This article is part of the Black Thread Series. If you have not read the previous articles, please STOP, and read those first. It is very important that you read the articles in this series in order. To read previous articles in this series, click on the Black Thread link in the left side bar.

Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. -Mark 7:13

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
- Colossians 2:8

Tradition has many people celebrating something called Halloween. Halloween glorifies death, torment, devils, and evil. When I went to the grocery store around the time of last Halloween, they had a large mock up spider, in a web, hanging from the ceiling, and the spider had a dead person in it's web. It had the person spun in silk, and was approaching the body, to suck out the blood.

When reaching for the canned tomatoes, it's no fun to have to reach behind the cardboard cut out of the decapitated person, holding their bloody head in their right hand.

Perhaps you don't pay attention to the evil side. Perhaps you just enjoy the pretty costumes, and you go Trunk O Treating at the churches.

This is still an appearance of evil, even if you don't think you are partaking in it, directly.

Abstain from all appearance of evil. -1 Thessalonians 5:22

Christians should abstain from Halloween, as their participation in it gives the appearance of evil, even if they are innocent, and wearing non-violent costumes. In fact, we should have a severe distaste for Halloween, and all it represents:

Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. - Romans 12:9

Note: the above says that we are to abhor that which is evil, but it also says "without dissimulation." Definition of dissimulation, according to Dictionary.com - "feigning; hypocrisy." Wow.

The origins of Halloween, and the practices and traditions that are still followed during that time of year, are derived from the pagan celebration of Samhain (pronounced - "sah-win").

Is it okay for Christians to celebrate the holidays of the pagans, or as the Bible refers to them - "heathens?" Let's see:

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain -Jeremiah 10:2-3a

Christians are not supposed to follow the heathen traditions and customs. When they do so, they only add to the darkness - Abstain from all appearance of evil. -1 Thessalonians 5:22

Christians are supposed to be in the light - The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. - Romans 13:12

Now let us move to the spring. Easter comes to mind. Should Christians celebrate Easter? First off, it doesn't land on the day that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Have you noticed that Easter is on a different day each year? The day determined for Easter each year, is determined via astrology. What does the Bible say about consulting the stars in such a manner?

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. -Jeremiah 10:2

Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. - Isaiah 47:13-14

Christians are not to look to the stars to find out when to celebrate what, especially when it comes to heathen traditions, and that's what Easter is. (Christians are to look for the Scriptural signs in the sun, moon, and stars, when the end comes, but that is an entirely different topic.) Just the name tells us it is a relic of the Mystery Babylon religion. Easter --> Ishtar --> Ashtoreth. Easter is a pre-Christian pagan holiday. It was a celebration of the supposed reincarnation of Nimrod, when Semiramis claimed he came back from the dead. Easter is not the celebration of the resurrection of Christ.

Mystery Babylon is the main string in the center of the Black Thread, and Easter is just one of many of the Mystery Babylon pagan traditions that remain similar to the days of old - only the names have been changed. Simply replace the name of Nimrod/Moloch, etc. with Jesus, and suddenly people think pagan holidays are Christian. Other than that, Easter remains largely unchanged. The Easter bunny is a fertility symbol, in celebration of Ashtoreth --> Ishtar --> Easter. The baby chicks, the eggs - these are all fertility symbols. They have nothing to do with Christ.

Let us move on to what is probably the hardest one for many Christians - Christmas. There is no doubt that the main vein of Mystery Babylon is Roman Catholicism. This can be derived by any honest person who studies the Mystery Babylon pagan rites and rituals, and compares them to Roman Catholicism. They are nearly identical - only the names have been changed. The dates of the heathen holidays remain on the same dates. Halloween and Easter are still about the same dates as the Mystery Babylon religion had them, and they are still celebrated largely in the same way.

The same goes for Christmas. December 25th was the supposed day of the "virgin birth" of Nimrod/Moloch/Mithra. That day was celebrated as a pagan holiday, years before Christ came to this earth. They had the Yule log, a Christmas tree, a feast, gift exchanges, mistletoe, wreaths etc. Of course, the Christmas tree was not called that, at that time. The names have been "Christianized."

A Christmas tree is a form of idolatry.

It is an Idola-Tree:

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. -Jeremiah 10:2-4

I have two very good reasons why I no longer celebrate Christmas - 1) I'm not pagan, and 2) I'm not Roman Catholic. I do not go to mass. Mass is also a pagan Mystery Babylon tradition. They baked their cakes and adored their "Queen of Heaven." The pagans believed in transubstantiation, which is the pagan practice of thinking that a priest can order God off of His throne, to be turned into a piece of bread, and eaten by people.

The term "Christmas" is shortened for "Christ's Mass." The Christ celebrated here is not Jesus Christ the Messiah. It is the false Christ of the counterfeit religion, started by Satan, when he counterfeited the first prophecy of Christ:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. -Genesis 3:15

A corrupted Bible translation mistranslates the above, to make the woman the savior, instead of her seed (Jesus):

I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel. -Genesis 3:15 (Douay Rheims translation)

I've heard some people say that Santa Claus is code for Satan's Claws. At first, I thought that was cute, but had no basis in actuality. Now I know otherwise. Santa Claus does mean Satan's Claws...

