Halloween's Dark Past
In order to understand
what Halloween is today, we need to study it's past. In 835 A.D. Pope
Gregory IV designated Nov. 1st as All Saints Day or All Hallow's Day. (
the term Hallow means: bless, consecrate, sanctify, or render holy by
religious rites) The eve before All Saint's Day is Oct.31, known as All
Hallow's Evening. We get the condensed version of Halloween
by dropping the "All", the "s", "v", and ing. Today, most people are
confused over the issue of Halloween. Should Christians participate
in such a dark pagan practice?
Now that we have seen
where we get the name for Halloween, let's see where the practices of
Halloween originate. Oct. 31 is already established as being part of
the Celtic New Year. The Celts and their Druid priest began their New
Year on Nov .1, which marked the beginning of winter. They apparently
believed that on Oct. 31, the night before their New Year and the last
day of the old year, the Lord of Death (Samhain) gathered the souls of
the evil dead who had been condemned to enter the bodies of animals. He
then would decide what animal form they would take for the next year.
Druids also believe by offering sacrifices, prayers, and gifts to the
Lord of Death, that the punishment of the evil dead could be lightened.
For those who had died during the preceding twelve months, Samhain
would allow their spirits to return to the earth for a few hours to
associate with their families. Thus, the Celts believe on their New
Years Eve ( our Halloween ) ghosts, evil spirits, and witches roam
about. On this night, evil or frustrated ghosts were also supposed to
play tricks on humans and to cause supernatural manifestations. The
Samhain celebration is not unique, many festivals world-wide celebrate
a time the dead return to mingle with the living.
Can we talk to the dead?
Hebrews 9:27 states that: " And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."
God tells us that we can
only communicate with our loved ones while they are still alive. After
someone dies, he or she will be judged and will go to either Heaven or
Hell. It is an abomination for anyone to practice communicating with
the dead. (Deuteronomy:18:10-14) When someone attempts to contact the dead, they are in reality, interacting with a demon.

Jack-O-Lantern
There are a few probable influences for the Jack-O-Lantern such as:
witches carrying skulls with candles in them to coven meetings. Another
is the legend of Irish Jack, where a drunk named Jack tricked the Devil
in climbing an apple tree then cut the sign of the cross in the trunk
of the tree preventing the Devil from coming down.
Then he made the Devil swear never to come after his soul. The Devil
agreed, and eventually Jacked died and was turned away at the gates of
Heaven for being a drunk. He was sent to Hell where the Devil kept his
promise and condemned him to wander the earth. As he was leaving Hell,
he happened to be eating a turnip, and then the Devil threw a live coal
at him which he put in his turnip and he has been forever roaming the
earth with his Jack-O-Lantern. Eventually the pumpkin replaced the
turnip. The carved faces represent damned or lost souls.
Costumes
Since
Halloween night was known for evil spirits roaming free, the Druids
wore masks to prevent the evil spirits from recognizing them. Another
custom, and even still practiced today in Wicca and other neo-pagan
cults, is that of wearing animal heads and skins to acquire
the strength or power of that particular animal.
Trick or Treat
The
"Trick" custom of Halloween is related to the idea that Ghosts and
witches create mischief on this particular night. If the
living didn't provide food or "Treats" for the
spirits, they would
"Trick" the living. People feared that horrible things would happen to
them if they didn't offer the spirits gifts.
Black Cats 
Thought to be the reincarnation of the evil dead and they are believed to have supernatural powers and knowledge.
Note: Most Humane Societies and
pet shops do not allow black cats to be bought or adopted through the
month of October due to animal sacrifices.
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