OCTOBER THIRTHY-ONE

If we were to ask you, “What day is October 31?”, what would your answer be? It is to be feared that some would reply, “Halloween”. And therefore we thought this article which was sent us would show what Halloween really is, and also what the thirty-first day of October should bring to mind.

“The history of Halloween extends back to the Roman times. the Romans held a feast to the honour of Pomona, an idol goddess of fruit trees, on October 31. In Britian, the Druid heathen priests enlarged this celebration to honour their sun-god and earth goddess. This date was chosen as the best day to perform animal sacrifices and to sacrifice a human being to please their gods. Through these practices, it was believed that this day was mysterious, being a day when the gods were present, a day full of strange spirits, ghosts, fairies, witches, and elves which came out to harm people. They thought the cat was sacred because they believed that cats had once been human beings, but were changed to cats as a punishment for their evil deeds. From these Druic beliefs comes the present day use of witches, ghosts, and cats in Halloween festivities.

From the Irish comes a tale about the origin of jack-o-lanterns. They believed that a man named Jack was unable to enter Heaven because he was such a miser. He could not enter Hell because he had played practical jokes on the devil, so as a punishment he had to walk the earth with his lantern until the judgment day. From this belief comes the use of jack-o-lanterns on Halloween.

During the Middle Ages, Roman Catholocism incorporated these feelings of the people, into the Feast of All Saints, observed on November 1. The evening before was believed to be hallowed, being a time when the spirits of the dead saints revisited their earthly homes. This was enlarged to include the idea that both good and evil spirits were present on this evening. The name “Halloween” comes from this superstition. The old English word halue e’en, means holy or hallowed even. From that meaning, we have today the word. “Halloween.”

Witchcraft cults, today, which include more than 400 registered covens (established groups practicing witchcraft) in America alone, observe four main festivals during the year; their most important feast being held on October 31, Halloween night.

It is remarkable that it was on this same evening, the night before All Saint’s Day, that the Lord led Martin Luther to nail his 95 Theses against the Roman Catholic Church on the church door at Wittenburg. While Luther had no idea that these theses would be copied, published, and distributed throughout all Europe and that he would be used as a means to lead the churches of the Reformation out from the falsehood of the Roman Catholic Church, God did, for it was all included in His will and providence. On this evening of darkness, evil, and superstition, God chose to display His light, to again bring His word and truth to the foreground.

When we look back in history, we can clearly see the work of Satan, but also the work of the Almighty God on this evening. When we observe our world today, we can see those who continue to promote the evil ideas of witches, ghosts, goblins, devils, etc. Let us together with our children, have nothing to do with the world, in this evil observance, for by going out “trick-or-treating” we are showing by our presence that we go along with these sinful customs.

Instead, let us observe October 31 as Reformation Day. Let us remember the Lord’s good ness toward us in again displaying His truth clearly through the Reformation. May that same God dispel the darkness within and shed abroad His Light in our hearts and in our Country, that we might truly testify as Solomon did so many years ago, “Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.” (Eccl. 2:13)”

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