Warning: Some details may be disturbing
As Halloween and Samhain approach again, I'm reminded of topics that I did not talk about last year. The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) and ancestor worship. You may be familiar with Dia de los muertos because of the Disney movie, Coco, which put the Mexican holiday central in its story. The main character, a boy aspiring to be a famous classical guitar singer, is caught up in the spirit realm during Dia de los Muertos where he finds out a secret about his favorite singer and his father who are both dead.
The Day of the Dead actually usually takes place over two days, usually at the same time as Halloween and Samhain, because of its historic associations with the Catholic Church's "Halloween" and All Saint's Day
[2.1]. If you don't remember or know that Halloween actually came from a mixing of Celtic Samhain festivals and the church's All Hallows Day, then
read from the top of this tread. You will also be reminded of many other things about Halloween and Samhain, and that they really are
NOT as bad or demonic as the church may proclaim, but also represent a change of season that embodies hope and new life.
Dressing in costumes and begging for treats is nothing bad by themselves. Even the angels and God disguised themselves throughout the ages, though I cannot recall instances in the Bible where they did it for fun, like is done for Halloween and other masquerade holidays. As I talked about in the
initial discussion at top, the bad focuses we should avoid on Halloween, Samhain, and All Saints' Day are what cause people to sin or what cause spiritual corruptions, which I talked about above - inappropriate horror movies and media, occult practices, like consulting the dead (necromancy), divination like palm reading and fortune telling, idolatry in the worship of the saints and dead, and practicing sorcery and witchcraft.
Simply dressing up as and pretending
to be witches and sorcerers is not bad, though it can be harmful for the naive to think that black magic, sorcery, voodoo, witchcraft, and the like are harmless or good. Such beliefs can get them to actually practice dark arts. They are real dark forces that people can learn to use, and because they are always linked to demons that reign in this spiritual realm, we should always teach children and people to NEVER practice any occult arts. Only the naive believe that practicing occult arts is harmless or good. That does not just include witchcraft and sorcery, but also divination and fortune telling. It is in the best interest of families to NOT let children idolize sorcerer heroes, like Harry Potter and Merlin, or surround themselves with that culture, so I would not suggest letting children dress up as Harry Potter and the like. They need to know that witchcraft and sorcery are things to avoid.
A disturbing testimony about how harmful witchcraft is comes from a pastor working in Africa. I heard his testimony about 15 years ago. He worked among indigenous tribal communities and got a report that a local elderly medicine woman was possessed by a demon. The locals said she was immobile, and acting and speaking very strangely. When the pastor went to her, he found that she was unable to move around because she was actually dead. The demon linked to her lifetime of witchcraft had remained and partially took control of her body after she died, so that it spoke through her. The pastor exorcised the demon through the power of Christ, and the community could finally have closure and mourn.
This testimony shows how sin like practicing dark arts, like this medicine woman did, can bring demonic attachments and habitation to those who do these things. This is another warning to indigenous peoples everywhere to not practice traditions and rituals that have bad spiritualism in them. However, sins of all kinds can bring demonic attachments, so let it be another warning to remove as much sin from you and your loved ones as you can. You have no idea how things of the dark spiritual world can affect, inhabit, and control you.
It is a false belief that being saved and reborn in Christ prevents demonic habitation
(for more about this, see Myths about demons in Light Within). I've seen many Christians go through demonic deliverances or what Catholics call exorcism, and a plain, hard truth is, it was God's will that the devil plant corrupt seeds in the church (those weeds or tares)
(Matthew 13:24-30, 13:36-43). Indwelling demons in Christians and in people of all believing sects and their leaders are the rule, not the exception, unlike what many preachers would tell you. John MacArthur is one who would say so, but truly, even the most learned among God's people have no idea what they speak of, because they are mostly only book-learned and do not have real experience in dealing with the spirits
(see more about this misconception in Myths about demons in Light Within).
