Halloween

Halloween

Você sabia que o dia 31 de outubro é celebrado de forma diferente em alguns países?

Enquanto o dia 31 de outubro para a cultura americana é para comemorar o Halloween ou Dia das Bruxas, na Espanha é véspera do Dia dos Mortos, celebrado em 1º de novembro.

Essa data para os países com origem hispânica tem significado religioso e cada país tem as suas tradições para o Dia de Finados.

No Oriente, os rituais seguem a mesma linha, ainda que baseados no Budismo e nas crenças populares.

Conheça agora um pouquinho das celebrações pelo mundo

Uma tradição norte-americana

Karen Hybertsen, na localidade de West Orange, New Jersey, é da Igreja Presbiteriana. Karen estudou as origens do Halloween de maneira exaustiva enquanto concluía seu doutorado. Afastando-se das implicações religiosas da festividade, a pesquisadora afirma que o Halloween é um fiel reflexo psicologia sociológica dos Estados Unidos.

Somente no país de George Bush a comemoração de Halloween envolve crianças e adultos nas festividades. Aos gritos de "Doces ou travessuras!", a gurizada caminha e corre pelas ruas pedindo guloseimas e assustando os moradores mais sensíveis a brincadeiras de terror.

Dia dos Santos Inocentes

O Dia dos Mortos no México é comemorado no dia 02 de novembro - como no Brasil - e, de acordo com a crença popular esse é o dia em que os mortos ressuscitam e voltam a Terra para reocupar seus lugares. A festa começa na tarde de 31 de outubro com os preparativos para o Dia dos Anjinhos, conhecido também como o Dia dos Santos Inocentes, que se celebra em 1º de novembro.

Neste dia, recorda-se as crianças mortas que faleceram sem ser batizadas. Muitas famílias constroem em suas casas um altar para os espíritos e prestar homenagens aos parentes mortos. A decoração do ambiente inclui caramelos com os nomes das vítimas, flores, fotografias e comida e bebida favorita dos defuntos.

Onde tudo começou...

A celebração moderna de Halloween na Irlanda vem de um antigo festival Celta chamado Samhain, que significa o final do verão. Samhain era o primeiro dia do inverno e o final do ano pastoral. Originalmente, o festival dos Druidas era celebrado na noite de 1º de novembro.

Na Irlanda, onde teve origem o Halloween, os moradores ascendem fogueiras em áreas rurais, como nos tempos dos Celtas. As crianças de disfarçam e passam a tarde passeando pelas ruas aos gritos de "Doce ou travessura!", como nos Estados Unidos.

Uma festa para Buda

Na Tailândia, celebra-se o festival de Phi Ta Khon, um tipo de procissão com música e desfiles de máscaras que acompanham a imagem sagrada de Buda.

Os homens jovens usam disfarces, e a lenda diz que espíritos e fantasmas mesclam-se entre o povo, enquanto os monges recitam a história da última reencarnação de Buda. A procissão é realizada no primeiro dia das festas budistas, conhecidas como Boon Para Wate e pode ocorrer em maio, junho ou julho.

Uma festa religiosa

Na Espanha, o Dia de Todos os Santos é celebrado no di 1º de novembro e o Dia de Finados em 02. Como na América Latina, é uma data para recordar os mortos. Os espanhóis costumam ir aos cemitérios colocar flores nos túmulos e lápides de seus familiares que já faleceram.

Esta é uma festa mais religiosa que pagã. A Igreja realiza missas em memória dos mortos e dos santos.

Longe de ser um costume

Enquanto nos Estados Unidos e na Inglaterra, o Halloween é uma festa tradicional há anos, no Brasil esse costuma agora que começa a se popularizar.

Nos shopping centers, lojas e bazares programaram ofertas e encomendaram produtos exclusivos para o Dia das Bruxas. Escolas organizam festas e jogos para a meninada, principalmente as escolas de idiomas. Aos poucos, o Halloween é reconhecido no Brasil como uma das datas mais legais para diversão.

HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

Celtic New Year

October 31 is the most important day in the satanic year. [It is known as the devil's birthday.] It marks the Celtic new year. It was the end of the growing season. It became a festival of death. On this day, the god of the Celtics was to have called up the spirits of the wicked dead who had died during the past year. At the same time, other evil spirits arose and went about the countryside harassing the people. On October 31, the Celtics expected to be harassed by ghosts, evil spirits and demons; and it was no fun and games to them. They would light bonfires to guide the spirits to their own town and to ward off evil spirits.

DRUIDS

The Celtics had priests called druids. On October 31, the druids went from house to house demanding certain foods, and all those who refused were cursed. The people were tormented by means of magic. As they went, the druids carried large turnips which they had hollowed out and on which they had carved demon faces as charms. Each one was believed to contain the demon spirit that personally led or guided that priest: his little god.

DIVINATION

Those who practiced fortune telling and divination found that this was the night that they had the most success. They called upon satan to bless their efforts. One form of divination was to put apples in a tub and bob for them. The one who first successfully came up with one without putting them in his teeth was to have good luck throughout the year. They would then peel the apples and throw the peeling over their shoulders and then quickly look around. They expected to see a vision or an apparition of the one they were to marry.

SACRIFICES

These things happened several centuries before CHRIST. Sacrifices were made to the gods, especially the god of death - Samhain (pronounced Sah win). Sacrifices all the way from vegetable to human were offered. This went on and on, and, in some parts of the world, still goes on today.

8th CENTURY

In the 8th century, the Pope, in an effort to get the people to quit the festival of Sam hain, invented All Saints Day (Nov. 1). This was an attempt to get the people to turn away from the horrible observance of Sam hain. All Saints Day was intended to honor the martyrs of the Roman persecutions. It did not work! It never works to Christianize a pagan holiday. The holy and the profane do not mix.

THE MIDDLE AGES

In the Middle Ages, there was a great revival of satanic practices and witchcraft and magic - like there is today. During this time the belief developed that witches traveled on broomsticks to the black Sabbaths to worship satan on October 31. They were guided by spirits in the form of black cats. The Druids worshiped cats believing them to be reincarnated evil people.

CHURCH INVOLVEMENT

This festival of death has survived all the efforts of the church to stamp it out. The church is joining the opposition by celebrating this festival.

All Saints Day became All Hallows Day. Hallow means holy or sacred. October 31 is the evening before All Hallows Day and came to be called in the western world all hallows evening and then all hallows een. Een is an abbreviation for evening. Finally, the word was reduced to the way we have it today, Halloween. That's where the name came from, and even if it is called all hallows evening, it has nothing to do with Christian faith, and it never did.

MODERN HALLOWEEN

Now let's look at the present day celebration of Halloween. Isn't the whole theme one of darkness, death, fear, threats, destruction and evil? There are witches, broomsticks, bats, owls, ghosts, skeletons, death, and monsters. You dress up your children as demons and witches and ghouls and monsters and werewolves and send them out into the street in the darkness to reenact the Druids' practice of demanding food from people under threat of tricks (or curses) if they don't comply.

You take, not a turnip, but a pumpkin and carve demon faces in it and decorate with it.

At Halloween there will be apple bobbing, divination, fortune telling, haunted houses, candles lit and spirits called up. There will be seances and ouija boards in the name of fun and excitement. There will be sacrifices of dogs, cats, rats, chickens, goats and even humans!

You say, "Well, we don't take it seriously." But the devil does and so does God. Particularly this is true when the Church which He purchased with His own precious blood builds houses of horror in its fellowship halls so that the little lambs who have been entrusted to its care can be terrified and opened up to invading spirits of fear and torment and confusion.

How this must Grieve the Lord!

