Halloween On The Airwaves

This is the time of year when I really miss having a car and being able to drive. Generally I get by alright with public transportation and the occasional ride from friends and family, but the bus and other people's cars don't afford me access to the am radio. My portable mp3 player sadly only plays fm. I have fond memories of driving around (as I worked several jobs that had me in my car for long periods of time) listening to the various christian stations and focusing on the preachers. I would do this from time to time anyway, but around Samhain it got really fun. Preacher after preacher listing the dangers of halloween, the dangers of witchcraft, and just generally warning their followers to hide under their beds with their lights off until the devil's night was over. I loved listening to that crap. Some of those preachers would have me laughing so hard that I had tears in my eyes. It was better than Pat Robertson's "War On Christmas" garbage, and unlike the latter, we get it every year.

Don't get me wrong. There was a point when this kind of thing annoyed the hell out of me. A point where I wanted to correct every one of the false and/or misleading statements that they were making about who we are, what we do, and what this celebration is about. But as I developed in my own faith, I realized what a pointless gesture this would be. How futile it would have been to do so at an earlier point when I didn't have the knowledge I needed to really get into such a conversation anyway. With the increase in knowledge of both sides, and an increase in maturity, the present state began to emerge. I saw what these preachers were really doing. Entertaining. Some of these guys are hilarious. It's very Jeff Foxworthy or Bill Engvall. "If you believe these things, you might be an idiot."

The only small problem with that is that so many people who listen to these preachers are. No insult intended to any christians who read this, but many of you are familiar with the kind of folks who just sit there and wait patiently for the priest or preacher to tell them what to think today. Frankly, that is the mindset that is necessary to believe a lot of the garbage they spew out on such pet topics as Halloween.

Think about it. Think about the inherent dangers to a child's body and soul if they dress up like a doctor and go out and enjoy themselves, supervised by an adult, and interacting with the other folks from the neighborhood. Socializing and having fun are both undoubtedly the works of the devil. Of course it isn't ever the children having fun that gets attacked. Even the best of preachers lose some backing if they come right out and say that they don't want your kids to enjoy themselves. That and they might have a hard time explaining why they thought Snickers was the name of one of the lesser demons.

Instead they attack the "roots" of this holiday. They attack what we Pagans do and believe on this holiday. This is where the whole thing really gets fun. Why? Well I plan on telling you. First of all, some of the claims that they make about our beliefs and traditions are absurd, or poorly constructed scare tactics. Second, this has nothing to do with the trick-or-treaters. Do I plan to perform various rituals and celebrations on Samhain? You bet. These things will go on a little later in the evening when I won't be disturbed by the trick-or-treaters. The preparations will undoubtedly be interrupted frequently by the doorbell though. You know what? This isn't going to hurt the kids either. They won't even know, and I don't radiate demonic energy. If I did, I doubt it would only be on one night a year, restricted in efficacy to minors carrying chocolate.

But there is the talk that somehow you are involved in something evil if you celebrate in any way the holiday that ranks so highly in the esteem of pagans everywhere. The tradition is evil even if you don't know what it means, because of what its source was. This is the part that really taught me to laugh. Sure thing preacher guy, avoid trick or treating because us "evil" folk revere this holiday and may have diabolical reasonings behind this tradition. While on the subject, how do you like that christmas tree, or the wreath and mistletoe? How do your people like the easter bunny, chicks, easter grass? How about the word "easter"?

Yep, definitely gotta start with the innocent fun of children when we clean our spirtual house. Don't let them trick-or-treat. Don't let them hunt for easter eggs. Don't let them trim the tree, or else the devil will get them. Don't let the children do any of those childhood things. Change their very nature. After all, nobody ever said that we should be as children are, did they?

Or perhaps we should recognize that a child's harmless fun is a child's harmless fun and let them get on with it. Let them get on with it, but please keep complaining about it on the radio. After all, it brightens up my life, or something close to it.