Pagans...Question about Halloween?

Question

I have a friend that is Catholic I am a non practicing Catholic. Anyway, we were talking today and she said she does not celebrate Halloween because of the devil, witch influence and because of it's pagan non-christian roots. So I said it's has nothing to do with the devil and that that was what Hollywood incorporated into it. So she said I observe All Saints Day. I said.. that's the same thing. Not just that she celebrates Easter and Christmas and they are Pagan holiday. She has the Christmas tree with Santa the whole kit-n-caboodle. I don't know enough about Halloween. But am I right about the Hollywood influence?

Answer 1

Actually, it was the Christians who decided that the devil was in Halloween. Halloween is an old Celtic holiday that used to be called Samhain (pronounced sah-win). It was the Celtic New year, and the literal translation of Samhain is summer's end. This was the final harvest and the beginning of winter. They believed that the veil between the world of the dead and ours grew thin at this time and that one could speak with lost loved ones on this day. Farmers would take stock of the crops harvested and would decide which animals should be slaughtered for the winter. The bones of the slaughtered cattle would be cast into large "bone fires", or bonfires, and the villagers would extinguish all other fires and light their hearths from the bonfire as a symbol of unification of the families of the village. There was nothing evil or demonic about the holiday. When the Christians took power, they tried to make it their holiday by celebrating their own memorial day known as All Saint's day the day afterward. Samhain became All Hallow's Eve and eventually Halloween. After making the holiday their own, they then tried to demonize the holiday in a further attempt to convert the followers of the Celtic religion to Christianity. They said that it was a day when witches summoned the dead. Until Christianity slandered their name, witches were not thought of as evil minions of the Devil. A witch was a wise one, skilled in healing and divination and all sorts of magic. Witch comes from the word wicce (said witchay) which means wise one. A witch was the village midwife or doctor who had herbal remedies to heal the villagers. He or she could cast spells for good luck and good crops. Samhain was already a day of power, so the Christians had an easy time convincing people that Halloween was a day when witches, Satan, demons, and the dead ran rampant, threatening good Christians. By the time Hollywood came around, the image of the harvest festival of Samhain was already tainted. Hollywood took the already tainted image and commercialized on it. Hollywood is almost never the cause of negative mindsets, but it does love to make them more prevalent than the truth. It takes what people already believe, and twists it so that it's even more convincing. You're friend is right about Halloween having non-Christian pagan roots, but she's fooling herself if she thinks that All Saint's Day is not the same (just because it's the day after does not make it different) or if she thinks that Easter and Christmas are not pagan holidays. Easter is a fertility holiday named in honor of the goddess Eostre, a fertility goddess who is symbolized by a hare. Christmas is not the birth of Christ (he was born in March), but a holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god (not son of god). Santa is the Holly King, a mythical English character who rules from midsummer to midwinter. Look him up. He looks a lot like Santa, and he's a pagan figure. The red coat was Coca-Cola inspired, so of course, that's the only difference between the two. I hope I was of some help.

Venus Bless

Venus Bless

Answer 2

My 2 cents worth.



I don't think it is a Hollywood thing.



And yes, Halloween does have pagan roots, but that does not mean that its a bad thing to observe it. For example, wedding rings also are of pagan origin, but its not a bad thing to put on rings when you get married.



I would say that what you do with Halloween depends upon you also in that some people are up to some pretty shady stuff during Halloween. I would not want to get mixed up all that.



Likewise with Easter and Christmas - I have heard that supposedly there are pagan roots in these observances. However the question is also - why are you observing it? When you observe Christmas is because you its about the birth of Christ or something else? I try to shy away from all the shopping and the glitz and focus on the birth of Christ - what it means.

Answer 3

Yes, you are correct. The Hollywood image of Witches/Pagans on Halloween are generally far off the mark. I have never seen a horror movie that accurately depicts what actually Pagans do on this holiday, commonly known as Samhain (Celtic for "Summer's End"). Pagans and Witches don't generally believe in the devil, nor do our religions have anything to do with "evil" spirits or malevolent workings.



