully churched this tradition.
But if church-going youth today sing “Glory to God Christ was born,” troparia and kontakia, then folk carol songs are quite harsh - whoever doesn’t give, something will happen to him (“Whoever gives, He is a prince, Whoever doesn’t give, He’s in the dirt! "). But what remains to be sung by a person for whom there is no joy in the birth of the Lord? And as we already know, Celtic youth went from house to house with a similar motivation. Whoever does not give (does not make a sacrifice) - the spirits, ancestors, and so on will be angry with him.
There is nothing pagan in the carols themselves, if a person comes to ask, bringing in return the bright joy of the Christian holiday.
Night of evil spirits or freedom to be human
There is nothing Christian about the way the modern secular world celebrates Halloween. This is another unbridled holiday, speculating on its supposedly entirely Christian origin. This is clearly indicated by the desire to dress up worse. People dress up in costumes of skeletons, demons, vampires, zombies, paint their faces with scary makeup and gather for completely riotous activities, where alcohol often flows like a river.
People equate themselves with evil spirits, forgetting about the high dignity of man. Secular humanists talk a lot about this, while expressing their attitude towards religion through the categories of freedom. But the Bible and the Orthodox Church speak about the highest destiny of man. A person is free, he is free to choose the path of complete enslavement of himself to the elements of this world, but at the same time, paradoxically, he will lose freedom. Freedom to be human.