HALLOWEEN and "Babylon The Great"

Every October 31, millions of people - young and old alike - dress up like witches, demons, ghosts, and assorted other evil characters to celebrate what has become one of Americas biggest retail holidays Halloween! Where did the tradition of the Halloween celebration originate?

In Ancient Babylon
"The first Halloween ritual was celebrated thousands of years ago in the post-Flood world in Mesopotamia (now called Iraq). While we do not know the exact name of this ancient festival, we do know that it involved worship of fire and serpents; astrology; witchcraft; magic; communicating with the spirits; and human sacrifice. The first of these festivals was instituted by Nimrod at the Tower of Babel. Nimrod was a mighty leader of the Babylonian people and he persuaded them that he was a god who had come down to earth and as such,

was to be worshipped. The Babylonian people worshipped him under a variety of names and titles such as Samas the Sun God, Marduk, Merodach, Ninus, Bel / Baal, Attis the list is practically endless. Nimrod, along with his wife, founded what the Bible refers to as Mystery Babylon a pagan, false religious system that included worship of many gods and goddesses, fire, serpents, the sun and moon, and the planets." -Traditions -The Real Origins of Halloween by J. R. Terrier ; 2007 "From ancient Babylon, this diabolical mystery religion and the pagan rituals associated with it spread to Egypt, Asia, North and South America all over the world. As Halloween, it is now firmly entrenched in mainstream, modern society where it has become high on the list of many peoples favorite celebrations. Dressing in scary costumes and going trick-or-treating are only a few of the customs of our traditional Halloween celebration which come to us right from the world of the occult and paganism." -Traditions -The Real Origins of Halloween by J. R. Terrier ; 2007 "The celebration of Halloween is a tradition derived from Baal worship, the occult, and paganism. What unseen forces do we pay tribute to when we celebrate Halloween?" -Traditions -The Real Origins of Halloween by J. R. Terrier ; 2007

Halloween is Traced Back to Nimrod and Ancient Babylon

"Have you ever wondered where the heinous pagan worship rituals of the Druids originated? I have. As it turns out it goes all the way back to Nimrod, who built Babel or Babylon. He conceived a one world government model in rebellion against Jehovah-God and went about to establish a one world government in the land of Shinar - which is today known as Iraq. Nimrod instituted a pagan worship system that rejected the Lord God Jehovah. Instead the primary

false god worshipped was Nimrod - called Baal (Syrian & Phoenician), Bel (Assyrian), Moloch or Molech (Ammonites), Ra or Re (Egyptian) to name just a few. Here is why that is important. The American Book of Days says, "Many of Halloween's customs are derived from the ancient Baal Festivals." -THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D. September 1998 "Other customs originate from the taking of omens from the struggles of victims in the fires of druidic sacrifices." Alexander Hislop also wrote, "The worship of Bel (Moloch) and Astarte was very early introduced into Britain along with the Druids, the priests of the groves. We have customs still lingering at this day among us, which prove how exactly the worship of Bel or Moloch had been observed" The reference to "lingering customs" refers to Halloween.' -THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D. September 1998 "It is important that you know that Nimrod incorporated into his worship system the grisly practice of human sacrifice and cannibalism. Hislop says, "the priests of Nimrod or Baal were necessarily required to eat of the human sacrifices; (In the land of Canaan) - and thus it has come to pass that Cahna-Bal (cahna meaning priest & Bal referring to Baal), the Priest of Baal is the established word (cannibal) in our own tongue for a devourer of human flesh." Here is why that is so important. "The god whom the Druids worshipped was Baal, as the blazing Baal-fires show andchildren were offered in sacrifice to Baal. Thats what Baal (Moloch) worshippers did. We know that because of what we read in the Bible in Jeremiah 19:5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded NOT, Nor spake it, neither came it into my mind." -THE HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN Pastor David L. Brown, Ph.D. September 1998 David L. Brown

Samhain - Halloween From Babylon to Rome

"When we think about the history of Halloween we generally trace its roots back to the time of the Druids in England, Scotland and Ireland. In truth, its roots go much further back than that. The celebration of the Lord of the Dead (later known as Halloween) can be traced to ancient Babylon and to the trinity worship of Nimrod, the sun god and his son Tamaz, and the Queen of heaven Samarimas, wife of Nimrod, mother of Tamaz. This triune god of Babylon battled with Saman, (also known by a variety of other names including Samana, Shamhain, Satan and others), god of the underworld, death, sin and evil. The ancient priests from Babylon would roam the countryside demanding contributions from the people in an effort to appease the god of death and keep him at bay." -Halloween, the Counterfeit Last Great Day By Carl R. Dillenback In Ancient Babylon - "On the eve of all hallows, a gigantic fire was lighted to ward off the death god. In the midst of the fire large cages were suspended containing sacrifices to the god of the underworld. These sacrifices ranged from beasts, to children and adults both men and women. The priests would observe the writhing of the burning victims and make predictions for the future based upon the manner in which these poor creatures screamed and gyrated in their agony within the confines of those cages." -Halloween, the Counterfeit Last Great Day By Carl R. Dillenback "When Julius Caesar entered the British Isles he was amazed to find that the Druids had adopted the complete Chaldean (Babylonian) system in almost its pure form. In these gruesome ceremonies - the bodies of the victims were often eaten by the priests. It is interesting to note that the Chaldean (Babylonian) word for priest is Cahna and the word for lord is Baal hence, Cahna-Baal or priests of Baal (Nimrod)

from which we derive our English word for the eaters of human flesh, cannabal." -Halloween, the Counterfeit Last Great Day By Carl R. Dillenback