I see them as two different occasions that happen to fall on the same days.





Samhain is a harvest festivial when some Pagans give thanks for the Earth's bounty, and a time to remember our ancestors and celebrate death as a natural part of the cycle of life. In my family we bake bread and feast, put out pictures of loved ones who've passed on and tell stories about them so their memory lives on, we say prayers and sing songs. Hardly anything sinister.



It's more like a combination of Thanksgiving and the Mexican festival Dia De Los Muertos.





Halloween is very loosely rooted in older customs, when people feared spirits as the dark days of winter descended upon them, frightened that they may not survive the season. But it has become a secularized American holiday far removed from it's roots.





Easter and Christmas are actually far closer to their original Pagan roots than Halloween is.

Answer 4

It depends on who you talk to. Some say it is associated with All Souls Day others say it has to do with the Celtic new year. Christians will say it has everything to do with the Devil.



I personally see it as Ancestors night and the New year.



Basically it has many different meanings and has come to be what it is through simple celebration or dressing up and having a party.



No, it has nothing to do with Satan.



If this was the case then a better date would be April 30 as it is called Walpurgisnacht or Witches Night in Germany. It is said that on that night the witches would travel to the Hartz Mountains and worship Satan.



Very few if any of the holidays we celebrate are anything like they started out being.

Answer 5

Well yes the incorporation with the devil and so on is Hollywood influenced, but 'All Saints Day' isn't the same thing as the pagan Samhain. The date that 'All Saints Day' was transfered to (on the Roman Calendar), was done so for it to correlate with Samhain, but 'All Saints Day' was practised long before the date transfer. It is still practised on that original date by the Eastern Orthodox/Catholic Churches.

Answer 6

I suggest looking at how the Philippines have expressed their version of Xianity. All those bright colourful festivals are the Indigenous Traditions being absorbed into the Xian faith.



Now I suggest looking at all the (European) Xian ceremonies. Like Xmas - once you take away the Nativity elements you have the various Indigenous European pre-Xian Traditions.



It is not saying that Xmas is Pagan, just elements of the festival are.



And the same applies to Halloween. Only in some traditions it's their New Year.



.

Answer 7

We call it Samhain and it's the end of the Pagan year. It is the night when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. We honor our deceased loved ones in various ways, and some believe they can be contacted more easily on this night than any other. Probably the association with death led to the adoption of Halloween. Some cultures feared the dead, and so dressed in costumes in hopes that their dead ancestors would not recognize them. This is where the tradition of dressing up in costumes began.

Answer 8

Samhain is the Wiccan/ Pagan holiday, and you are somewhat right. Actually, Christians took Samhain (a good holiday) and made it like if we celebrate it as good, we worship the devil. Then Hollywood cashed in with showing horror movies, and stores sell decorations.

I think it's so lame.

Bright Blessings )O(

Answer 9

All Hallows Eve and November Eve on the same Evening, just like Independence Day and Sunday sometimes are, but they aren't the same thing.



English as a language is largely derived from the same language as German. We didn't stop speaking English during WWII to protest the Nazis, did we?

Answer 10

http://babylon-the-great.xanga.com/63891…

This is a website which has excerpts from books about the pagan origin of Halloween.

Answer 11

All the holidays are stolen from the pagans.

Answer 12

Dont you know S.a.n.t.a is another name for S.a.t.a.n just swap the letters around.



Here is a Ebook of this free dvd i got hope it helps;



The Truth about Halloween



Isaiah 57:3 “But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the

adulterer and the whore.”

This introduction is particularly for the professed Christian reader who

“celebrates” Halloween / HELLoween. The Christian who dresses their

ignorant child like a devil, or a werewolf or a fairy witch or a magicworking

purple dinosaur named Barney. Do you think this is GOOD in the

sight of God?

