Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Off [Jesus is Lord]

Tonight felt off.

I had high expectations for our youth-group meeting on Halloween night. I expected a powerful move of the spirit rebelling against the very reason of this holiday and it just didn't seem to happen.

Halloween isn't just kids dressing up in costumes and asking for candy. I personally love candy and jump at every opportunity to dress up. There's something darker behind it that a lot of people either don't realize or chose to ignore.

It has it roots in a Celtic Druid's holiday that celebrated a time supposedly neither in the current year nor the future one. Held in honor of the sun god and the god of death, the practices of this holiday were no pretty sight.
"The Druids believed that sins of the evil dead could be expiated through gifts and sacrifices to Sanheim, who had the power to decree in what form their existence would continue, as animals or humans. The sacrifices were grisly. Horses were burned, as they were sacred to the Sun God. Black cats, which were either friends of witches or transformed into witches themselves, were also thrown into the fire. But for Sanheim, Lord of the Dead, humans were sacrificed. Men were imprisoned in wicker and thatch cages built in the shapes of animals or giants, and put into the fire. By observing the way they died, the Druid priests saw and pronounced omens of the future."     -source
Obviously this holiday has a lot of spiritual activity associated with it. Unfortunately it is not spiritual activity in the sense that I (hopefully we) desire, but instead welcomes demonic activity and communicating with evil spirits.

Some people may make the argument that they celebrate All Saints Day which is a holiday that was developed by the Catholic church to celebrate....something. It was said that it was a day to recognize the work the saints in heaven were doing for those still in purgatory and those still on earth. In this way they "christianized" the holiday.
I do not believe that purgatory is Biblical and so this reason does not make everything okay to me. I also believe that we should be relying on God's power. His saints are not the ones we should pray to and we don't rely on them after they are gone but instead we should be focusing on Jesus Christ and His Heavenly Father who is ours as well. No one should be equaled with that power or attributed it.

One article I found says:

"Despite the Church's success in establishing a Christian foundation for the autumn celebrations, many of the ancient customs and traditions associated with them were still practiced by the population. The carving of gourds and the wearing of costumes and masks to scare away malevolent spirits are typical of the superstitions carried over from these celebrations into the All Hallows Eve observance. 

The custom of "trick-or-treating" has its origins in a ritual wherein the elders of a village or town would go from house to house and receive offerings of food and gifts for the souls of dead friends and relatives thought to visit on this night. This practice evolved during the Middle Ages, when beggars would travel from village to village and beg for "soul cakes". Villagers would offer prayers along with the cakes to those who had died in the past year for their transition to heaven."  -source
Most people have no idea where the traditions that go along with our modern-day Halloween come from and what they are encouraging by participating.
I'm not saying it's wrong to dress up and ask for candy but I would ask you, please understand what this holiday is about and think about it.

Ask God to work though you and use His power to cast out the darkness of this night. It might be after the time of trick-or-treating but I would ask you to consider praying.
Pray for your neighborhood, your friends, safety, the power of God, really anything you feel like, but just pray.

This isn't a panic post. I'm not freaking out. I'm not frightened or scared. I'm frustrated.

Have a blessed night  interwebs.

-Melina Rose


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Music test

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