This is an outline of a live video I did where I addressed my thoughts on Halloween. The video link is at the bottom of this post.

I address Halloween from the standpoint of deliverance ministry and the spiritual dangers in participating.

God shows us in His Word that He is very adamant about avoiding all practices that are pagan. In the Bible it wasn’t a suggestion. He said we are to have zero involvement with anything pagan. Throughout the OT paganism was a huge stumbling block for His people. Even a little bit brings defilement and displeases God. When we let in even a little bit it defiles us personally, our homes, and our churches.

Scriptures for avoiding the occult.

Leviticus 19:31 ‘Do not turn to mediums [who pretend to consult the dead] or to spiritists [who have spirits of divination]; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 20:6 ‘As for the person who turns to mediums [who consult the dead] or to spiritists, to play the prostitute after them, I shall set My face against that person and will cut him off

from his people [excluding him from the atonement made for them].

Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowards and unbelieving and abominable [who are devoid of character and personal integrity and practice or tolerate immorality], and murderers, and sorcerers [with intoxicating drugs], and idolaters and occultists [who practice and teach false religions], and all the liars [who knowingly deceive and twist truth], their part will be in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Exodus 22:18 “You shall not allow a woman who practices sorcery to live.

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the practices of the [a]sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control), 20 [b]idolatry, [c]sorcery, hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [that promote heresies], 21 envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 “When you enter the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable (repulsive) practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire [as a sacrifice], one who uses divination and fortune-telling, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a charm or spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or a necromancer [who seeks the dead]. For everyone who does these things is utterly repulsive to the LORD; and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God is driving them out before you.

1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].

History of Halloween

This information came from: Google (various pages and articles)

Celtic festival Samhain:

The day the life of the sun ceased and caused the end of summer.

The veil between the physical and spiritual world was most thin and souls were released from the land of the dead.

Druid priest started sacred bonfires and sacrificed plants, animals, and people to their deities.

The Druids served as priest, judges, and teachers. They performed public and private sacrifices.

They spent a lot of years studying natural philosophy, astronomy, and the lore of the gods.

The Druids believed the soul was immortal and passed at death from one person into another and they would try to communicate with the dead.

The other people would use the same flame used by the Druids to light in their homes to scare away the dead spirits who had ill intentions.

During the day they dressed in costumes that represented the cycles of life and death.

Some dressed in animal costumes to represent the release of souls that lived in the bodies of animals.

The people believed that Samhain, the god of death, scattered evil spirits during this time throughout the world to attack humans. These evil spirits played nasty tricks as soon as the sun. To escape the attack, humans would put on disguises and make themselves look like evil spirits, too. They also made mask of animal heads to use to hide from the trickery of feared deities.

By 43 AD the Romans conquered the Celts.

The Romans intermingled 2 of their festivals (Feralia and Pomona’s Day) with the Celts autumn festival.

Faralia: signified the end of a nine-day feast for the dead.

During the festival the Romans made offerings in honor of their deceased family members. At midnight on the final day all the head of households would speak to the evil spirits and their ancestors to make sure they returned to the spirit world.

November 1 was the festival of the fertility goddess Pomona she was the goddess of fruit and trees and was often shown with apples. Over time apples were used to divine issues related to marriage, including fertility. During that time of year young couple would bob for apples and the first one to bite one would be the first to marry. The divination of the time and fertility of Pomona were combined with the Samhain festival.

After the emergence of Christianity Samhain was still celebrated.

Pope Boniface IV (4) designated May 13th as All Saints Day in honor of the dead saints, but it was not enough to uproot the practices of Samhain for the people.

In 835 Pope Gregory IV (4) transferred All Saints Day to November 1.

1000 AD the Church established November 2 as All Souls Day to honor the dead who were not considered saints. It was common for the poor to “go a-souling” They would go door to door and request simple pastries called soul cakes and in exchange the poor would pray for the souls of the homeowners’ dead relatives that were in purgatory. Many believe this is the origin of trick or treating.

As Christianity spread through Europe, it came into conflict with the pagan beliefs. The church tried to introduce Christian alternatives. They “Christianized” pagan rituals. They mixed Christian beliefs and symbols with the pagan beliefs and practices.

