Trick? or Treat?

Halloween used to be a harmless day when kids would go out dressed as pirates, princesses and superheroes to collect candy from friends and neighbors. Sadly, many American children no longer get to participate in this lighthearted holiday. Their conscientious parents stand as examples of the truth a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Their parents have been told that the dark and evil religion of the ancient Celts threatens to corrupt their children’s souls. Rather than a quaint folkway that has outlived its historical roots, it is a sinister scheme devised by the devil in order to seduce children into the dark web of the occult and the demonic. You can almost hear Satan’s laughter at the brilliance of his diabolical plan --a diabolical plan that has all the subtlety of a conspiracy of Skeletor or Cobra Commander.

According to this plan, there are Druids or Wiccans about just waiting to seduce your child into a world of Celtic chants and an appreciation of nature. Druids, far from being extinct or having their religion transformed into the stuff of banal, New Age self-help books, have in secret been executing their dark master’s plan to seduce the youth of America. If your son or daughter uses a term like “solstice” or “equinox” it may already be too late.

Christianity’s complete and utter defeat of paganism throughout Europe during the course of the Middle Ages was only an illusion. The derisive term the Christians used for the rubes in the countryside-- “pagan” --was secretly a badge of pride to these unbelievers and devil worshippers. They hid while the sword of Christendom threatened to send them into the hereafter, waiting until the vigilance of God’s followers relaxed and they could find a cultural crevice in which to insinuate themselves. This crevice has been wedged open by snack size candy bars and cheap plastic costumes, and their dreadful scourge manifests itself every time a child licks their candy-stickied fingers.

Apparently the joy and happiness I felt as child, costumed and sugared-up, and that I have witnessed in others was completely naïve. It was a superficial deception in a demonic gambit for my soul. Even though it felt good, made me happy and holds a warm place in my memory I was deceived. These feelings should have been tempered by obscure biblical commands condemning witchcraft, although I hesitate to speculate whether my Bunny Rabbit or Batman costume was more demonic.

I do not believe this. The perversion of Halloween is not by dark spiritual forces, but by fundamentalist fear mongers obsessed with their own puritanical consciences to the point of demonizing a harmless cultural anachronism. But they are partially right; there is a witchcraft to Halloween. The day has a power to weave spells of laughter in the faces of children and joy in their hearts, but I guess unfettered joy is too frightening for some people. - posted by jga