Full Moon to Occur on Halloween

Gauracandra · October 30, 2001

Tuesday, October 30, 2001

MIAMI — For the first time in 46 years, this year's Halloween ghosts and goblins can trick or treat by the light of a full moon. They won't get another chance until 2020, astronomers said.

Wednesday night's full moon will look like an orange jack-o-lantern rising from the east at dusk, said Jack Horkheimer, executive director of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium.

It will appear orange at the horizon because it is seen through denser layers of the earth's atmosphere. Adding to the effect, the moon's tilt at this time of the year makes the "man in the moon" particularly visible.

Some astronomers believe jack-o-lantern carving was inspired by the rising, orange October moon, said Horkheimer, writer and host of PBS's nationally syndicated Star Gazer series for 25 years.

To make the superstitious even more jittery, a constellation associated with the some end-of-the-world beliefs will also be at the top of Wednesday night's sky.

The Seven Sisters constellation, which looks like a small cluster of grapes, has long been a signal for the time of year to honor the dead — such as All Saints Day, Nov. 1.

According to myth, the Seven Sisters constellation is at its highest point in the sky during a great calamity, possibly the biblical flood or the sinking of Atlantis. The Aztecs and Mayans believed it would be overhead at midnight on the night the world comes to an end, Horkheimer said.

The Seven Sisters and the full moon will both be directly overhead at midnight, he said.

"It's just very nifty because it will be a very bright full moon and when it's up high like that, it will just flood the landscape with a lovely bright light," said Horkheimer.

Technically, the moment the moon will be at its fullest is 12:41 a.m. EST Thursday, but the moon will look virtually full when trick or treaters are out in force late Wednesday.

Tarun · November 3, 2002

Should Christians Observe Halloween?

More than 50 million Americans celebrate Halloween each year. An estimated 90 percent of all families with children ages 12 and younger will participate in trick-or-treating or costume parties. For adults, Halloween has evolved into the third most popular holiday for parties with Christmas and New Year's Eve being first and second, approximately 34 percent of all adults will host or attend a Halloween party this year.

Halloween is second only to Christmas for holiday decorating, an estimated 50 percent of all Americans will decorate for Halloween (80 percent decorate for Christmas). By the middle of September, stores across our nation will have all of the Halloween paraphernalia you can imagine with an estimated 400 million dollars being spent each year.

Halloween is the eighth largest seasonal card-sending occasion in America; an estimated 35 million Halloween cards will be exchanged this year. All of these numbers grow each and every year with Halloween increasing continually in its popularity. But is it something that Christians should take part in? We will take a look at its origins and at what God would have us to do; perhaps then we will see the light of truth.

ORIGIN OF HALLOWEEN:

While attempting to answer the question as to whether Christians should keep Halloween, it seems that looking at its origins is a good place to start. In Britain, the Druids held the earliest Halloween celebrations. This festival was to honor Samhain, Lord of the Dead, and fell on November the first, which was the beginning of their New Year. It was the belief of the Druids that on the eve of this festival, which would be the night of October the thirty first, that Samhain (pronounce so-ween) called the wicked spirits together. These spirits, within the past twelve months, had supposedly been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals. This was the time in which it was believed that the spirits of the dead roamed the earth.

The Celts also adopted the Druid customs and beliefs. They feared that life was waning with the onset of winter and as the days grew shorter. They believed that the night was haunted by the spirits of the dead, and by ghosts and witches. It was a time that as the leaves changed colors and fell that a general decay surrounded them. Thus, at this time they would commemorate the dead. It was believed that at this time of New Year and winter that the gates separating the worlds of the living and the dead were opened, allowing the souls of those who had died during the year to gain entry back into the world in which they had once lived.

Halloween, or All Soul's Eve, was kept throughout the ancient pagan world. This was not a limited belief, but was widespread. Among all nations there was the prevailing belief that the spirits of wicked people were left to wander the earth or to wander the space between the earth and the moon, or were consigned to the unseen world, while the souls of good people were carried to paradise. It was also believed that these wandering spirits would haunt the living. Different things were attempted to prevent this, such as lighting bonfires to keep the spirits away from people's homes, though some say it was to light the way for the wandering spirits. There were also sacrifices offered to the spirits of the dead. The custom of preparing offerings of special foods, and of dressing up in costumes, as these spirits, came into being.

Also on this night, of the wandering dead, there came about the practice of leaving offerings of food and drink for those dressed up in costumes. The offering of food on this night was to protect you from the spirits of the dead, by giving the demons a treat and by providing them shelter during the night, it was believed that they would leave you in peace. That is if they were satisfied with your offerings. If not, they would "trick" you by casting an evil spell on you. Pagans would pray to their false gods to prevent the demons and witches from molesting them. They would pray that their offerings would be accepted. Some believed that at midnight the spirits of the dead could be seen at every crossroad. There were varying customs and legends with each country, yet the overall pattern was the same. Lets take a closer look at some of the more familiar traditions, we have all come to associate with Halloween.

