The document discusses the origins and traditions of Halloween, tracing it back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Samhain was considered a time when the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred and spirits of ancestors could commune with the living. Traditions included lighting bonfires, dressing in costumes, leaving food offerings for spirits, and carving turnips into lanterns to ward off evil spirits. Some Christian and occult groups see Halloween traditions as promoting pagan beliefs and the worship of evil spirits. The document examines various Halloween customs and their symbolic meanings and origins in pagan traditions.

1. Halloween Trick or Truth?

2. Jeremiah 10:1-2
Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:
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.
Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

3. Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.

4. Origins

5. Samhain: Festival for the Dead? Eichler, L. (1924). Customs of Mankind, 434.
“The ancient Druids had a great autumn festival which commenced at midnight, October 31st, and lasted throughout the following day, November 1st. Among other things, they believed that on this night, the great lord of death, Saman, called together all the wicked souls that had been condemned, within the past twelve months, to inhabit the bodies of animals.
Because of the wicked spirits that prowled about on this night, they lit huge bonfires and kept a sharp lookout. Thus it is unquestionably from the Druids that we derive the belief that witches and ghosts walk abroad on Hallowe‟en...”

6. Samhain Celtic Festival of the Dead
Originally the „Feast of the Dead‟ was celebrated in Celtic countries by leaving food offerings on altars and doorsteps for the „wandering dead.‟ Single candles were lit and left in a window to help guide the spirits of ancestors and loved ones home. Extra chairs were set to the table and around the hearth for the unseen guest.
http://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/samhainlore.htm
Apples were buried along roadsides and paths for spirits who were lost or had no descendants to provide for them. Turnips were hollowed out and carved to look like protective spirits, for this was a night of magic and chaos.

7. Samhain Celtic Festival of the Dead
http://wicca.com/celtic/akasha/samhainlore.htm
•The Wee Folke became very active, pulling pranks on unsuspecting humans. Traveling after dark was not advised. People dressed in white (like ghosts), wore disguises made of straw, or dressed as the opposite gender in order to fool the Nature spirits.

8. Do Dead Men Tell Tales? Celtic Mythology, p. 127
"During this interval [at hallowe‟en] the normal order of the universe is suspended, the barriers between the natural and the supernatural are temporarily removed,
the sidh [in Irish folklore, a hill or mountain where fairies live] lies open and all divine beings and the spirits of the dead move freely among men and interfere, sometimes violently, in their affairs.”

9. “After one‟s own birthday, the two major Satanic holidays are Walpurgisnacht (May 1st) and Halloween.”
Anton LaVey, Founder of The Church of Satan, referencing The Satanic Bible, p. 96

10. Terms & Names

11. Former occultist Johanna Michaelsen reveals, "Halloween is also a prime recruiting season for Satanists." (Michaelsen, Johanna. Like Lambs to the Slaughter, p. 192)
Hallowe‟en (Celtic Origin: Circa 1000 B.C.)
The frightened Celts would masquerade as demons, evil spirits and ghosts, hoping to convince the roaming evil spirits, they were another evil spirit, and leave them alone.”
The Druids believed, during Samhain, the mystic veil separating the dead from the living opened. The Druids thought these roaming spirits loosed on Samhain went searching for a body to possess.

12. Witches
“A Witch‟s God...He is...Lord of the Underworld [Hell]...He is named...Baphomet...Lucifer...Baal…”
Angeles, Lyde.
Witchcraft: Theory and Practice, p. 60

13. “The person wearing the mask feels internally transformed and takes on temporarily the qualities of the god or demon represented by the mask.”
Biedermann, Hans. Dictionary of Symbolism, p. 218
Hallowe‟en Masks

14. “An interesting symbol, the skull…is prominent in Witchcraft and Demon worship as a celebration of death.”
Burns, Cathy. Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, p. 388
Skulls

15. Bobbing For Apples
“Bobbing for apples was originally a form of divination (fortune telling) to learn of future marriages. The first person to bite the apple was predicted to be the first to marry in the coming year…”
Santino, J. (1994). All Around the Year: Holidays & Celebrations, 26.

16. “The Jack O‟ Lantern represented a man caught between”
Santino, J. (1994). All Around the Year: Holidays & Celebrations, 26.
Jack O‟ Lantern
“Carved and illuminated by a candle, they are symbolic of death and the spirit world.”
Thompson, Sue Ellen.
Holiday Symbols and Customs, p. 25)
“...the jack-o‟-lantern is generally presented in its traditional form as a festive euphemism for the death‟s-head, the triangular nose hole and rictus grin being the „dead‟ giveaways.”
Skal, David J. (2003). Death Makes a Holiday: The Cultural History of Halloween, p. 38

17. National Geographic, May 1977, p. 603
“Trophy, charm, or ornament, the human head figured prominently in Celtic life. Warriors hung enemy heads on their houses as a show of prowess, and Druids, believing that the head harbored the soul, placed skulls in sanctuaries to ward off evil.”

18. Elementals
“Elementals [spirits such as trolls, elves, pixies] are the principle agents of disembodied but never visible spirits at seances…

19. Faerie
…fairies…[are] creatures who figure strongly in ceremonial magic and practices of nature worship, or Wicca.”
Burns, Cathy. Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, p.p. 62, 67-68.