HALLOWEEN

All Saints' Day was followed by All-Souls' Day, November 2, unless that was a Sunday then it was November 3, this was another Catholic adaptation of pagan festivals for the dead (Samhain). Prayers for the dead are an integral part of the traditional All Saint's Day services, which are scheduled in Catholic churches on November 1, and on the next Sunday. Halloween gets its name from the Catholic holiday, it is a Hallowed evening, because it precedes All Hallows' Day, thus: Hallow'en. Halloween is a pagan holiday to honor the dead and evil spirits. We are warned not to take part in customs and traditions like this in the Scripture (see Deuteronomy 12:30-31). Many pagan cultures celebrate the day of the dead.

What is often overlooked, however, is that there is also the remembrance of the "Day of the Dead" followed by a New Year. This occurs on our calendar at the end of October or the beginning of November. Note that Genesis 7:1 states that it was on the 17th day of the 2nd month that the vast cataclysm of the Flood erupted on the earth. On the Old Testament calendar employed in Genesis (similar to the modern Jewish calendar) the first month of the year runs from mid-September to mid-October (cf. Genesis 26:12 where sowing and reaping take place in the same year, thus indicating an autumn New Year). Therefore, the commencement of the Flood would be the end of October or the beginning of November. Note as well how Genesis 7:21-23 stresses the theme of universal death:

21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth...
22 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground… 23 They were destroyed from the earth.

Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. The salvation of Noah and those in the Ark is completed by their leaving the Ark and starting anew on the 27th day of the 2nd month of the following year: that is, in November. According to the Biblical account the old world perished in November and a year later a new era commenced in the same month. Both of these facts are indelibly enshrined in the memory of the human race. To many people around the world November brings the Day of the Dead. In a number of ancient and primitive calendars November also brings a New Year at a time which has neither solstice nor equinox nor astronomical event to justify it. Thus the almost universal celebration of the Day of the Dead, although pagan in origin bears testimony to the accuracy of the Biblical text.

Halloween is a perfect example of the activities discussed in Deuteronomy 12:30-31. Pagans served their gods by honoring the evil spirits on Halloween. They did this by dressing up like the evil spirits and giving offerings to the evil spirits. This is why candy is given out on Halloween, as offerings for the evil spirits. The phrase trick or treat was attributed to this practice because pagans believed the evil spirits would do something bad (trick) to them if they did not leave an offering (treat) for them.