Danger! Hands off !!

By Helen Jesze, 20^th October 2020

“When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no-one be found among you… one who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist, or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord,”

Deuteronomy 18:9 – 12a. NIV

“And have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them,”

Ephesians 5:11 NIV

I was horrified to read that one of the UK’s well-known supermarkets were starting to sell ouija boards, and for the low price of £1.00 ! One reason they gave, was that Hallowe’en was coming up. Another reason was that many people might like to try to make contact with friends and loved ones who had died because of the pandemic, and these ‘spirit boards’ might help them do this. The store’s leadership also realised that at this time, questions are being raised concerning an ‘after-life’, and for the first time, many people were joining on-line services, who had never had any spiritual interest at all previously.

This reminded me of an incident which happened when I was working in Birmingham, England, before I married George. One night several young people turned up at Hockley Pentecostal Church which I attended, and said they were from the Birmingham School of Music. They told how one of their professors had been speaking of paranormal activity and ouija boards, and a group of them thought they would buy one and see what happened. They did so and spent quite a lot of time playing with it. It seemed very exciting and they were sure they had successfully contacted ‘spirits’.

But the excitement soon turned to fear, as one suddenly died, another had an unexplainable car accident, others suffered from nightmares and depression. Now they were wanting someone to help them and they were directed to go to Hockley Church, “because people there know how to pray”! Thank God, there were many who knew how to pray and get people set free from the power of satan. These young people all renounced their occult activities, gave their lives to Jesus and were set free by his power and blood.

Tonight before I started writing this, I checked what had been the public’s reaction to the news. I was very pleased to see that the ouija boards have now been taken out of these shops, as there have been complaints from spiritist mediums and people in the ‘paranormal’, ghost-hunting world. They said such articles could release demons to harm people, if they were used by anyone who did not know how to use them ‘properly’, and were certainly not a harmless toy for children or grown-ups.

The word Hallowe’en literally means the evening before All Hallows Day (or All Saint’s Day), which is celebrated on 1st November. Hallowe’en is also the shortened name of Allhallowe’en, All Hallows’ Evening and All Saint’s Even celebrated on 31st October. One of the origins and meaning of Hallowe’en comes from ancient Celtic harvest festivals, but more recently we think of Hallowe’en as a night filled with dressing up, giving children candy, trick-or-treating, pumpkins, ghosts and death.

Another tradition is what the Druids used to believe, that during the night of 1st November, demons, witches, and evil spirits freely roamed the earth to greet the arrival of “their season” with joy — the long nights and early dark evenings of the winter months. They believed demons had fun with poor mortals that night, frightening, harming, and playing mean tricks on them. It seemed that the only way for scared humans to escape the persecution of the demons, was to offer them fancy foods and sweets.

The question comes to us as Christians: Should we celebrate or allow our children to celebrate Hallowe’en? Should we allow them to dress up as witches, wizards or demons? I personally, do not think it is right to do so, but each of us should think this through and ask the Lord to guide them. Many Christian families and churches have a substitute for Hallowe’en, some call it a “Hallelujah Party”! This allows children and young people to have fun, in a safe environment, and where occult ceremonies or the powers of darkness play no part.

Of course, most children and people who take part in Hallowe’en or play with ouija boards do not do this because they want to have anything to do with the occult, but there is the possibility that a door is opened in their mental and spiritual world, where satan can come in and harm or influence them. Satan does not ask if we know this or not. He is the great deceiver and operates best in spiritual darkness and ignorance.

So it’s “Danger! Hands Off!!” if we are sensible, and if we want to follow our Lord Jesus and obey his Word. Jesus is the Great Deliverer and his blood is still efficacious to cleanse, deliver and protect every person who asks him!

Jesus said: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”

John 8, 36 NIV