You've heard the song. The one that says that Santa knows if you've been naughty or nice. As a child, I was taught that if I was a good girl, then Santa would bring me presents, but if I was not a good girl, then I may only get a lump of coal. I often wondered if Santa was God, because how could this man be able to tell if every child was good or not, and be able to deliver presents everywhere in the world in one night?

It used to be widely taught that jolly ole' Saint Nick had a helper who was always with him. The helper's name was Krampus. While Santa would give the rewards for good behavior, it was delegated to Krampus to dole out the punishments for the naughty children.

The image we have of Santa Claus in these days was because of the makeover Coca-Cola gave him. This is why he is in red and white.

Before Santa's makeover, he looked very different. Take a look:

The dark figure with him was Krampus.

Krampus is still acknowledged in other countries, but not so much in America anymore.

They were a team - Saint Nick and Krampus. In America, we just say Santa Claus, which is Saint Nick and Krampus melded into one person - Santa for the Saint Nick part, and Claus for the Krampus part. Santa means "saint," and the word Krampus means CLAW. In this case, Santa is an anagram for Satan. Claus sounds identical to the word "claws," which is what Krampus means. Santa Claus is Satan's Claws.

Satan uses Santa to get people into his grasp. He bribes them with candy, presents, merriment, and other goodies. He lulls them into an indifference to the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Some Christians justify celebrating Christmas. They may decide to not refer to it as "Christmas," since that is a Roman Catholic term, as Christians do not celebrate Mass. They may not have a Christmas tree, but may have their focus on it being all about Christ. This is what my family did for years. Last year was the last.

Jesus was not born on December 25th. We are not told in the Scriptures to celebrate His coming to the earth on one day. We are to praise God EVERY day.

I avoided researching this for years, but then I came upon this: Should a Christian Celebrate Christmas. I printed that article out, and read the whole thing aloud to my husband and children. We looked into what it said, and studied it as a family. We concluded that Christmas, in actuality, has nothing to do with Christ.

December 25, and its trees, wreaths, etc. are all from the pagan celebration of the birthday of Mithra. Would you celebrate your husband's birthday on your ex-boyfriend's birthday?

We say we love the Lord, but are our hearts perfect for the Lord?

Can we really justify loving the Lord, but at the same time keeping holidays that are pagan, but with the names changed to Christian ones? This is the same as saying we are following the Lord, but we also partake in pagan holidays as well. Wasn't this the sin of Solomon?

But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth (Ashtoreth - Ishtar - Easter) the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom (Molech - Moloch - Nimrod - Christmas) the abomination of the Ammonites. -1 Kings 11:1-5

Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are vain -Jeremiah 10:2-3a

Abstain from all appearance of evil. -1 Thessalonians 5:22

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. -Colossians 2:8

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. -2 Peter 2:20

Ponder this:

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. -1 John 2:15-19

Christians are not supposed to be of this world. The world expects us to keep our mouths shut, and just celebrate. The black thread has its minions - false teachers within and without the church, luring, urging, attempting to fool God's people. Antichrists - "went out from us, but they were not of us." Leaven in the church. False apostles. Tares, planted by the enemy, among God's wheat.

The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. -Matthew 13:38-43

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. -John 15:19

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. -Matthew 5:14-16

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. -Psalm 119:105

I strongly urge you to research the topic of holidays, traditions of man, and their pagan roots. Below are wonderful resources to help you get started. This is important.

Should a Christian Celebrate Christmas

The Two Babylons

Christmas in Ritual and Tradition

Notes

1) The Bible calls Christians to come out of the heathen traditions of man

2) Halloween is not Christian in any form. Just a look at the movies played during this time, the gore, the morbid decor and scary costumes makes it clear it is a celebration of death, evil, and torment. Christians should have NO part in this, in any way, shape, or form

3) Easter is a pre-Christian holiday. It was a fertility holiday, in recognition of Ashtoreth and her "savior" child. Easter - Ishtar - Ashtoreth.

4) Christmas and Christmas trees significantly pre-date Christianity. While the names have been Christianized, that's where the similarities stop. The tree, decor, traditions - ALL of it has been done each year, on or around December 25, for thousands of years, and was done in honor of Nimrod, under his various names in different cultures.

5) Christians are called to be in this world, but not of it. Celebrating these pagan holidays with Christian names because it's tradition, means our hearts are not perfect with the Lord. Christians are called to come out of these heathen practices.

6) While many Christians know the above truths, they continue to celebrate the above holidays. They say that they make it about Christ, regardless of the days' true roots. This is like celebrating your husband's birthday on the date of your ex-boyfriend's birthday, and decorating and celebrating it in the manner of how your ex likes it. It is spiritual adultery. If you are in this boat, do you fear coming out of it, because of what people would think? Will you miss the sweet treats, presents, songs, and decor? Which is more important? Christ, or the world?