The 1904 book The Worship of the Dead, or the Origin and Nature of Pagan Idolatry and Its Bearing Upon the Early History of Egypt and Babylonia, by John Garnier (London: Chapman & Hall), makes an interesting connection between the holiday Halloween and the Great Flood of Noah’s day. Follow this link to The Worship of the Dead on Google Books.
In Chapter One of his book, pages 3-11, Garnier maintains that the modern-day celebrations for the dead, around November 1, go all the way back to the flood and are meant to memorialize the people who died in the Deluge brought by God on a wicked world.
Garnier prefaces his reasoning by mentioning the ubiquity of flood accounts from traditions around the world:
[T]here is hardly a nation or tribe in the world which does not possess a tradition of the destruction of the human race by a flood; and the details of these traditions are too exactly in accordance with each other to permit the suggestion, which some have made, that they refer to different local floods in each case.
In prefacing his discussion about the connection between the Deluge and various celebrations for the dead around the world, Garnier says that
[T]he mythologies of all the ancient nations are interwoven with the events of the Deluge and are explained by it, thereby proving that they are all based on a common principle, and must have been derived from a common source.
Interestingly, Garnier reports on the work of another researcher who maintains that in antiquity celebrations were held to commemorate both the commencement of the Deluge and the landing of the ark on the mountains of Ararat:
It is clear from these remarks that one or other of the two great events in the history of the Deluge, namely, the commencement of the waters and the beginning of their subsidence, were observed throughout the ancient world, some nations observing one event and some the other.
It would also appear probable that the observance of this festival was intimately connected with, and perhaps initiated, that worship of the dead which, as we shall see, was the central principle of the ancient idolatry.
Garnier shows how chronology homes in on late-October/early-November as the anniversary of the start of the Flood:
The force of this argument is illustrated by the fact of the observance of a great festival of the dead in commemoration of the event, not only by nations more or less in communication with each other, but by others widely separated, both by the ocean and by centuries of time.
This festival is, moreover, held by all on or about the very day on which, according to the Mosaic account, the Deluge took place, viz., the seventeenth day of the second month — the month nearly corresponding with our November.
Knowing this historical background, it would make sense that the worldwide holiday coinciding with Halloween would be an important sacred day for modern pagans, wiccans, and Satanists. This observance, along with the emphasis on demonic images, ghosts, monsters, and gruesome themes in general might also appeal to the wicked spirits, for whom the beginning of the flood meant the death of their hybrid children, the Nephilim (see Gen. 6:1-4, 13).
ARK — 31 October 2009
Nice brief bit.
Thank-you.
That’s a very interesting take on it, but doesn’t quite “add up”. According to the Torah, The Deluge covered the entire Earth. There were 0 survivors of the Deluge with the exception of Noah’s immediate family, No Tribes, No Nations, No Cultures… So why would the future generations of Noah mourn the past generations deaths of people they didn’t know or kin to?
Noah’s grandchildren were certainly told stories about the antediluvian world. These stories would have been passed down and captured the imaginations of their listeners, especially if the Antediluvians were as advanced as I suspect. The human race was already descending into full rebellion within several generations of the Flood. I suspect Nimrod instituted a “day of remembrance” for the lost civilization, intent upon resurrecting its former glory. Who knows? Maybe they broke ground for the Tower of Babel on October 31!
Eventually, the day of remembrance descended into necromancy. If you want to rebuild a civilization, why not ask the people who built it, right? From there, the fallen angels masquerading as ancestors fooled humanity into accepting pagan religion.
That’s my take. A lot of speculation, but it’s as good an explanation as any.
Because it actually was not the future descendants of Noah who missed and mourned their ancestors that the Halloween celebration is commemorated. But it was the fallen angles who left their proper position in heaven and came down to the earth, they took on human male bodies and had relations with women. The hybrid children they conceived were called Nephilim who were of course half human and half angel (demigods) these children of the angles drowned when the flood occurred as did their human mothers, it is in memory of these that the demons remember the death of their loved ones who drowned.