The BonFires of Halloween - were originally called - "bone"Fires - "Sacrificial victims were led through the streets of the village by "MASKED" Celtic priests, the Druids, who ceremonially offered the victims to the Lord of Death, Satan. From the death agonies of the "living" victim placed on the altar of sacrifice, the priests divined the future of the village from the way the soul departed the body. This custom originated in BABYLON where the Babylonian priests' prayed to the symbolic deity Nimrod. The victims were furiously consumed by the roaring flames, and in the morning, all that was left were the bones and ashes. Today without realizing it, people everywhere practice a similar ritual during the Harvest Festival, not as "bone fires," but as "bon fires." -The Dark Night of the Soul- Halloween

Excerpts taken from the October 1998, Lampholder Newsletter "During the dark night, the hooded priests walked through the streets passing from house to house with a special demand of food, drink, or an added bonus, the virgin sons and daughters of the villagers to offer as sacrifice to the spirits of the night. Sometimes the villagers would also dress in costume to hide (mask) their identity from the evil spirits especially in efforts to protect their children. In this way, the evil spirits were fooled into thinking the villagers to be evil spirits also and not harm them. And hence we have the evil costumes of Halloween and the "Trick or Treat" custom." -The Dark Night of the Soul- Halloween Excerpts taken from the October 1998, Lampholder Newsletter "If the village willingly complied with their demands, the priests passed by, but if the village failed to produce something of value, the priests placed the "Jock O'Lantern" outside the door post of the house to be released as a curse upon the dwellers. The house would then be cursed and doors/window's marked with a five-pointed star (pentagram) or a six-pointed hexagram. The word "hexed" (meaning cursed) evolved from this ancient occult symbol of the hexagram. Finally, the spirits would be left in the cursed village to wander the streets, ravaging homes and bringing destruction upon the living..." -The Dark Night of the Soul- Halloween Excerpts taken from the October 1998, Lampholder Newsletter

"The pagan priests placed the "Jock O'Lantern" outside the door post of the house as a curse upon the dwellers." -The Dark Night of the Soul- Halloween Excerpts taken from the October 1998, Lampholder Newsletter

How Did Christians Get Involved in This Holiday ?

"The changes were first initiated with the reign of Constantine (around the year A.D. 325) when Christianity and Paganism united into one "church." " -The Dark Night of the Soul- Halloween Excerpts taken from the October 1998, Lampholder Newsletter "FOR MANY years Christmas and other major holidays, such as Easter, Halloween, etc., have been portrayed as having a Christian origin... we have been deceived

into believing that pagan customs and traditions of the past have their roots in the Christian church." -The True Origin of Christmas and Other Holidays The Gilead Institute "Christianity had co-opted pagan time for its festivals and calendar, without scriptural mandate and in obvious contradiction to scriptural command and example." - Augustine's Poisoned Chalice; by PETER NATHAN "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons..." (1Timothy 4:1-3)(NASB)-BibleGateway "In ancient days Satan seemed to make Babylon the capital of his evil operation. From this headquarters was started all false religion." -(Revelation Illustrated and Made Plain) p. 224 "There in ancient Babylon were born the false beliefs that have wormed their way into almost every religion. Even today millions and millions of people who may want to live according to the right ways are not aware that their manner of worship follows very closely that of ancient idol worship and pagan rites begun at Babel. People today, calling themselves Christians, keep the Babylonian festivals of the Solstice at Christmas and of Easter, which is the festival of Ishtar (the ancient fertility goddess of Babylon) and the Baal (Nimrod) rites of Halloween." - Nimrod and False Religion; Adapted from Chapters 5 of The Bible Story Volume 1 by Basil Wolverton Published by Ambassador College Press

"Babylon The Great" is Identified

Although Ancient Babylon no longer exists She has greatly corrupted the Fallen Apostate Churches of Christendom. Ancient Babylon still lives on - in all the pagan religions of the world. These Fallen Churches who have adopted the Pagan Holidays, doctrines, rites and beliefs that were started by Nimrod in Ancient Babylon were given the name "Babylon The Great". "When the early church departed from God and imbibed pagan errors, she became Babylon.." - the International Sabbath School Quarterly, Feb. 29, 1896 "It was by departure from the LORD, and alliance with the heathen that the...church became a harlot." - The Great Controversy, page 382. In 1851, James White wrote : 'The woman, which is the great city, called Babylon, symbolizes the fallen apostate churches'.... " J. N. Andrews similarly defined Babylon as being "...all the corrupt religious bodies which ever have existed..." "Just as the fall of literal Babylon led to its eventual overthrow and obliteration as a nation, so the fall of its spiritual successor will lead to its destruction. The tragic end of false Christianity along with all other false religions, testifies to God's requirement of purity of faith...." - Our Firm Foundation, April 1987; "BABYLON IS FALLEN", p. 21.