They introduced the evening before All Saint’s Day as All Hallows Eve as a time of remembrance of martyrs. The term came from the word “Hallowed” which means holy. It was shortened to “Hallow-e’en” and then it became Halloween.

Currently Used For

Quotes from present day Wiccans and other self-proclaimed witches:

“A lot of the magic that interests people around Halloween is darker thanks to the horror genre, and, in general, not the kind a person ought to be playing with,” she says. “I personally won’t even touch a Hasbro Toys Ouija board, since I believe intention is a large portion of what it takes to do something like communicate with a spirit, and not all spirits are good. Casting dark magic usually bites you back, so if you want to use magic on Halloween, try to avoid casting curses [or] summoning anything, and please don’t charge objects with a negative intent.”

Most are familiar with Dia De Los Muertos tradition, when loved ones are honored with food, grave decorations, and altars. It is believed that during this time the “veil is thin.” That means: the boundary between the spirit world and ours is diminished, thus allowing departed family members to revisit their loved ones.

Similarly, to those who celebrate Dia De Los Muertos, many witches also use Samhain to honor the dead.

“Samhain is our most sacred time of year because it’s a time to honor our dead and our more distant ancestors,” she says. “Activities at this time of year include keeping an ancestral altar with items from your family members that have passed away in order to honor their lives and spirits.

“Other altar items include candles, pumpkins, the colors orange, brown, black and so on. Usually on Halloween night or the closest full moon to then, there is a big feast that includes a place set for any unexpected guest, which is like a euphemism for setting a place for the dead. In my family, we leave one of the windows open with a candle in it to lead our loved ones home from the Otherworld [the afterlife].”

Solemn as it may seem for them to spend such energy reflecting on people who have died, spellcasters reassure that it’s not a miserable thing but often a celebration, and the customs surrounding it may look familiar. For instance, pumpkins are kind of a big deal during this time, and not solely as a decoration.

Witch Miranda Scott is the owner of Cleveland modern witch shop and a personal favorite haunt for those at AP called Coven. She and her daughter stock up on pumpkins this time of year, for a special reason. “We…carve them a few days before Halloween, and we leave them lit all night,” she reveals. “They light the way for our ancestors, and the element of fire keeps bad spirits from entering our home.”

On the spookier side, Woods manages a haunted house and plans to use witchcraft to boost a little extra positivity. “Since I do work in a haunted house I plan to charge the crystals I carry with celinite before I go into work the night of Halloween to increase the positive intentions I am holding toward my haunted house I manage and its actors,” she says.

So, if you want to celebrate Halloween like a witch, keep doing what you’re doing. Unbeknownst to you, you’re already partaking in a celebration derived from a long history of magical tradition.

Although a minority religion, contemporary paganism is growing in popularity. There are anywhere from 1 million to 2 million people practicing paganism in the United States. This number is more than the number of Presbyterians, a traditional Protestant sect.

Wiccans and witches, terms often used interchangeably, view nature as sacred. For them, the Earth is the goddess or her body. Wiccans often sit under a particular tree or at a particular river to feel one with the divine. For this reason, most rituals are often held outdoors.

These holidays are the basis for the eight major Wiccan holidays, or what are referred to as sabbats, that occur throughout the year.

Samhain, the most important of them all, has inspired modern-day Halloween celebrations.

Rituals are held for each sabbat. At Samhain the ritual focuses on death and includes a remembrance and a mourning. Wiccans and witches celebrate death as a natural part of the cycle of nature. Death is necessary for the creation of new life, they believe. Death is not, however, something to be sought out.

Some believe that souls of those who have died in the past year but have not yet crossed over into the next world will be able to do so at Samhain when the veil between the world of the living and dead is at its thinnest.

It is also believed to be a time that the spirits of the dead are most likely to visit and possibly provide insight and guidance. This time of year is viewed as particularly powerful. One of the witches I interviewed in 1988 told me that children should pick their Halloween costumes to reflect whom they want to become.

In 2020, Samhain was believed to be spiritually and magically powerful as it is occurred on a blue Moon, a second full Moon in a month, that is believed to be more powerful.

Still, most Samhain celebrations revolve around one basic ritual: honoring the dead. Folks may cast circles, open a doorway to the other side with chalk and chanting, and lay food out for wandering spirits.