Trick-or-Treating:

There are varying ideas on where the custom of trick-or-treating began. The practice of setting out food offerings to prevent tricks by the demons has already been mentioned. Some believe the practice of trick-or-treating began in Ireland where farmers went begging for food from house to house during these festivities in the name of the pagan gods. Good luck was then promised to those who contributed and threats to those who did not. Also in response to the demons, bonfires would be built and special food would be offered. This special food consisted of goodies and sweets, then after the fires burned down the children would often make off with the goodies. But if they found no treats they in turn would perform tricks or pranks.

In another tradition, people, in scary attire, would go around on Halloween asking for food and gifts. If they were given what they asked for they would pray for the lost souls, if not they would curse you by asking that the spirits of the dead haunt you.

Costumes:

This custom dates back to the Druids. While the bonfires were burning, animal, crop, and human sacrifices, were made to the sun god, Muck Olla, and to the god of the dead, Sanhain. During these rituals, people would dress up by wearing animal heads and skins. They would sing, dance, and jump over the flames or even dash through them. The costumes were also a way to protect yourselves from the demons. It was the Druids' belief that on the eve of November the first, the god of the dead called together the demons and would then send them to attack people. To escape this, the people would assume disguises so that the demons couldn't recognize them.

Jack-o'-Lanterns:

At homes across our country carved out pumpkins will be placed in yards and on door steps, this practice actually began with turnips, when the Celtics would carve out hideous faces and place candles in them to ward off the demons or evil spirits. According to another legend, the jack-o'-lantern, is the lantern of an Irish watchman who loved to play pranks on God and the devil. Due to this, he was condemned to carry his lantern throughout eternity to light the way of the spirit world. There is also the belief that the jack-o'-lantern is a symbol of a "damned soul".

A "Christian" Tradition:

Now that we have looked at the origins of Halloween and the traditions surrounding it, we need to see how these customs began to be considered a "Christian" tradition. In 607 A.D. Phocus, the Roman Emperor defeated the Barbarians who were in control of Rome. The Pantheon in Rome which was a pagan edifice was given to pope Boniface IV. The Pantheon was originally built by the Emperor Hadrian to worship the pagan goddess "Cybele" and other false gods. When pope Boniface IV received it, there arose a question, "What should be done with it?” He decided to dedicate it to the virgin Mary and all the saints, thus supposedly changing this pagan place to a "holy" place. Now Christians could use it to pray to their dead, instead of the pagans praying to their dead. This rededication took place in 610 A.D. and an annual festival was declared. The date chosen was May 13 and the commemoration of the dead saints became known as "All Saints Day". It continued to be held on this date for over two centuries until 834 when the name and date were changed.

The celebration was moved to the first of November and was called, "All Hallow" from which the name Halloween originates, along with the pronunciation of the name for the god of the dead, Sanhain, pronounced "so-wen". Now the celebration was being kept at the same time that the majority of the world was keeping their pagan festival, "All Souls Eve". You may ask, why did this change take place? It was based on the general practice, used by the restored Roman Empire that professed "Christianity", to attempt the conversion of pagans to Christianity as quickly as possible. So by changing dates of festivals or by adding Christian meanings to pagan rituals it made it easier to influence the newly conquered peoples. This would allow the emperors to have a unified empire of one mind and one religion. One of the profound influences that caused this general practice of merging pagan and Christian beliefs dates back to the German Frankish king, Charlemagne. When he conquered parts of Eastern Germany, he forced the conquered king, Wittekind, to be baptized and to accept Christianity. Wittekind with little to no knowledge of Christ was forced into his "conversion" along with his entire people.

This influx of people, along with other conquered pagans, had an influence on the Roman church in the early 800's A.D. These people brought with them all of their pagan practices and customs. So the Roman church allowed the people to keep their celebrations but labeled them Christian. In regards to Halloween, the church made it easy by changing their celebration of "All Saints Eve" to November the first. In other words, it was believed that if you couldn't beat them, join them! The belief was that if it couldn't be forbidden or stopped it would be best to tame it by making it more palatable by adding Christian meanings.

