HALLOWEEN
                    A Celtic Festival For The Dead
                      The Eve of All Saints' Day
                              Hallowmas

     For the Celtics, the new year began on the first day of November.
The festival was a time to welcome the spirits of the dead and to gain
relief from magical powers.  The Celts spoke an early form of English
which became the basis for many dialects spoken in western France and all
around the British Isles.  The Scotch and Irish brought Halloween to the
United States as they migrated to this country.

     The Christian festival (All Hallows' Day) and the Celtic elements
have now been merged into one common celebration.

     It was believed in some parts of Europe that Witches and Warlocks
flew around on this night so huge bonfires were built to scare off this
bit of evil.  Since people already believed this was a day when witches
flew everywhere it is easy to see how some people would try to dress up
like witches to scare the believers.

                          WITCHES & WARLOCKS

     Moses told the Israelites:

     "When you enter in the Promised Land you must be very careful lest
you be corrupted by the horrible customs of the nations now living there.
For example any Israeli who presents his child to be burned to death as a
sacrifice to heathen gods, must be killed.  No Israeli may practice black
magic, or call on the evil spirits for aid, or be a fortune teller, or be
a serpent charmer, medium, or wizard, or call forth the spirits of the
dead.  Anyone doing these things is an object of horror and disgust to the
Lord and it is because the nations do these things that the Lord your God
will displace them.  You must walk blamelessly  before the Lord your God.
The nations you replace all do these evil things, but the Lord your God
will not permit you to do such things."

                 Moses
                 Living Bible
                 Deuteronomy 18:9-14

      The King James version includes the more ancient words witch,
wizard, and necromancer as being those types of people that are abominable
to the Lord.

                         SO WHAT - WHO CARES

     If the warning you are reading at this moment is not enough to
convince you, then consider the plight of King Saul:

     "Saul died for his disobedience to the Lord and because he had
consulted a medium, and did not ask the Lord for guidance.  So the Lord
killed him and gave the kingdom to David, the son of Jesse."

                       1 Chronicles 10:13-14

     In some cases the substitution of a fortune teller or astrologer for
prayer is punishable by death!  There is no substitute for prayer.  If you
do not know how to pray, please leave a message to the sysop before you
leave this board.

                        FORMS OF WITCHCRAFT

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Metaphysics
Necromancy
Numerology
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Out Of Body Travel
Palmistry
Pendelum
Phrenology
Seances
Spiritualism
Table Tipping
Theosophy
Voodoo
Water Divining
Witchcraft