Halloween is springing up everywhere…in stores, neighborhood decorations, people wearing costumes early, and, of course, all over the internet. When I was a kid, it was just about my favorite holiday and according to some researchers, it is America’s favorite holiday next to Christmas. I guess the draw was the idea that I could put on a costume and move unknown from door to door scoring candy.  There was also the scare factor of some houses going all out to make the environment creepy and then coming to the door in creepy character.  Of course, television rolled out all the scary movies associated with Halloween and so we all eagerly jumped in to participate.  I no longer participate.

Twenty plus years of helping people deal with demons and spiritual attack have informed me that there are very real forces in the spiritual realm looking for open doors and access to the lives and even bodies of people…even God’s people. The enemy is called the “accuser of the brethren” (Rev. 12:10) iand we see several instances in scripture were Satan is standing in the courts of heaven bringing accusations against God’s people.  He is constantly searching for a “legal right” to afflict those he is accusing.

When ministering deliverance, we first look for the “open doors” that have given Satan and his demonic representatives a right to afflict the person to whom we are ministering. Those open doors can be unrepented sin, unforgiveness, occult involvement, and sometimes generational curses that have opened a door.  Those must be removed before the spirit can be expelled.  Here is the thing…we often create an open door without even realizing we have done so.  

When I was a kid, Ouija boards became the rage at parties.  They were passed off as fun and games and if you had a spooky experience that was a bonus.  We had no intention of coming under the power of Satan but because we were actually connecting with the occult, an open door was created for Satan.  If you cross a boundary unaware and enter into enemy territory, you are still in danger, even if you did not intend to cross that line.  When I was young and even when I was older, I was quite unaware of the spiritual realm.  Of course, I saw all the horror shows but they tended to convince me that supernatural events and things that go bump in the night were imaginary and existed only in fiction.  The rational part of me rejected their reality so I was careless with things that might connect me to the demonic realm.

In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul was writing to believers who once offered sacrifices and participated in special days dedicated to their pagan gods.  After becoming believers, they still had friends, relatives, and business associates who would invite them to participate in their celebrations.  However, Paul declared, “but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons” (1 Cor. 10:20-21).  Even if they were only pretending to honor the false god by their presence, their participation still aligned them with Satan because they were willingly sitting at the table of demons.  

According to many Satanists and former Satanists, Halloween is the highest day of the year witches, warlocks, and those who participate in the occult.  They prepare for it, celebrate it, and offer blood sacrifices on Halloween.  The day called Halloween was begun by Celts centuries ago as a day that spirits wandered the earth.  The Catholic church coopted the day and called it All Hallows Eve when the saints were to be celebrated.  However, it belonged to Satan first and the traditions of costumes, jack-o-lanterns, and so forth have continued.

My view now is that when we participate in Halloween rituals, we are sitting at the table of demons whether we understand that or intend that or not.  We risk crossing a boundary into enemy territory which gives the enemy the right to afflict or torment us.  We may think it is harmless fun, but many believe tarot cards, Ouija boards, and psychic readings are harmless fun as well.  But each of those leads us into enemy territory where demonic spirits are waiting to lay claim to us.

I’m not saying that participating in Halloween is the unforgivable sin, but I am saying it may well put you and your children at spiritual risk.  Anything that honors Satan, intended or unintended, invites demons. I have talked to and heard the testimony of numerous men and women who were once high-ranking Satanists, but have now come to Jesus.  Without exception, they all say any participation is Halloween creates an open door for the enemy to attack you, torment you, or oppress you and your children.  They are totally baffled by any Christian who would take part in Halloween.

I realize this seems foolish and “hyper-spiritual” to those who do not take the spirit realm seriously.  It all seems like harmless fun.  But Satan appears as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) and traps are always baited with the things that seem delicious and harmless.  I don’t intend this to be a judgment on those who participate, but a CAUTION for every believer to consider.  I encourage you to think about and pray about it before jumping in this year, because participating could well be hazardous to your spiritual health. 

Okay…here is where I aggravate or lose some of you. I have had some questions come to me lately about the growing popularity of yoga in America and even in American churches. Everyone acknowledges that yoga has century old roots in Hinduism and is distinctly connected with Eastern religions. Now … no Christian I have heard of thinks that everything yoga offers should be practiced by Christians, but many feel that the exercises themselves are spiritually harmless and physically beneficial. I have to admit that I have casually thought about yoga exercises myself for flexibility and health.

