Reader FAQ: Pagans and Halloween
Monday September 21, 2009
I know it's a bit early to be thinking about Samhain for some folks, but a reader we'll call Witchita brings up an interesting point, and one worth addressing. She asks, "I was curious if it was anti-Pagan to celebrate Halloween? I'm sort of worried it might seem disrespectful to go out collecting candy while I'm supposed to be honoring the spirits of my dead ancestors. How do Halloween and Samhain relate if at all to one another?"
The short answer here is that you can do anything you like, as long as your tradition of Paganism doesn't have a "no Halloweenery" rule. Think of Samhain and Halloween like this - one is spiritual, one is secular. There's no reason they have to be mutually exclusive at all. You can still observe the fun and silliness of Halloween -- and pig out on candy, if you like -- while maintaining the more somber traditions of honoring the dead at Samhain. For more on this, read the FAQ: Pagans and Halloween.
Follow Pagan/Wiccan on Twitter or Join Me On Facebook!
The short answer here is that you can do anything you like, as long as your tradition of Paganism doesn't have a "no Halloweenery" rule. Think of Samhain and Halloween like this - one is spiritual, one is secular. There's no reason they have to be mutually exclusive at all. You can still observe the fun and silliness of Halloween -- and pig out on candy, if you like -- while maintaining the more somber traditions of honoring the dead at Samhain. For more on this, read the FAQ: Pagans and Halloween.
Follow Pagan/Wiccan on Twitter or Join Me On Facebook!
Comments
this is what i do, and you can too! i set up my circle in my front yard, i use a ring of bug candles to show the outline of my circle, i light the candles at sunset, i have a small washer tub, that i use for my firepit. i light my fire, and i stand at the bottom of my porch steps with a cauldron full of candy. ( i give choloclate for best tricks and costumes) then if they ask about the circle i can inform them of my beliefs. i always dress as a witch, but i am a beautiful witch not an ugly one! and the little witches, love it! i have had pagans of various paths tell me year after year they love it!
Halloween is one of those celebrations that has been so perverted in so many ways that it’s hard to know what to do. Is it secular? is it pagan? Is it Satanism? I would say research the whoopdie doo out of it and see what traditions grab you, search yourself to honestly say what you expect from or wish to give to the celebration, and define it for yourself. As Patti said there is no reason not to embrace both the secular pig out on candy aspect and the more esoteric honoring of the spirits. It’s the same as having presents for the kids and honoring Christ’s birth (though we all know that is not his real b day) at Christmas or having colored eggs honoring his resurrection at Easter. And I am sure other traditions have similar dichotomies, it’s just that I am most familiar with some of the Christian ones. And I really liked the Dumb Supper that I read about last year. Halloween was always my favorite and not for the candy! Even my stepmother was always a little dumbfounded by this.
I am a Satanist so of course its not anti Pagan to celebrate Halloween, that along with one’s own birthday and Walpurgisnacht are the three main holidays in Satanism (solstices and equinoxes can be observed as well. (but I for one forgo celebrations on these days and just mark them as more calendar days than anything)
beatrice… what a nice idea…
I am of Irish descent & my grandmother, who although not a pagan, always made the dumb supper part of our Halloween celebration. Once I became a mother, I extended that tradition to include pets as well. We not only set a place at out table for our human family and friends who’ve passed on, but leave a bowl out in honor of our pets who’ve passed. My son and I start our day with a special breakfast of apples & cinnamon oatmeal and hot apple cider and then we take a moment to light candles and incense and write notes to those who’ve passed. It’s one of my son’s favorite traditions, equal to trick or treating and costumes.
I always loved Halloween, it was the one night of the year I could “come out of the broom closet” dress and decorate witchy, honoring the God/ess and it was socially acceptable!
On Oct. 31st in my hometown (Charleston, WV) there is a city-wide costume party being held at the baseball park. Early evening festivities are geared for younger kids with candy, etc. & later (at dark-thirty) there is an event for adults (16+) with live music, vendors, & Tarot readers. This is the first year such an event has been planned & hopefully it will go well. I’m planning to go to the adult Witches’ Ball with friends & have plenty of fun, but then we plan to retire from the festivities early & gather at midnight at a friend’s house/yard nearby to hold our ’serious’ candlelight ceremony within a circle. I see nothing particularly wrong with this idea & as one friend said, “…even Christians have Santa & parties if for nothing else than to celebrate the comraderie of friends!”
I say plan to do both…even if your ’serious’ part is just lighting a candle of rememberance & having a moment of silent meditation in a solitary ritual at your personal altar.
I’ve always celebrated Halloween and why not! My Grandmother was a Witch of the Old World and celebrated. We celebrate the thining of the veil and what better time to show our humanity than to youngsters who are having fun. We always give healthy-type snacks (popcorn, etc) and the parents love it. We decorate to the teeth and have become known as the “Halloween House” and are now serving a new generation of “little spooks and goblins” (every year I hear, “I came here when I was little now I’m bringing my baby to see you!”. Makes me feel old but that’s life. This year we are planning on playing a movie out of the window on a screen along with all the decorations.
My “Dinner for the Dead” will begin around 11 pm, long after the trick-or-treaters are in bed and the veil will be at it’s thinest. This year there will be a few new plates and we will celebrate them, too.
I see no conflict. I am who and what I am. This path allows that and I am proud to be a Witch!
Do as ye want, but harm ye none.