HYPERLINK "http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=05093000" \t "_blank" Origins, Halloween: Many of the ancient peoples of Europe marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter by celebrating a holiday in late autumn. The most important of these holidays to influence later Halloween customs was Samhain, a holiday observed by the ancient Celts, a tribal people who inhabited most of Western and Central Europe in the first millennium BC. Among the Celts, Samhain marked the end of one year and the beginning of the next. It was one of four Celtic holidays linked to important transitions in the annual cycle of seasons.

Samhain began at sundown on October 31 and extended into the following day. According to the Celtic pagan religion, known as Druidism, the spirits of those who had died in the preceding year roamed the earth on Samhain evening. The Celts sought to ward off these spirits with offerings of food and drink. The Celts also built bonfires at sacred hilltop sites and performed rituals, often involving human and animal sacrifices, to honor Druid deities.

Does this sound like something we ought to be imitating? Do we really want our children dressing up like witches and demons roaming about the streets and demanding offerings from human beings? And worse yet, threaten to bring some unwanted harm on the person if they refuse to give the child (imitating demons) an offering in the form of a treat? The obvious answer to the above questions for any believer in HYPERLINK "javascript:openit('nameexplanation.html')" Yahweh is no!

So we see that the roots of this festival are found to be in demonic idolatry. Some Christians tried to "Christianize" it to appease the idolaters, but who really converted who in this situation? It seems to me that it was the idolaters that converted the Christians! Believers are supposed to set the standard, not imitate the world and have a "Christian" version of everything like we see is so common today. In an age where there are Christian rock stars, Christian comedians and even Christian magicians, is it any surprise that the Fathers of mainstream Christianity did such a thing?

"After one's own birthday, the two major Satanic holidays are Walpurgisnacht (May 1st) and Halloween (or All Hallow's Eve)." The Satanic Bible by Anton Levey page 96, section on Religious Holidays.

You need to understand that even today Halloween is STILL an occult worship day. Phil Phillips says in his book, Halloween and Satanism, "...Halloween is a day witches celebrate above all other days."

Halloween is an evil day. Halloween honors Satan, idol worship, immorality, demonic rituals and human sacrifice. Halloween is not a day I want to celebrate because of what it has stood for and what it stands for today. Jack Roper put it simply enough, "You would never see Jesus at a Halloween party. Halloween parties in churches are an abomination [to the Lord]."

I no longer promote or participate in Halloween activities because of its association with idolatry, immorality, bizarre rituals and human sacrifice. The Bible warns us, "...the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils." (I Corinthians 10:20). That is why I am exposing the day for what it really is, SATAN'S DAY!

Unfounded Rumors

It is not true that Halloween is the most important celebration for most contemporary satanists. Most contemporary satanists celebrate their own birthdays as their most important “unholi”-day, which is to be expected from adherents of a religion that is focused on self-worship, self-indulgence, and self-gratification. The actual incidence level of satanic-associated crime is very low, and on Halloween consists mostly of petty vandalism and desecration of graveyards and churches; satanic graffiti; raucous rituals including drug and/or alcohol use and sexual promiscuity; and very rarely sexual violence or animal killing. The most well-known documented criminal activity associated with Halloween are the “Devil’s Night” fires that were rampant in the Detroit area for several years. These destructive bonfires were not, however, religiously inspired, but were instead a convenient excuse for out-of-control juveniles to act destructively, often in their own communities.

It is not true that satanists look for “Christian virgins” to rape during Halloween rituals. A young Christian is much more likely to be in danger of a drunk driver, or a party that gets out of hand with drug or alcohol use than of satanic abduction. Occasional anti-social, criminally committed individuals or small groups that also practice self-styled satanism commit crimes on Halloween, but they invariably betray a pattern of sociopathy at other times as well.

It is not true that poisoning or sabotaging of Halloween treats is a significant risk if parents take sensible precautions. Most of the horror stories are unsubstantiated rumors that quickly cross the country, gaining embellishments, and unnecessarily frightening parents. If parents are careful about restricting their children’s treats to ones from people they know and trust, or from a formal program run by a church, community group, or merchant association, they should be fairly safe. In many communities, local hospitals and/or police stations will screen treats free of charge