And because any serious sins can have demonic attachments, why should it be a surprise that sins of false teachings and false prophecy should be an exception? Such things are everywhere among God's people, but they are accursed, the same as the more specific case of teaching false gospels
(Galatians 1:8-9). False teachings and false prophecy are realms that religious spirits reign in. These sins also often involve sins of divination and idolatry, because many false teachings and the demons imposters of God that spread them often teach methods of divination and use brainwashing techniques to make their followers give them absolute submission. I talk more about these things in
Testimonies Prove the Baals and Imposters of God are among His People Today,
Light Within, and
Ministry Warnings.
Such widespread demonic attachments in congregations of God are why I do not recommend going to most churches and ministries. They are the main spreaders of demons, along with their Internet-only associates that preach on social media, because their audiences eagerly and easily accept anything these unapproved preachers and laymen say, but woe to them all, believing in and spreading false teachings are exactly the hooks the devil secures in them to do his will
(2 Timothy 2:26). Let this be another warning so that you do not give any more attention to these people and ministries on the Internet and everywhere.
Ministry Warnings shows how extensive the devil's reach is among all believing sects.
Now, what does all this have to do with Dia de los Muertos and ancestor worship? Like the church's All Saint's Day and the Celtic Samhain, the Mexican Day of the Dead and ancestor worship can have very bad spiritual focuses. Ancestor worship is practiced as a routine in many Chinese and Southeast Asian cultures[2.2], and like during Dia de los Muertos, people make shrines to the deceased, give offerings of food and other items, and consult the dead for advice. Ritual incense is burned for them as well. Some of the origins of these practices come from wanting to honor dead loved ones. That, too, is not wrong, like dressing up as Harry Potter is not, but going too far and practicing rituals and customs that actually have sin in them is wrong.
Some aspects of ancestor worship, like practiced in Asian cultures and the Day of the Dead, is actually nothing bad. People are trying to honor the memory of their beloved deceased. Honoring the dead is to give their memory respect and to keep their memory alive. There's nothing wrong with making celebrations to remember or honor the deceased, so long as that celebration and honor does not go too far and become idolatry or truly worshipping any other than God. I noted this kind of idolatry was happening on Lag B'Omer, a Jewish holiday where Jews often take honoring their dead sages too far
(for details, see The Hidden Message of the Messiah in Lag B’Omer).
Going too far also happens when people make shrines, give ritual offerings to their dead, and try to connect to the dead for guidance. What is a personal shrine, but a small temple to another entity that is not God? It is idolatrous worship and the offerings and rituals with that are a bad form of spiritualism that demons are associated with, such as demons of prophecy and divination, and demons of necromancy and channeling the dead. It's true that people can speak with the dead, whether it is through a spiritual medium, or directly through themselves as the medium, or very rarely, a deceased soul may appear as a ghost or spirit directly to people. An example of mediums channeling the dead is in the Bible when King Saul got a medium to reach the deceased prophet Samuel. He wanted to get guidance from God this way because God would not guide him directly or through living prophets (1 Samuel/Shmuel I 28:3-20). Talking with the dead this way is real, but it is a sin, as is using spiritual mediums (1 Chronicles/Divrei Hayamim I 10:13; Leviticus/Vayikra 19:31, 20:6-7). A people of God should be consulting God directly; "When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritualists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?" (Isaiah/Yeshayahu 8:19).
Another danger of trying to consult the dead is that much of the time, you actually won't be contacting the person you're trying to reach, but a spirit that was attached to the person instead. I had always suspected this to be true when people gave testimonies of speaking with the dead, because I knew that demons inhabiting a person could take the person's place, like we saw with that elderly medicine woman. Other demons unrelated to the deceased person can also replace who you think you're talking to, because people attract lying and deceiving demons to themselves when they sin in divination or necromancy, like trying to channel the dead. It is easy to mistake a spirit pretending to be someone else when that spirit spent a lifetime with the person. It knows details of the person's life that most people think could not be known by anyone else. A demon of necromancy that is unrelated to the dead person can also know details of the person because of its innate spiritual powers of knowledge.
NO WAY! You might be thinking. Where's the proof this is true? If it's not in the Bible, it's not true! Sorry, if you think like that then you have further to go in the maturity of Christ and the knowledge of spiritual things. I didn't have much proof until almost two years ago when I had to deal with a Christian's haunting ordeal after their elderly mother died.
