When something cute and “harmless” masks a deeper danger
What often appears cute, harmless, or simply “fun” can, in truth, be a kind of spiritual Trojan horse, a disguise for something far more dangerous. Halloween, and even its more “Christianized” counterpart, All Saints’ Day, are now celebrated with smiling pumpkins, playful costumes, and light-hearted talk of ghosts and spirits.
Yet beneath their innocent surface lies a legacy rooted in pagan ritual and spiritual practices that stand in direct opposition to the truth of God’s Word. Just as the enemy cloaks deception in charm and familiarity, these festivals can dull our sensitivity to the reality of evil and the seriousness of dabbling in the spiritual realm apart from Christ.
What begins as harmless cultural fun can, over time, open hearts and homes to influences that draw people away from the purity of biblical faith and toward a growing tolerance, even fascination, with the occult.
The Pagan Roots: Samhain
Long before Halloween, there was Samhain (pronounced SAH-win), an ancient Celtic festival whose name means “summer’s end.” It marked the transition from the light half of the year to the dark half, the beginning of winter. For the Celts, this was more than a seasonal shift; it was a deeply spiritual time when the boundary between the physical world and the Otherworld was believed to grow thin, allowing closer contact with spirits, deities, and ancestors.
Samhain was one of the major “cross-quarter” festivals, a threshold between seasons and between worlds, traditionally observed from sunset on October 31 to sunset on November 1. Celebrations included:
- Lighting great bonfires for protection and purification.
- Extinguishing and relighting hearth fires from the communal flame.
- Offering food and livestock to deities or spirits for protection.
- Honouring ancestors with feasts and open places at the table.
- Wearing disguises to confuse or ward off wandering spirits.
Because the veil between worlds was thought to be thin, Samhain also became a time for divination, using apples, nuts, bones, and other objects to glimpse the future. These customs blended remembrance of the dead with an attempt to gain hidden knowledge.
The Return of the Dead and the Unseen
The Celts believed that during Samhain, the souls of the dead returned to their earthly homes. Families would leave out food and drink, set places at the table, and keep candles burning to welcome and appease departed loved ones. These gestures, known as the “feast of the dead,” were thought to ensure peace with the spirit world and protection from mischief in the year ahead.
But not all spirits were believed to be kind. The Aos Sí or Sidhe, “the people of the mounds,” were supernatural beings said to roam freely during Samhain, emerging from burial hills to interact with the living. To avoid offending them, people left offerings of milk or bread and avoided travelling after dark.
To hide from these beings, many wore masks or dark clothing, the early roots of today’s Halloween costumes.
Spirits, Divination, and Disguise
During Samhain, when the “veil” between the living and the dead was believed to be thinnest, people sought guidance from spirits through dreams, visions, or ritual offerings. Divination games were common, reading melted wax or lead in water, tossing apple peels to find the initials of a future spouse, or interpreting how nuts burned in the fire.
Disguises, or “guises,” were worn not for fun, but for protection. Masks made from animal hides, soot-blackened faces, or inverted clothing helped wearers blend in with wandering spirits. In some places, groups went house to house performing small acts or reciting verses in exchange for food, the ancestor of modern trick-or-treating.
These rituals combined superstition with community spirit, and laid the foundation for the Halloween customs we know today.
Bonfires, Sacrifices, and Symbolism
Bonfires were central to Samhain celebrations, symbolizing protection, purification, and the waning power of the sun. People and livestock often passed between two fires for blessing, and bones from slaughtered animals (and sometimes human sacrifices) were cast into the flames, giving rise to the word “bonfire” (bone fire).
Ancient accounts and archaeological findings suggest that sacrifices, animal and human, were made to appease gods and ensure survival through the harsh winter. These were viewed not as cruelty but as sacred exchanges to maintain harmony between the human and divine worlds.