There are two schools of thought that seem to be developing on this issue of Christians and yoga. One is that it is harmless and even though it has spiritually occult roots, none of that is in the mind of the Christian practitioner. Therefore, it is not an issue. For those who have thought about the scriptural implications, they tend to liken this to Paul’s discussion on “eating meat sacrificed to idols” in I Corinthians 10. In that chapter, Paul offers a discourse on Christian freedom. He says that believers could buy meat in the market place that had possibly been sacrificed to idols without inquiring about whether it had been sacrificed to a false god or not.   Orthodox Jews were bound to ask about food products to make sure they were kosher because to eat non-Kosher foods would defile them. Pagan temples in Corinth often sold meat to venders that had been brought for a temple sacrifice but had not all been used. Paul clearly states that under the New Covenant there are no religiously clean and unclean foods and if you happened to buy meat that had been sacrificed to an idol while not honoring that god in your heart, it would not be sin.

However, he does go on to say that we should not eat meat sacrificed to idols if another person raises the question about it because, in the mind of that person, you might be honoring the false god. That misunderstanding might cause him to assume that honoring that god would be acceptable. He is also very clear that believers certainly could not participate in a ritual that honored a false god even if they did not honor that god in their hearts. In other words, you could not join a friend up at the Temple of Zeus for a wedding anniversary and participate in toasts and prayers to the false god.   That would constitute eating from the table of demons and fellowshipping with them. The principle is about our freedom in Christ and those who have thought about the spiritual implication of yoga exercises tend to place their participation in the exercise aspects of yoga under the umbrella of “since they are not honoring or pursuing false gods in their heart, it is not sin.”

On the other side, those concerned about all aspects of yoga tend to assert that you cannot separate yoga from occult Hinduism because even the exercises have spiritual connotations. They were designed to honor false gods (demons) and participating in the “ritual” honors the god even if you don’t intend to. It might be like a 1^st Century Christian going through the motions of a toast to Zeus while thinking in his mind that no such god exists. Paul, however, prohibited that. It might be like placing satanic pentagrams around your house simply because you liked the design and not because you had any intention of connecting that design to any spiritual realities. However, the spirits themselves might well come calling because, to them, the pentagram clearly honors Satan because it originated with him and for him. As Americans, we separate sacred from secular so distinctly that if there is not an opening prayer and an offering we don’t think of it as spiritual. Most of the world does not make that distinction and spirits don’t make that distinction.

My reading does raise some legitimate questions about yoga exercises. First of all, many poses apparently were developed as poses that honor Hindu gods (demons), even if we are not aware of those origins or connections or have no intention of doing so. Secondly, the exercises themselves were developed over centuries to facilitate the entrance of “spirits” into the human body to facilitate the “spiritual growth” of Hindus. Thirdly, some writings suggest that ancient spirits (demons) watch over the practice of yoga as their venue for accessing humans. Apparently, certain common vocabulary words, even in yoga exercises, have roots in language that honor Hindu gods and concepts. Fourthly, to practice yoga may tend to desensitize us to other influences of eastern religion that will eventually open the door for the enemy or create assumptions in those who watch us that all things connected with eastern religions might be acceptable.

I think these issues raise a cautionary flag for the practice of yoga even if you are not participating in chants, meditation, and mantras which will definitely open the door to the occult. Anyone involved in spiritual warfare will attest to the fact that certain practices can open the door to the enemy even if “we don’t mean it.” Children playing with Ouija boards for fun, teens visiting fortunetellers as a lark, best friends participating in sleepover séances, bringing home fertility gods as souvenirs, etc. can open the door to the enemy even if we put no stock in those things and thought they were harmless. It is possible that yoga exercises may fall under that same category of activities.

I want nothing in my house that honors demons even if I don’t honor them in my heart. The general rule for the first century church was not to eat meat sacrificed to idols even though in certain circumstances it might not constitute sin. That was one of the instructions given to the Gentile churches after the Jerusalem Conference in Acts 15. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 6, “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Cor.6:14-16). In essence he counsels us not to be yoked to anything or anyone that has roots or connections in darkness.

Yoga enthusiasts themselves say, “It was the Lord Krishna (one of Hindu’s many millions of deities), in the Bhagavad Gita, who introduced the ritual of yoga as a way of achieving union with the universe. The Sanskrit word yoga actually means “union” or “yoking“, aiming at bringing about the union of the human spirit with the spirit of the universe. But what is more deeply meant is a separation from the physical illusion of life.” Does the practice of any form of yoga, then, honor or connect us with the spirits from which it originated? That is the question you have to answer.

I do not want to infringe on anyone’s freedom In Christ, nor do I want to be hyper-charismatic or give the devil more credit than he is due. However, I feel this deserves some caution and prayer…especially since the benefits of yoga exercises can be found in other forms of exercise without the spiritual baggage. Occult spirits are some of the most difficult to deal with and I think we must be wise in the ways and strategies of Satan to make us vulnerable to him. I would simply encourage you to pray about this matter and get a leading from the Spirit rather than just assuming no issues or questions exist about this very eastern practice. Then do whatever is of faith.