Halloween: Will You Celebrate or Reject Evil?

Ask anyone you meet: "Do you believe in the devil?"

First, you will receive looks as though you are mad! Then, as likely as not, the person will hurry on without so much as a backward glance. The few answers you receive will almost certainly be along the lines of, "Of course not! Do you think I'm stupid?"

Yet every year at the end of October, in North America (and many other countries today) people celebrate the existence of the devil! You may be among them, if you go to Halloween parties or dress up your children in witch or wizard costumes or masks with hideous faces or outfits that represent demons and goblins. Or if you decorate your home with ghosts or carved out images of evil spirits using hollowed-out pumpkins.

"Oh, but that's just a little innocent fun," some may say. "Everybody does it, and I don't really believe the tradition behind it. I am not encouraging my children to expose themselves to the occult."

But then, why celebrate and worship something you don't believe in?

Halloween: what's behind the disguise?

Just where does Halloween come from? The Pagan Book of Days, by Nigel Pennick, explains: "Hallowe'en parties are a modern expression of the pagan festival of the remembrance of death and the departed." The Festival of the Dead—called Samhain—falls on Nov. 1 (which the Roman Catholic Church adopted as All Saints' Day).

Halloween retains these dark and demonic themes. "Halloween was thought to be the most favourable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 862, "Halloween"). (For more about the origins of Halloween, see "Halloween: A Celebration of Evil.")

What does God say?

The devil is not just a generalized concept of evil. Satan the Devil is a powerful spiritual being who rebelled against God. Right now Satan's plans are influencing the whole world more than you may ever have imagined!

Isaiah 14:13-14 explains the extent of Satan's arrogance and sin: "For you said to yourself, 'I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars... I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High'" (New Living Translation throughout).

The Bible states quite unequivocally that God commands us to have nothing to do with Satan, his demons or anyone who contacts them in any shape or form. "And do not let your people practice fortune-telling or sorcery, or allow them to interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is an object of horror and disgust to the Lord" (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).

Why? Because these are methods used by the devil to deceive and destroy his unsuspecting victims! We need to be constantly on guard against the dangers of the occult.

Do we wish to live contrary to our Savior's example? Luke 7:21 tells us how Jesus healed many people and cast out evil spirits. Yet today people celebrate Halloween by engaging in occult practices that originated with Satan the Devil! Surely, dressing up like a witch or a demon seems to make light of evil instead of denouncing it.

Like it or not, this world is under the deceptive influence of the devil and his cohorts (Revelation 12:9; 2 Corinthians 4:4). It is up to us to stand up to such influences and reject them. James 4:7 instructs us: "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." That is our Creator's instruction to us! Therefore, do not join with others in celebrating the devil. Do not participate in Halloween and its occult customs.

We need to recognize the evil nature of Satan and his demons, and our need for the celebrating days that teach us about the plan of the Lord our God.

What a Former Witch Told Me About the Dark Side

Halloween is this weekend, in case you haven't noticed. But it's hard not to notice. Halloween has become the second-largest retail holiday in North America. It's second only to Christmas in sales generated by the strong consumer desire to party with the dead and macabre elements. Imitating ghosts and demons may seem like harmless fun. It's not. Playing with the darker elements of this world is inviting strong forces into your life. You do this at your own peril.

I recently interviewed a lady who spent 20 years as a practicing witch. Her story was the centerpiece of a Beyond Today program called "Dancing With the Dark Side." The program aired last week on WGN America and drew considerable comment from viewers.

One viewer wrote asking for help counseling a child who wished to become a witch. Another wrote detailing the disastrous impact on his family from involvement with the dark, satanic world. As my interview with "Mary" (the pseudonym for the woman who was once a witch) shows, you do not want to go down that road. Here is part of that interview.

McNeely: What do you think you were looking for when you entered into that world?

Mary: Power. To be special, to be unique.

McNeely: You think that's what other people are looking for, as well?

Mary: Oh yes. Yeah. I mean, you get into it seeking power to control your life, manifest or will things into your life, but the bad thing about it is after it progresses, it starts taking on a negative tone. I started out with Wicca. I started out with thinking I was just worshipping the earth because I wanted something tangible, something I could see, something I could adhere to. The equinox, the sabbaths in Wicca. It soon didn't feel like enough.

I felt compelled to check out or read books about necromancy and voodoo, and like I said, I was in it for about 20 years and there toward the end, I felt like if I hadn't had the car wreck, I would've been gone, because I would've opened myself up to channeling. I'd already started using my own blood in my own rituals, in my own spells. I'd already started making voodoo dolls and casting bad spells on people.

McNeely: Did you actually see those spells come to pass?

Mary: Mhm.

McNeely: You did?

Mary: Yes.

McNeely: Things happened?

Mary: Yes. Things always happened.

Mary went on to explain that people who dabble with the dark arts are looking for a power to control their lives and that of others. They end up being controlled by a darker power they do not understand. Fortunately for Mary, she escaped the hold of the dark side and is building a better life for herself. She finally is in control of her life, in a right way.