During a Samhain ritual, participants are expected to be respectful and quiet while the High Priestess or Priest conducts the ceremony. It will usually include a ritual prayer or chant, and every celebration may say something different. The important aspect is to uphold the solemn nature of the event — feasting and revelry usually occur afterward, because everyone loves to eat!

Usually Sarah Potter, a tarot reader, professional witch, and color magic practitioner based in New York City, meets with her coven in person on Samhain. But this year, they’re using Zoom to perform their secretive rituals. “”Our coven does different rituals,” she says. “We do magickal work together for the greater good of humanity.”

October 31st – you know it as Halloween but to us Witches, it is Samhain Eve. Samhain, literally translating to ‘End of Summer’, is one of the biggest festivals in the Wiccan calendar, a time of remembrance of those we’ve lost and a celebration of summer’s death and winter’s birth. The Sun god and Earth fall into a slumber, the nights lengthen, the air becomes crisp and winter begins.

The first easy way to celebrate Samhain is to build a bonfire. This practice is one of the most honoured Samhain traditions, the fire symbolizes the welcoming of winter. You can begin your evening by communing with your departed loved ones through the fire. Invite friends and family to join you to create a welcoming space for the deceased, hold hands around the fire and embrace its warmth. You may also sing and dance, inviting the spirits to celebrate too. Telling stories around the fire is also common, either special memories you have of your loved ones or spooky stories of the dead or supernatural. If you’re not able to build a bonfire, use candlelight instead to welcome the new season.

Having a silent supper to honour the dead is a more sombre and respective Samhain tradition. Leave a chair out for spirits to sit with you whilst you feast and perhaps even make a spare meal for them. Firstly, make your dining space sacred, use sage to cleanse the area and remove all distractions such as phones or TVs. You may wish to remove young family members or animals from this celebration as they may find it difficult to remain silent throughout – which is key.

During the silent supper, some choose to honour the dead through photographs. An Altar is a sacred space that Witches use to carry out rituals and decorate for the Sabbats, for Samhain you may place photographs of your loved ones or personal items of the person you are honouring on your altar. Adding fruit such as apples or pomegranates is also a way to celebrate the deceased; apples are the fruit of death, while pomegranates are the fruit of life, place both on your altar to represent the thin line between both on Samhain.

Orange and black are the two key colours of Samhain, black representing death and orange representing the dawning of light that shall return. Wearing these colours is an accessible and relatively simple way to celebrate Samhain – also workplace friendly. You may wish to decorate your house or altar with said colours, candles are an easy way of decorating your altar.

Luckily, wearing a costume on October 31st is acceptable in society because of Halloween meaning it is easy to celebrate the prank element of Samhain in public. Traditionally, costumes involved animal parts however, that is no longer common. Masks are key for Samhain, to use them as a disguise to perform mischief but they’re also used to confuse malevolent spirits and keep you safe. Creating your own costume from scratch would be the best way to celebrate Samhain, use household objects, second-hand materials or animal products to create your costume.

A more respectful tradition is the divination ceremony, in which you seek knowledge by contacting your deceased loved ones. The best way to carry out a divination is by using Tarot cards or runes. Use your cards or stones to ask questions to the dead, note down what they tell you and reflect on this by choosing something that has arisen from your ceremony to improve, for example, if the divine guided you to focus more on yourself, spend some time prioritising your mental health and working on your self-worth, perhaps take a weekend away.

Whether you are in the broom closet or an out-and-about Witch, Samhain is an easy Sabbat to celebrate as it co-exists with Halloween and many of the traditions cross over. Celebrate your loved ones, dead and alive, play pranks on one another, indulge in great food and take some time to speak to the divine for guidance throughout the winter season.

Halloween is also the favorite time of year for witches, or the advocates of Wicca. Wicca is the official religion of witchcraft. Wiccan adherents believe that on the night of October 31, the separation of physical and spiritual realities is at its thinnest and least guarded. And so, it’s the best time for those who have necromantic abilities to speak to the dead.

Being a festival of the dead, Halloween is a time when witches attempt to communicate with the dead through various forms of divination.

Things to Consider

Is celebrating a dark holiday something a child of the light should be doing?

The Bible tells us to put away deeds of darkness.

