Hallowed

“Ops! Sorry,” apologizing to a little hunched-over woman behind me in a black coat and hat. Too much focus on my daily errands left me insensitive to others around me. I turned to the woman with long gray hair assuming she was hard of hearing because she continued to stand still with no response. As I bent down to look at her I found a bright green grotesque face. I took a step back as I realized it was a life size manikin of a witch.

Feeling silly I wondered over to another aisle and met another manikin eye-to-eye. This time it was a decomposed man, dressed in a tuxedo, with fake blood trickling down the corner of his mouth. I guess you can tell Halloween is not my favorite anymore.

"Do not eat any meat with the blood still in it. Do not practice divination or sorcery.” Leviticus 19:26

Halloween traces back to the Celts, in Ireland, during medieval times. Their armies imitated over 300 different gods in efforts to terrorize their enemy. Witchcraft was, also, practiced to tap into the spiritual world for strength.

A feast called, Samhain (Sah-ween), was celebrated to mark the release of hostile supernatural forces to wonder around the earth. The chosen day…October 31st, the day before All Saints Day on November 1st. European Catholics would pray, to the saints, for their deceased ancestors who may be in purgatory.

Halloween seems to be gaining more attention. Decorations are becoming more elaborate too. So, what are we teaching our children? What will this lead to? Little wonder why movies like Harry Potter and Twilight have grossed over 1.6 billion dollars at the box office and DVD sales (this total does not include other series). The fascination of occult practices is evidently on the rise.

The definition of Halloween is: the last night of the year in the old Celtic calendar, where it was Old Year's Night; a night for witches.

The word Hallowed, as in the Lord’s Prayer, ‘Hallowed be Thy name…’ means; holy, sanctified, consecrated, and sacred.

Which would you rather celebrate?