Journal

History - In ancient Britain and Ireland, the Celtic festival of Samhain ("Sah-win") was observed on October 31, the end of summer. November 1 was the new year for both Celtic and Anglo-Saxon calendars and was one of the most important and yet sinister calendar festivals of the Celtic Year. Settling in northern France and the British Isles, the Celtic people engaged in occultic arts and worshiped nature, giving it supernatural, animistic qualities. (Much like some federal institutions are attempting to enforce today.)

The ancient Druids were the learned priestly class of the Celtic religion. Many of their beliefs and practices were similar to those of Hinduism, such as reincarnation and the transmigration of the soul, which teaches that people may be reborn as animals. The Druids believed that on October 31, the night before their New Year and the last day of the old year, Samhain, the Lord of Death, gathered the souls of the evil dead who had been condemned to enter the bodies of animals.

The Druids also believed that the punishment of the evil dead would be lightened by sacrifices, prayers and gifts to the Lord of Death. (This begins to reveal the strange link between this holiday and the non-Biblical concept of purgatory.)

The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired a sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature.

Forms of the occult can include mediums, channelers, clairvoyants, psychics, spiritists, diviners, mystics, gurus, shamans, psychical researchers, Yogis, psychic and holistic healers, astral travel, astrology, mysticism, Ouija boards, Tarot cards, contact with the dead, UFOs, and thousands of other practices which almost defy cataloging - even Harry Potter books and movies can lead innocent children into the occult. Occultism includes Satanism, astrology, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, theosophy, witchcraft and many forms of serious magic. It includes activities seeking the acquisition of "hidden" things - which are expressly forbidden by God in the Bible.

The Biblical View - Halloween practices can open the door to the occult and can introduce forces into people's lives that they are not equipped to combat.  There is genuine power in the occult, but it is demonic power (Mt 24:24; Acts 13:6-11; 16:16-19; 19:18-20; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 6:7-11, 22). 

Any serious study of Biblical demonology will reveal Satan as the power behind false religion, witchcraft, idolatry and the occult (Deut 32:16,17; Ps 106:35-40; Acts 16:16-19; 1 Cor 10:19-21; 2 Thess 2:9, 10; 1 Tim 4:1ff). The Word of God makes it clear that these are all to be shunned as dangerous. There were many superstitions and false concepts in ancient Israel about which the Bible is silent. However, occultism, in any form, was punishable by death! Why? The spiritual power and reality behind idols involves demons (1 Cor 10:20; Ps 106:37).  The Bible commands us to shun occult practices. Mediums and spiritists are expressly prohibited (Lev 19:31; Deut 18:10, 11, 14 2 Chr 33:6). Nowhere are such practices acceptable.

Intellect alone is insufficient. "If it were possible, it would deceive the very elect." This is another example of the necessity to truly understand the Armor of God as outlined in Ephesians 6. 

Above info. & excerpts obtained from Koinonia House e-news, see related article for more info., http://www.khouse.org/articles/2003/489/

Audio teaching found at, http://www.khouse.org/6640/BP048-1/

The following is to put into perspective some events that I have seen this evening. Several hours after sunset, I was taking the dog out for her nightly walk (on her own). I was looking up into the night sky and saw as though a star had a burst of light and disappeared.  I kept looking and several minutes later it happened again... after several times watching this sequence take place, I used the stopwatch on my mobile phone to keep track of the intervals and noticed that alittle over every 4 minutes, this star would reappear for a short moment.  Several laps later I went inside onto my computer and searched "bright flash night sky" on www.goodsearch.com and found among the search results the following article http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060215_new_stars.html which describes exactly what I was seeing. I kept watching the star by using the stopwatch timer to know when the reappearance would ocurr.

Now this portion of the events is going to move away from the simple natural sciences, as I asked the question... knowing that the scriptures indicate that the stars, moon, sun and heavens were made for signs and seasons... what would something like this mean? Last week was the Feast of Tabernacles, a time acknowledged by some of when Messiah was born, I remembered how the Magi of the East identified in the night sky the birth of The King in Israel.

So as I paused to watch this star reappear and continue keeping track of it's time interval, this is what I got when I looked at the timer... lap #13. 00:04:16.66  (10-13-2009)

Now most anyone now a days knows what those last three digits represent, given the timing of my question, what a star as this also represents, the headlines of the first "Two" articles on the search list being "Signs of the Times..." (please remember that two is the number in the Bible that serves to confirm or to validate witness to something). So having become acquainted with Biblical prophecy and keeping watch of world events... 2004 Tsunami, 2005 UN Speech by Iranian President, Global climatic changes, concerns over planets capacity to feed populations, Pressure on Israel to relinquish land for Peace 2006 (Gaza) til present, U.S. President & administration shifting favor towards Islamic nations, Iranian President disclosing his role for  mahdi to return, Peace prize recipients, Palestinian claims made upon God's Eternal City - Jerusalem, Russian alliance with Iran, N. Korea, Venezuela... and then the expansion of sharia law globally, recent U.N. resolution (US co-sponsor) forbidding criticism of religious ideology, and other noted trends... this seems to be another sign of what is written in scripture of the changes that will be taking place.

If your casual about your relationship with God, this is the time to seek Him... while He can still be found, if you are searching because you do not know then start with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob leading up to Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah and stay with your studies and search... learning all you can about what is written in the scriptures. If you don't believe, pray and ask that your eyes may be opened and that your heart will be changed to know the Truth. If you don't know what to believe in, remember that no one goes to God the Father except thru Yeshua (Jesus) as His name means in hebrew... Salvation, The Lord is Our Salvation!

This week begins the Torah reading of the first chapter in Genesis, it is fascinating when you contemplate the event of Creation, even taking the understanding we today have of science and if you apply it to the design expressed in that chapter... you can be so blessed in knowing such wonders!  Hold on to the One who gives us Hope!

The Lord's Peace