The ancient Celts believed the head was the seat of the soul, intellect, and spiritual power, so they sometimes decapitated notable enemies in battle and preserved the heads as trophies, displaying them for protection and prestige. Although this practice faded with Christianity, scholars suggest it influenced the Celtic Samhain tradition of carving turnips or gourds (later pumpkins) into jack-o’-lanterns. These grotesque vegetable lanterns symbolically echoed the fearsome, disembodied heads once displayed, serving to ward off wandering spirits during the festival.
From Paganism to “Christianization”
As Christianity spread through Celtic lands, the Church sought to absorb or replace pagan festivals. In the 8th century, Pope Gregory III moved All Saints’ Day from May 13 to November 1, aligning it with Samhain, and Pope Gregory IV made the change universal. The evening before became All Hallows’ Eve, later shortened to Halloween.
Earlier, in 609 AD, All Saints’ Day was first adopted from the pagan Roman festival Lemuria, which honoured and exorcised restless spirits, when Pope Boniface IV rededicated the Roman Pantheon, originally a temple to all gods, as a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and all martyrs. He chose May 13, the final day of Lemuria, for the celebration.
Yet despite the new names and meanings, many of the old customs persisted: offerings for the dead, disguises, and the belief that spirits roamed the earth. The outward form changed, but the underlying spiritual focus remained largely the same.
If any doubt remains about the true origin and spirit of these feast days, simply look at the imagery that surrounds them, symbols of death, demons, and darkness. Consider the fruit they bear: children taught to treat the occult lightly, people misled about the state of the dead, and door-to-door trick-or-treating for sugary, nutrient-poor treats from strangers. Older kids often engage in pranks, sometimes cruel or bordering on vandalism, all in the name of “fun.” Adults join in with parties featuring skimpy “sexy witch” or “sexy devil” costumes, often paired with heavy drinking or drug use. Even some animal shelters halt or restrict black cat adoptions during this season to prevent their use as props, or worse.
The Bible’s Warning
God’s Word clearly warns His people not to imitate or blend pagan customs with the worship of the true God (Deuteronomy 12:29–31; Jeremiah 10:2). Scripture reminds us that He is “the God of the living, not of the dead” (Matthew 22:32).
Practices such as divination, spiritism, and attempts to contact the dead are explicitly forbidden (Deuteronomy 18:9–14; Leviticus 19:26 & 31; Isaiah 8:19). The dead are silent and unaware of earthly matters (Ecclesiastes 9:5–6) and do not revisit their earthly homes (Job 7:9-10). We are told to “abstain from all appearance of evil” and to “expose the unfruitful works of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:22; Ephesians 5:11).
When these warnings are ignored, people open themselves to deception. The Bible teaches that evil spirits can masquerade as the dead to exploit curiosity and longing, drawing hearts away from trust in God and toward spiritual confusion. For this reason, Christians are called to stay alert, reject occult influence, and keep their worship pure and centred on Christ alone.
A Better Focus: Reformation Day
On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, the spark that ignited the Protestant Reformation. He chose that date intentionally, knowing that the next day was All Saints’ Day, when many would come to venerate relics and seek indulgences.
Luther’s goal was not division, but reformation, to call the Church back to the authority of Scripture and the truth that salvation comes by grace through faith in Christ alone.
Reformation Day marks the moment when light began to pierce centuries of spiritual darkness. Reformers like Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli championed the Bible as the sole foundation for faith and practice. For believers today, October 31 can be more than a celebration of fear and superstition, it can be a remembrance of truth restored, of the freedom found in God’s Word, and of the unchanging hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Key Sources:
- Ronald Hutton, The Stations of the Sun (Oxford University Press, 1996)
- Miranda Green, The World of the Druids (Thames & Hudson, 1997)
- Patricia Monaghan, Encyclopedia of Celtic Myth and Folklore (2004)
- Máire MacNeill, The Festival of Lughnasa (1962)
- Eoin MacNeill, Phases of Irish History (1919)
- W.Y. Evans-Wentz, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries (1911)
- H.A. Guerber, The Myths of Greece & Rome (1893)
- The Catholic Encyclopedia (1911): “All Saints’ Day”
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This post was originally published by Benevolent Witness on Bible Prophecy Revealed.
It’s shared here with permission — you can find the original post here.