Their angelic fathers when the flood began, dematerialized and returned to the spirit realm where they lost their heavenly positions, their relationship with God, their ability to materialize again in human form and now became Demons under Satan. Ghosts is a visual of demons leaving their human bodies they created, skeletons, devils and evil all are reflective of the hateful attitude the demons have for…….everything. Don’t celebrate their memorial to the violent and evil world they caused and miss.
Great answer! I suspect you may be one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. If so, hello my brother! If not, still a perfectly logical explanation that is greatly appreciated.
I listened to a talk today that said this exact thing. I had not heard this take before but I had to start digging right away. Perfect!!!! I found so much info regarding the fact that those angels that left their proper place are in fact memorializing their dead. Great article👍🏼
Because Satan made sure they started. He does exist.
The other nations were nations that came from Noah, not ones that survived the flood. 70 nations came from Noah and his family and they passed down the stories. There were no survivors outside that ark.
Additionally, Satan and his demons did survive the flood, because they’re spirit creatures and therefore would be the foremost promoters of the anniversary of their dead hybrid children the – Nephilim. The Bible makes reference to the “teaching of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). They are cunning and found a clever way to encumber a so-called holiday that appears fun and innocent, but in reality it honors them and their dead hybrid children; who by the way were the direct reason why the great flood in Noah’s day had to take place! (Genesis 6:12-14).
Here is a piece of the puzzle Steve Peachey, Noah was a righteous man but nothing is said of his sons or daughter in laws. Those wives had familys that were swept away in the flood.
What was the earths population at the time of the Flood?
Donelle asks what the Earth’s population was at the time of the Noachian flood. There’s really no way to know. The most reliable account of the Deluge and the world before that event is found in the Bible, and that source doesn’t give a number for the human population at that time. I’ve previously calculated that there could easily have been a billion people.
My understanding is that ‘mischief night’ corresponds to the violent behavior of those of the nephilim and people preceding the flood, and those who died during the flood corresponds to Halloween Day. Anyone else?
In his book The Genesis Flood author Dr. Henry Morris demonstrates statistically how in the 1600+ years between creation of Adam til the flood the human population could have grown to 1 billion prior to the deluge.
Tim — Thanks for making this point about the population of the pre-flood world and the Henry Morris reference. I actually have another post on this very topic, which you might be interested to see: https://aroyking.wordpress.com/2009/03/19/population-of-the-pre-flood-world/ . I’ve included a note about Henry Morris’s book, “The Genesis Flood,” where he sets out some calculations about the population of the earth before the flood.
ARK
Steve,
Remember Nimrod a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah.
He built Babylon and Nineveh and it is highly unlikely that Nimrod was his real name Nimrod means Let us rebel.
He would likely be the one who initiated ceremonies to commemorate the death of those whom the true GOD saw fit to destroy.
Certainly Babylon is known to be the mother of all false religion,
Bill.
Bill i like how you put it all very sucintley. Ido believe that the demons mourn and miss their evil world and know that Their day of retribution is coming. The demons like their master satan attack the most vulnerable the children
this holiday and really all holidays are for the the children, who are deceived by satanic lies and go on when older to celebrate these HARMLESS fun filled holidays, which are really a celebration of paganism.
Except the First month of the Biblical Calendar would be Abib the month of the Passover. Curiously you have the second month 14th day to accept the blood of the lamb again if you did not the 14th day of the First month. The Ark landed on the 17th day of the 7th month so during the Feast of Tabernacles. Sept, was 7th month. Oct, 8th, Nov, 9th Dec 10th.
So day of the dead could have been added after the calendar change?
The second month is not october-november but april-may. It might be that the reference of the second month was relative to Noah’s month of birth
All great comments and questions. To add to the information here is an article directly related to that holiday. Kind of funny when you think about it, HOLY day…indeed.
https://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/origin-of-halloween/
Pepe, there is a difference between gnōsis and epígnṓsis. Here’s your answer. The Israelites had to calendars. The Secular and the Sacred. The Secular Calendar started in October. The Sacred Calendar was ordered by God starting with Nisan the month they were liberated from Egypt.