The Truth About Halloween
It’s the time of year when the shops are starting to fill with everything Halloween-related.
Only a couple of years ago, I used to love this festival; we’d decorate our home with creepy-looking ornaments, pumpkin lights, skeleton tableware, masks from horror movies as props in our garden, and then I woke up to the truth of what is actually being celebrated.
Every year, the world paints Halloween as fun and harmless. Children dress up in cute costumes, carve smiling pumpkins, and fill buckets with sweets. Just as I did, families decorate their homes with cobwebs, ghosts, and glowing lights. But behind the decorations and sugar lies the reality: Halloween is a festival of death, rooted in witchcraft, sacrifice, and idolatry.
Pagan Roots of Halloween
Halloween originates from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Pagans believe that on October 31st, the veil between the living and the dead is at its thinnest. Spirits are thought to wander the earth, and rituals are performed to appease them. These rituals include:
• Human (including children) and animal sacrifices to gain favour for the coming winter.
• Fires and blood offerings to “ward off” wicked or invite spirits of ancestors.
• Costumes and masks to disguise oneself from wandering spirits.
Halloween is one of the strongest reminders of how the enemy works through man-made traditions.
Yahuah makes it clear in His Word:
“There shall not be found among you… one who practices witchcraft… or calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to Yahuah” (Deuteronomy 18:10–12).
Halloween is not harmless. It is built entirely on practices that Yahuah calls an abomination.
Costumes and Masks: Pagan Disguises
The tradition of dressing up comes from the pagan belief that disguising oneself would either hide you from spirits or invite them in. Today, costumes range from cute animals and princesses to demons, witches, and monsters.
Even when we say “it’s just for fun,” we are still repeating the same ancient rituals of dressing in honour of death and demons.
Pumpkins and Jack-o’-Lanterns
The carved pumpkin seems innocent, but its history is much darker. In ancient Samhain rituals, turnips were hollowed out and carved with frightening faces to ward off spirits. A candle was placed inside, sometimes lit from the fat of sacrificed humans or animals.
Over time, this turned into the modern pumpkin jack-o’-lantern, often carved with smiles to make it look cute and family-friendly. But the root remains the same: it was a tool of fear and pagan ritual.
Sweets and Trick-or-Treating
Going door-to-door for sweets or money is probably the most traditional Halloween custom. But the roots are sinister. In ancient times, offerings of food were left outside homes to appease wandering spirits. If the offering wasn’t given, it was believed the spirits would bring curses or misfortune.
This eventually became the practice of “trick-or-treat”, giving an offering (treat), or face the curse (trick). What looks like fun for children today is actually a reenactment of appeasing spirits with offerings.
Luring in the Children
The enemy knows how to disguise darkness with sweetness. Pumpkins are carved with silly faces. Costumes are made cute and playful. Sweets, the ultimate lure for children- are piled high.
It’s no accident that Halloween is marketed primarily to kids. By making it fun, lighthearted, and family-friendly, parents pass it down without question. But Scripture warns us: “What fellowship has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
Halloween may look like a night of fun, but in reality, it normalises witchcraft, necromancy, and the glorification of death. It teaches children to laugh at things Yahuah calls abominations.
The Alternative: Yahuah’s Way
Instead of embracing darkness, we are called to walk in light. “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11).
Yahuah has already given us His appointed Feasts (moedim), which are filled with joy, community, and life. They teach us about Yahusha’s redemption and His eternal Kingdom. These celebrations are not built on death, but on LIFE everlasting.
The Bottom Line
Halloween is not innocent. It is a continuation of ancient pagan rituals designed to honour death, demons, and false gods. The world has covered it in sugar, costumes, and pumpkins to make it look harmless, but to Yahuah, it is darkness.
As a believer, we are called to be qodesh (holy and separated from the tradition of men and the world). That means turning away from man-made festivals of death and choosing instead the Feasts of Yahuah, which lead to joy, life, and truth.
“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says Yahuah. Do not touch the unclean thing, and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17).
Halloween is just one pagan holiday I’ve walked away from, and I will soon uncover the truth about other traditions that do not honour Yahuah.