Perhaps you’ve never stopped to think about God’s reaction to horror

houses and creep shows and tarot card readers and witches. Perhaps you

think Cinderella’s fairy godmother is a “good witch”. Maybe the “Wizard

of Oz” is your favourite movie. Maybe in the old days you watched, “The

Ghost and Mrs. (Somebody)”. That’s necromancy, intercourse with the

dead. Necromancer is a Bible word (e.g. Deuteronomy 18:11). What we

often call “nostalgia” are the remnants of sorceries that have been worked

on us. If you claim to know Jesus Christ, will you stop and consider

WHAT GOD THINKS?

Leviticus 19:31 “REGARD NOT them that have familiar spirits,

NEITHER SEEK AFTER wizards, to be DEFILED by them: I am the

LORD your God.”

Leviticus 20:6 “And THE SOUL THAT TURNETH AFTER such as have

familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even

set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.”

2 Chronicles 33:6 “And he caused his children to pass through the fire in

the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used

enchantments, and used witchcraft, and DEALT WITH a familiar spirit,

and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, TO

PROVOKE HIM TO ANGER.”

Are you angry that these scriptures are before you? Will you “celebrate”

Satan's holiday anyway? If so, your rebellion fits right in with Halloween.

1 Samuel 15:23 “For REBELLION is as the sin of WITCHCRAFT, and

STUBBORNNESS is as INIQUITY AND IDOLATRY. Because thou hast

rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being

king.”

Sorcerers will go to the lake of fire. Do you allow your children to watch

occultic “family” movies and videos? Do you let them read such books…

like Harry Potter? If so, then you are selling your own child into the hand

of the devil!

Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and

murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars,

shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:

which is the second death.“

The rebellious may say, “But we are not practicing witchcraft”, I wouldn’t

be so sure of that, but I won’t argue with you because THE BIBLE SAYS

DO NOT EVEN LEARN THE WAYS OF THE HEATHEN.

Jeremiah 10:2 “Thus saith the LORD, LEARN NOT THE WAY of the

heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are

dismayed at them.”

The latter part of the above verse speaks to astrology (“astrologer” is a

Bible word as are “magician”, “stargazers”, “monthly prognosticators”,

etc.). People (and their children) who claim to the know the Lord call 900

numbers, get palms read, etc. They seek unto them that have familiar

spirits and unto wizards that peep and that mutter (see Isaiah 8:19)

INSTEAD of living righteously and seeking after God. By their fruits ye

shall know them.

Halloween is a dangerous time, since many of the seemingly "harmless"

involvements associated with Halloween, can be "entries" for the occult,

and can prove very tragic for the unwary. It is, for many, a "crossover"

involvement in which innocent games can lead to serious entanglement

with real witches, neo-pagans, New Agers, and other occultists. A common

pastime is the use of an Ouija board, to attempt to contact ghosts or spirits

that are believed to be roaming about. This can lead to serious

consequences including demon possession. Demons have a vested interest

in Halloween because it supports the occult, and it also offers novel and

unexpected opportunities to control and influence people.

Forms of the occult can include mediums, channelers, clairvoyants,

psychics, spiritists, diviners, mystics, gurus, shamans, psychical

researchers, Yogis, psychic and holistic healers, astral travel, astrology,

mysticism, Ouija boards, Tarot cards, contact with the dead, UFOs, and

thousands of other practices which almost defy cataloging. Occultism

includes Satanism, astrology, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, theosophy, witchcraft

and many forms of serious magic. It includes activities seeking the

acquisition of "hidden" things, which are expressly forbidden in the Bible.

Where Did Halloween Come From? What is Halloween really all about?

Have you ever asked yourself, “Who in the world ever thought of the idea

of walking around in weird costumes, trick or treating, and/or putting a

carved-out pump

Answer 13

the pagen one is called Samhain. (sow-wen)

Answer 14

You are wrong.



It's all souls day... its the one day each year where the spirits of the dead are supposed to rise and walk among us.



The costumes developed as a way of disguising the living so the dead wouldn't kill them.



It definitely has pagan / evil origins.