My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens. Now with extra Samhain/Halloween coverage!

As I pick through the chaff of Halloween stories to bring you the wheat of articles worth the read, why not start with something completely unrelated to the holiday. Prospect Magazine features author Allan Massie’s essay on the ongoing appeal of ancient Roman and Greek culture.

“I would hazard this explanation. However dimly or unconsciously, there persists the idea that Greece and Rome matter, that they are part of our inheritance… there… remains, even in our global cultural economy, something of the sense that we grew out of Greece and Rome. People may have only a vague notion as to the exact nature of our debt to antiquity. They may be – indeed, must be – further from understanding classical culture than those belonging to earlier generations, whose education was dominated by Greek and Roman texts. Nevertheless, Greece and Rome continue in some way to matter as other periods of history, and other cultures, do not. Those of us who write and read novels set in the ancient world are striving to absorb something of its significance. Our novels may offer only a shadowy representation of the reality of Greece and Rome, but even that shadowy version is preferable to classical culture being submerged in the dark.”

What is more Halloween than a scary movie, and considering the nature of this blog, one that deals with pagan themes is even better. An Ohio paper looks back to 1977 when the movie adaptation of Harvest Home was filmed there.

“A dark secret rustled through the Northeast Ohio cornstalks in 1977 when a Hollywood crew filmed a spooky TV miniseries about a pagan cult: Ohio was not New England. It looked close enough, however. More than 5,000 people tried out for 50 parts as extras in The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, a made-for-TV movie that Universal Studios filmed that autumn in Ashtabula and Lake counties.”

The article also points out that the film is currently out of print and no restored DVD of the film is available. Surely a grave injustice to the career of Bette Davis if not the world of cinema.

Maybe the thing that scares you are those extra pounds from all that leftover Halloween candy. In which case you might want to jump onto the latest permutation of faith-based dieting. This time its all about eating like a Wiccan (whatever that means).

“But can eating a wiccan diet actually help you lose weight? I?m sure if you went from eating a normal Western diet to an all organic or vegetarian diet, you would probably lose weight because of the decrease in sugar and processed foods in your diet. And if diet isn?t enough, you can cast a weight loss spell or take a weight loss bath to help you along. You can even get someone to cast a weight loss spell for you.”

I also hear that eating healthier foods and exercising works well too.

If your a Pagan inmate in Britain you can opt out of prison-work on Samhain even though it raises the ire of local conservatives.

“Hundreds of Pagans serving prison sentences are to be given the day off work for Halloween out of respect for their religious beliefs…While fellow prisoners sew mail bags and undertake other jail work, the Pagans will be allowed to celebrate their ‘holiday’. They can use certain artefacts, including rune stones, flexible twigs and hoodless robes, provided they are kept in their cells or worn during communal worship. Robes with hoods are banned for ‘security reasons’, however. Critics attacked the policy, saying it was pandering to a ‘mad’ politically correct agenda.”

Those critics don’t mention that the Pagan inmates get fewer days off of work than any other religion (they can only pick two days from the 8 acknowledged Pagan holidays). I guess Pagan criminals need punishment more than other criminals.

While some evangelicals are boycotting Halloween (or throwing alternate events), some are using that opportunity to evangelize to the tiny masked heathens asking for candy.

“Halloween, long associated with pagan traditions, is now high season for an old American tradition of evangelizing through tracts. The nation’s four major publishers of tracts say they sell more at Halloween than at any other time of year, including Christmas and Easter. And the push is on to grow the seasonal market. This year, thanks to new glow-in-the-dark tracts, the Texas-based American Tract Society expects to set a new Halloween record by shipping out more than 4 million tracts.”

Yes, now your conservative Christian neighbor can hand out such winners as “Costumes are cool, but heaven is awesome!”, “Your First Six Days in Hell”, and “Halloween: Separating Fact From Folklore”. If your really lucky you might even get a Chick tract! I’m sure the kids will really appreciate the effort.

But Christianity isn’t the only Abrahamic faith wrestling with how to deal with Halloween. Several Jewish sects advise skipping the holiday (too Pagan and too Christian), and The American Muslim Association of North America is urging all Muslims to not celebrate the holiday and to not answer the door for trick-or-treaters.

“The American Muslim Association of North America, in fact, urges Muslims to not practice Halloween and not answer the door, saying, “Avoid it. It is a night of evil.” In their eyes, Halloween is tied to a 2,300-year-old, devil-worshiping Celtic festival called Samhain.”

Considering that Halloween sales are going to reach nearly $5 billion in North America (up from 3.3 the year before), I don’t think our society is trending away from celebrating Halloween. So no doubt the tension between secular Halloween celebrations and the monotheistic faiths that feel it all connects to the pagans will only heighten in the near future. Leaving modern Pagans and Heathens who see this time as holy somewhere in between.

That is all I have for now, have a good day!

Tags: Paganism