Basic HTML Version
tricks on the devil. He was con–
demned to walk the earth with his
lantem until Judgment Day. (The
traditional Christian doctrines of
heaven and hell are Likewise pagan
in origin. For more on this subject ,
write for our free booklets
What Is
the Reward of the Saved?
and
Is
There a Real Helljire?)
Roman lnfluence
When the Romans invaded north–
western Europe, the Celtic civ–
ilization was nearly destroyed, but
its beliefs and practices survived
and became amalgamated with the
traditions of the conquering Ro–
mans. From the Roman feast which
honored Pomona, goddess of fruits,
new customs were added to the Hal–
loween season, such as eating apples
to drive away evil spirits. Apples
hung on strings or placed in a tub
for dunking also carne from Roman
tradition, as did the belief that if a
gi rl ate an apple in front of a mirror
on Halloween, the mirror would
have the power of showing her the
facial image of her future mate.
Christianity was the next move–
ment to spread through north–
western Europe. One would
normally assume that the Christian
religion would have erased all ves–
tiges of paganism. But such was not
the case. Pagan practices were con–
tinued under Christian sanction.
All Salnts' Day
The professing Christian church of
the early centuries A.D. believed
that one who did especially good
works or lived an exceptionally
good Life should be recognized as a
saint (in the bíblica! sense every true
Christian is a saint). A special day
was set aside to honor each of the
many well-known saints. Of course,
there were many who were never
recognized since their good works
had gone unnoticed, and, as the
number of saints grew, there were
not enough days in the year lto ac–
commodate all of them.
So it was suggested that there be
one day in the year to honor all
saints. The origins of the day are
uncertain. The
New Catholic Ency–
clopedia
cites severa) sources which
hint at a precursor of the latc::r offi–
cial Feast of All Saints. A hymn by
St. Ephraem in A.D. 359 and a ser-
16
mon by St. John Chrysostom (A.D.
407) uncover the fact that there
existed at least two days of the year
that honored all saints. However,
the dates differed- May 13 accord–
ing to St. Ephraem and the first
Sunday after Pentecost according to
St. John Chrysostom.
Pope Boniface IV received the
temple of the Roman pantheon of
the gods as a fief from the Emperor
in or around the year A.D. 610. He
dedicated it to the Virgin Mary and
all the martyrs on May 13. This is
supposedly the first official date of
All Saints' · Day (or Feast of All
Saints).
However, by the twelfth century
the Feast of All Saints was being
celebrated on November 1, on
which it is still commernorated in
Catholic and Protestant churches
alike. Historians do not agree as to
how All Saints' Day carne to be cel–
ebrated on November l . Sorne be–
lieve that Popes Gregory
III
(731-
741) and Gregory IV (827-844) had
a hand in changing it. Others sub–
mit that the November date had its
origins in Ireland, and had no con–
nection with the May 13 celebra–
tion. If the latter is the case, a
connection of the November 1 cele–
bration of All Saints' Day with the
Celtic Druid feast of Samhain and
its customs would be possible.
Both Samhain and All Saints'
Day may have originated in Ireland.
Thus similar traditions may have
in–
fiuenced both days.
Halloween and All Souls' Day
The name Halloween comes frorn
the Eve of All Hallows, which refers
to the evening before All Saints'
Day. Although this is a "Christian"
narne, Halloween carne to be cele–
brated in an almost exclusively pa–
gan fashion.
As Christianity spread through–
out Europe and the Western world,
its traditions were mixed with those
of pagan religions. Thus, a mixture
of pagan customs was integrated
with All Saints' Day.
In this regard, All Souls' Day,
which is observed on November 2,
should also be rnentioned. This day
was established in the eleventh cen–
tury by St. Odillo, abbot of the
Cluny monastery. lts observance
consists of Mass and special prayers
for the dead, especially for souls in
purgatory.
All Souls' Day, too, may be con–
nected to the observance of Hallow–
een. In the Middle Ages, it was
believed that souls could appear on
this day as will-o'-the-wisps, witches,
toads, etc. This is clearly an infil–
tration of pagan superstition, which
survives today in other Halloween
customs. There was also the tradition
of "souling," begging for cakes in
remembrance of the dead, which is
similar to the twentieth-century
"trick-or-treat" custorn ofgoing from
house to house on Halloween.
Should We Observe Halloween?
How does all this affect us now in
the twentieth century? Understand–
ing the historical origins of Hallow–
een should change our outlook in a
number of ways. First of all, we
have discovered that sorne of the
festiva ls which we call Christian are
of pagan origin or are a mixture of
paganism and professing Christian–
ity. (For more on this, write for our
free booklet
Pagan Holidays- or
God's Holy Days-Which?)
Do we
really want to part icipate in a Chris–
tian-cloaked holiday whose roots
are unchristian?
Secondly, understanding the ori–
gins of our traditions leads us to
question the validity of many com–
monly accepted modero religious
beliefs. For example, most people
who observe the traditions associ–
ated with All Saints' Day do so be–
cause saints are considered by them
to be "special" Christians. Yet the
Bible calls
a/1
true Christians saints
(I Cor. 1:2; Il Cor. 1: 1; Eph. l : 1;
5:3). A saint is simply anyone who is
set apart to God. Furthermore,
those who observe All Souls' Day
are led to believe the erroneous con–
cept of a sou1which exists indepen–
dent ofthe body.
Why blindly follow customs
which consist mostly of recycled pa–
ganism, and which aren't even men–
tioned, let alone sanctioned, by
God's Word, the Bible? Why follow
the traditions of ancient heathenism
when it is questionable whether
such observances please Ood (Deut.
18:9; Jer. 10:2)? Now that you have
been given this eye-opening infor–
mation, it's up to you to act on it.
The choice is yours.
O
The
PLAIN TRUTH October-November 1978