Romans 13:12 The night [this present evil age] is almost gone and the day [of Christ’s return] is almost here. So let us fling away the works of darkness and put on the [full] armor of light.

And that light has nothing in common with darkness.

2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Should we participate in a holiday that has fear as its very foundation?

2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].

Witchcraft is repulsive to the God. Shouldn’t anything that glorifies and celebrates witchcraft be repulsive to me as well?

Deuteronomy 18:10-13 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire [as a sacrifice], one who uses divination and fortune-telling, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a charm or spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or a necromancer [who seeks the dead]. For everyone who does these things is utterly repulsive to the LORD; and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless (complete, perfect) before the LORD your God.

Halloween is a sacred, high holiday for Wiccans (the official religion of witchcraft). Is this a holiday Christians should celebrate alongside Wiccans?

Think for a moment what you are celebrating, what Halloween is about and what it represents. How does it fit into the following scripture? Is it uplifting, pure, lovely, praiseworthy, or of good report? What feelings does it cause?

Philippians 4:8 Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].

There are zero redeeming qualities connected to Halloween. If you strip away everything that is ungodly you have absolutely nothing left. If you want to say it is about the harvest and celebrating a new season let’s take a look at that. If we strip everything else away and only leave the celebrating of the harvest and a new season it is not really Halloween anymore. We can disregard Halloween and celebrate fall, our thanksgiving to Him for His abundance. You can get together with friends and family and have a meal, have fun, and yet take all the elements of Halloween out of it: dressing up, ghost, jack-o-lanterns, fear, etc. The focus should be on God and thanking Him for His many blessings.

What godly, redeeming qualities can you find/name about Halloween?

It may feel so innocent and you may say, but I do not let my kids dress up in anything scary or bad. You may even dress them up in Bible costumes, but what else will they see while you take them out trick or treating?

Ask yourself: what is the number one feeling connected to Halloween? If you are honest you would answer fear. Why do we want to instill fear in our children and ourselves? I spent most of my life bound by fear. Once I was set free there is no way I would spend even a moment revisiting or sitting with it. It is not entertainment, it is bondage. Why do we want to open the doors to fear for our children and those demons that bring torment?

You will not find a deliverance minister who participates or feels like Halloween is okay. If you I can 100% guarantee they do not really understand legal rights and open doors to the enemy because if they did there is no way they would celebrate Halloween or anything connected to it.

If we do a quick Bible study of how God feels about witchcraft, paganism, occult practices, and false religions we can quickly see the strong feelings He has. He told His people to drive anyone that was practicing those things out of their presence. He even told them to kill them in some scriptures. He used words like: abominable practices, an abomination to the Lord, unclean, whoring after them, falsehood, etc.

Somehow along the way we have twisted it up so much that now many of us believe it is okay if we just use these themes/practices as “innocent entertainment”. But I wonder when did God‘s mind change? When did He change His stance on how He feels about these practices? Do we really think it matters to Him if we just call it entertainment or not? When did He say because it is dressed up in cute or fun toys, games, movies, books, decor that it became okay? When did He say that if it’s just for entertainment it is okay? When did He say that our intent mattered?

So often in this area people will say rely on your convictions, but why do we rely on convictions when it’s written clearly in His Word? We don’t have to rely on our convictions to know that adultery or murder is wrong because it’s written in His Word, but yet when witchcraft is involved people often say rely on your convictions to know if it’s wrong to use as entertainment. It is clearly stated in His Word how He feels about the subject.

If I sound really passionate about this topic it is because I am. I have personally cast out demons of people and children that came in through things they considered entertainment. Demons do not care what intent we put on activities. They only care if it gives them open access to our lives. I opened many of the same doors to my own life so I’m not pointing my finger at anyone. I just want everyone to understand the dangers of engaging in anything related to witchcraft, paganism, occult practices, and false religions.

Deuteronomy 18:9-14

Revelation 21:8

Leviticus 20:6

Isaiah 8:19

Revelation 22:15

Jeremiah 10:2-5

2 Chronicles 33:6

Exodus 22:18

Leviticus 19:26

2 Peter 2:15

1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them].

Blessings,

Nichole Henson

Fullness of Joy Ministry

Fullnessofjoyministry@gmai.com