Truthfully, it seems a lot like putting a rose on manure and then trying to convince God that the manure now looked pretty and smelled nice! Throughout history you will find that the Christian confessing world has continually followed this practice. Syncretism means the blending of two beliefs or principles. Thus you have so called "Christian" symbols or meanings interlinked with pagan symbols and customs. When we look at today's celebration of Halloween its easy to see that we haven't gone far from the old pagan days. We put on weird costumes, we trick-or-treat, we play around with satanic rituals and customs. Since the paganism is so easily seen in Halloween, there are some Christians, uneasy with this holiday that refuse to observe it. Yet truthfully today, we have many popular holidays which have their origins in ancient pagan rituals, celebrations, and customs. Most of the world today goes blindly along, never considering the origins, or if they do, thinking that it really doesn't matter, after all it is just to have fun, not to worship a false god or to show honor to satanic rituals. But does it matter? Should Christians take part in Halloween?

Is Halloween for Christians?

One so-called "Christian evangelist" recently wrote that Halloween was a gray area, never addressed by God, and that it was totally up to the individual. He went on to say that it could even be a time to glorify God! He then stated that Halloween was full of pagan and satanic rituals and warned that Satan will "candy coat" sin to deceive Christians. He suggested that by keeping Halloween in Church basements or halls and by dressing as biblical characters, you wouldn't really be keeping Halloween but would be keeping an "alternative". Let's take a look at these arguments. It is true that the word "Halloween" isn't found in the Bible, however it is equally true there there is no biblical basis for observing it, and the matter of following pagan practices is definitely addressed by God.

The previously mentioned writer attempted to use one scripture to justify the observance of Halloween. Let's take a look at it and see if it defends this practice. This was, by the way, the only scripture the writer could find in an effort to defend his position.

I Corinthians 10:23- "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." Now at first blush, perhaps you would look at this and think that since all things are lawful then Halloween is lawful. But is that what it is saying? First of all, it needs to be pointed out that Halloween isn't even the subject here. Secondly, if all things are lawful, then how can anyone ever preach of sin, after all wouldn't adultery then be okay, wouldn't murder be okay, wouldn't it be okay to blaspheme and curse God? Of course not! So obviously we need to apply some common sense here and look at this scripture in context. First lets look a few of the preceding verses, vs. 6"...we should not lust after evil things, vs7...Neither be ye idolaters...vs8, Neither let us commit fornication...vs9, Neither let us tempt Christ...vs14, wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. vs 20...I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. vs 21, Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Now looking at these references it hardly seems that verse 23 is saying that we can do everything and anything we want. It is interesting to note that the Greek word for lawful here is "Exesti" and can be used interrogatively as "is it lawful". This section of scripture could be used as questions connecting with the previous verse to it, which is a question.

We do know that it isn't saying, "anything goes". Common sense and an overall understanding of God's word tells you this. The scripture isn't, by any stretch of the imagination, addressing Halloween. If fact, in argument, it could be said that when vs 21 states, "you cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of the devils", that we are being shown that you don't mix the worship of God with pagan rituals and customs, all of which originate with Satan the devil. Many would prefer not listening to this, many would prefer having their fun without having to listen to the fact that it is wrong! Let's look at Mark 7:7&9, "Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. vs.9, and he said to them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."

This scripture is a statement from Jesus Christ, condemning the practice of the Pharisees of putting their traditions before God. This scripture can apply to many today, who would rather hold on to their traditions, customs, and rituals, no matter the origin, than to follow God. It should be a simple matter to determine that none of the rituals of Halloween have anything to do with God! If you try to reason that you can add Christian symbols and keep an "alternative", you will find yourself trying to justify the observance of a totally pagan holiday.

In Deuteronomy 12:29-31, we read: "When the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods: even so will I do likewise. 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." We are not to take pagan practices and observe them. Halloween is definitely not for Christians. Not when you consider that Christians are suppose to be followers of Jesus Christ. Do you really believe that Jesus Christ wants his name associated with pagan customs and rituals? Customs that were associated with the worship of false gods that even incorporated the sacrifice of children! We are given a comforting scripture in Malachi 3:6, "For I am the Lord, I change not;...."

That scripture is comforting because as the world and times change, we don't have to be uncertain of what God desires of us. For God, paganism isn't a gray area, it wasn't at the time of Israel and it isn't now. God has laid out for us the days in which we are to worship him. He has given instructions on how to worship him and to live our lives. Those laws and instructions haven't changed. God condemns following pagan traditions. People can say, "Halloween is just for fun". But consider for a moment that God was there when ancient cultures worshipped their pagan gods. God was there when children were sacrificed to those same gods. God remembers and knows what all of these symbols and practices mean. Halloween isn't a holiday in which Christians should choose to participate, even as an "alternative".

We are told in I. Corinthians 3:11, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." Let's make sure that our actions, deeds, and practices are based on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ and not on pagan rituals that have been too readily accepted by this world.