I personally know this person and family. He told me a few days after the funeral that strange noises bugged him at home, like someone was in the apartment when there was no one else there. At times he felt a presence behind him but when he turned around, there was nothing. The presence seemed to want to scare him deliberately. Another time he was not home but remotely checked an Internet webcam he set up at home. When he was viewing its live feed, the camera moved as if someone picked it up. No one was home at the time. Sometimes he was so afraid of the apparition that he slept outside in his car or at a relative's house. Another day, he noticed his wife talking on the phone to someone just as if it was their dead mother. They spoke in the same manner about things that they always regularly talked about on the phone. He was dumbstruck and asked me if it could be true. Was his wife really talking to their recently deceased mother? Could the spirit in their apartment be her?
I told him, no, the spirit was not her. His mother would not be trying to scare him like that. It was a demon of some kind, so I told him I would pray about it. Later that day at home, I prayed and "exorcised" the apartment in the name of Mashiach Yeshua. The next time I talked to the man, he said the spirit was gone and nothing strange was happening. He thanked me, but it is praise to God, I reminded him, for I am only His servant.
This testimony shows what I said is true. Demons that were attached to a person can pretend to be them after they are dead. This family was not seeking to reach their mother in the afterlife, so no spirit of necromancy or divination came to them. And the mother who died was not into seriously occult practices, like witchcraft, that have strong demonic possessions like I shared in the other testimony. She came from a family that practiced ancestor worship and Buddhism, though. Both systems of belief have sins that demons rule in. But other than that, her life was very typical for her culture - she led a typical small town life as a quiet mother and housewife.
You might think this testimony shows that living in sins like ancestor worship or religions that reject God and Christ are why people get demons. However, I said earlier,
ALL types of sins have demons attached to them. The length of time in and extent of your sins determine how much dark spirits affect and inhabit you. And as I said, being a saved, reborn Christian gives no immunity from having demons in you or your life. It is for no coincidental reason God calls people, even His chosen
people, "vessels," as in containers, like a vase that can contain many
things
(Thessalonians 4:4; 2 Timothy 2:20-21; Revelation 2:27). The plain truth is, the entire church and all communities of God have these dark influences. It was a hard truth the Lord had me learn for my role in the good fight. I have many more testimonies this is true. See
Testimonies Prove the Baals and Imposters of God are among His People Today and
Light Within for more about demons in God's kingdom.
In the end here, it should be obvious what you should avoid in holidays like the Day of the Dead and cultural traditions like ancestor worship. Don't make shrines or give offerings for the dead. Don't try to talk to them or get advice and guidance from them or from anybody who says you can and should talk to the dead. There's no end to the deceptions demon imposters have made in this realm. If they deceived the devout church to think believers should pray to and worship the saints and angels, why should it be a surprise they also deceived people into thinking everybody else who died should also be worshipped and spoken to?
If you want to honor your deceased loved ones, you may do so with the typical grave cleanup and decoration that is normal on the Day of the Dead, death anniversaries, and memorials. Keep their photos and things around. Share good stories about them, even tell of their wonderful deeds, but go no further. Don't make shrines to them and don't give glorious exaltations, which easily lead to idolatry. No true saint or angel of God desires exaltation or worship, so reserve it only for God.
Spirits that urge offerings, worship, shrines, altars, rituals, adoration, or exaltation for themselves are ones that deceive and lead astray, away from God. Keep away from those practices, even if it feels like removing traditions from you is a kind of personal and cultural suicide, because you've got it the wrong way around. It is the love of traditions full of bad focuses and dark spiritualism that prevent many cultures and peoples of God from stepping out of those practices that are actually severely harming them and their loved ones, for God sees and judges all sin, and so great judgment and holocausts have come upon the peoples through the ages, including the chosen peoples of God, because of the sins they perpetuate in their cultures, sects, and national or religious identities.
May you all walk more and more away from all that is dark but hidden in your lives, through the name of Mashiach Yeshua. Amen.
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