Halloween/Samhain (sal-win): So what’s the big deal? Its Harmless, Right?...

There has been much controversy about whether or not Christians should celebrate Halloween. To be better informed, I took the initiative to do my own research because I wanted to better educate myself on the origins and the symbolism that we see during this time of year. Here are my findings.

Halloween, where did it come from and What is it?

Halloween originated in Pagan Celtic tradition of the Druids in what is now Great Britain and Northern France. These celebrations were held beginning at sundown on October 31st and lasted into November 2nd. These celebrations were known as Samhain (pronounced sal-win). This was the time that the Druids believed that the veil between the worlds was at its thinnest and that the souls of their ancestors could return to Earth. Not only could souls return but so could evil spirits. So this in itself indicates that it does not have origins in Christianity. These celebrations actually predate Christianity in the regions where it was practiced and they worship a pagan goddess in addition to the dead. Samhain is the Druid New Year. Other religions that are seen to observe Halloween are both Wiccans and Satanists. According to the website; Wiccan holidays for witches and warlocks, New Year’s Day is October 31st at sundown. It further states that “It is an evil and wicked night, a perfect night for a witch to celebrate New Year.” According to thesatanictemple.com, Halloween is listed as a Blessed Satanic Holiday and is described as “a holiday to celebrate indulgence and embrace the darkness and its aesthetic” and that “Halloween is consistently described as evil, demonic, and satanic…costumes, candy, and facing fears are to be embraced.” Theconversation.com published an article that sheds light on Samhain. In the article it is stated that Samhain rituals focus on death and includes remembrance and mourning. In an article from CBN news, John Ramirez, a former satanic priest warns Christians about celebrating Halloween. Ramirez, in an interview referred to himself as once “being a general to the kingdom of darkness in witchcraft” and that he used to be known as “Lucifer’s Son” and in another interview he spoke about sacrificial rituals that were performed on Halloween. Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan has been quoted as saying, “I am glad that Christian parents let their children worship the devil at least one night out of the year. Welcome to Halloween,” and also “…by dressing up, either by wearing a costume or coloring oneself for Halloween, is tantamount to worshipping the devil.”

So What about Costumes and Trick-or-Treating?

According to newgrange.com, “Samhain being the feast of the dead …they needed some sort of appeasement in the form of ritual offerings on this night. So long as the offering was forthcoming the ghosts were happy and benevolent, but if the offering was withheld another side of the ghosts features were presented. Bad luck would descend on the household and all would not be well the coming year. Some vestiges of this tradition survived in the modern Halloween custom of "trick or treat". Children, dressed as ghosts and witches, invite the household to make a donation or face the consequences. The 'treat' may represent the ritual offering while the 'trick', nowadays a harmless prank, may have in antiquity, represented the malevolent consequences of inadequately appeasing the ancestral ghosts on this night.” According to the history channel, during Samhain, villagers would disguise themselves in costumes made of animal skins to drive away phantom visitors. These costumes were also meant to be for protection from the spirits so that they would not recognize you as human and try to take your soul.

Not to mention, sending your children door to door is not only unsafe, you most likely do not know the people that live in the homes (at least 95-99% of the time). So you don’t know their character nor their beliefs. Anyone that comes in contact with the candy has opportunity to pray over… or curse it. What if one of the homes belongs to a Satanist or witch/warlock? It isn’t only physical poison that you have to worry about; you also have to worry about spiritual poison that you are allowing into your home and into your child’s life.

Jack-O-Lanterns:

The origins of Jack-O-Lanterns according to history.comis described in the following article about “Stingy Jack”

“The Legend of 'Stingy Jack'

People have been making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween for centuries. One version of the practice may have originated from an Irish legend—which first appeared in print in the 19th century—about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form.

Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”

That story likely drew on a parallel etymology of the term ‘jack-o-the-lantern’ as akin to ‘will-o-the-wisp,’ a mysterious light seen in wooded or swampy areas at night—sometimes with natural causes, other times as a result of mischievous children lighting lanterns.

Jack-O’-Lantern's Origin

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets are used. Immigrants from these countries brought their vegetable-carving traditions with them when they came to the United States, helping change American pumpkin-carving from a general autumn pastime to one uniquely associated with Halloween.”

What does the Bible Say: (All Scriptures are taken from the NLT)

• 1 Corinthians 10:19-23: ¹⁹What am I trying to say? Am I saying that food offered to idols has some significance, or that idols are real gods? ²⁰No, not at all. I am saying that these sacrifices are offered to demons, not to God. And I don’t want you to participate with demons. ²¹You cannot drink from the cup of the Lord and from the cup of demons, too. You cannot eat at the Lord’s Table and at the table of demons, too. ²²What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is? ²³You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.
• The Point: Focus on verse 21.God wants you to seek Him only.When you celebrate Halloween, you are partaking in pagan practices whether you want to admit it or not.People say “I’m not celebrating those things we are just doing this for fun.” With this mind set, you are walking in compromise. Whether or not you want to acknowledge the origins and meaning behind the holiday does not mean that you aren’t still celebrating and worshiping those demons. Compromise equals open doors to spiritual attacks in your lives.
• Ephesians 5:6-17: ⁶Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him. ⁷Don’t participate in the things these people do. ⁸For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! ⁹For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. ¹⁰Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. ¹¹Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. ¹²It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. ¹³But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, ¹⁴for the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” ¹⁵So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. ¹⁶Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. ¹⁷Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.
• The Point:DO NOT WALK IN COMPROMISE, Stay away from the darkness.
• 1 Peter 5:6-11: ⁶So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. ⁷Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.⁸Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. ⁹Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.¹⁰In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. ¹¹All power to him forever! Amen.
• The Point: Focus on verse 8: Satan wants to destroy your soul. When you open the doors to celebrating pagan gods, you open the door to Satan to have access to your life.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:14-22: ¹⁴Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.¹⁵See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people.¹⁶Always be joyful. ¹⁷Never stop praying. ¹⁸Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.¹⁹Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Do not scoff at prophecies, ²¹but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. ²²Stay away from every kind of evil.
• Isaiah 5:20: What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.
• Romans 13:11-14: ¹¹This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹²The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armor of right living. ¹³Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. ¹⁴Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires.
• James 4: 7-10: ⁷So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. ⁹Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
• Titus 1:13-16: ¹³This is true. So reprimand them sternly to make them strong in the faith. ¹⁴They must stop listening to Jewish myths and the commands of people who have turned away from the truth.¹⁵Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. ¹⁶Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.
• John 3:19-21: (The words of Jesus) ¹⁹And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. ²⁰All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. ²¹But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”

My Conclusions

After researching, I found that there is nothing related to Halloween/Samhain that glorifies God and that all of the origins are pagan. There was a time where the Catholic Church attempted to redeem this pagan holiday by creating their own holiday at the same time in an attempt to convert the pagans to Christianity but that all of the practices for those holidays remained pagan in nature. I heard an analogy to better explain this, bringing this pagan holiday under the Christian faith can be likened to putting poison into your tea, the tea is good but it does not make the poison any less dangerous. John Ramirez made the comment that for a Christian to celebrate Halloween is like the equivalent of a Satanist celebrating Good Friday. He said that you would never see a Satanist celebrate Good Friday so likewise Christians should not celebrate Halloween.

James 4:17: Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Joshua 24:14-15: ¹⁴“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. ¹⁵But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

What is Holy Spirit speaking to you now? Remember that even delayed obedience is full disobedience.

I am not here to tell you what to do, but know that if you have read this article to this point and are a believer in Jesus Christ, you should seek God for what he would have you to do pertaining to this information. Allow Holy Spirit to guide your life.

Revised and updated 9/16/26