Samhain, halloween and PCness

[Alicara]

I was just wondering how pagans in general deal with this holiday. I've seen people bent on telling the world that 'witches' are people too and doing the whole PC thing. Then on the other end people are embracing the modern and doing 'normal' halloween things.

Personaly, I think that it's a waste of time to do the whole PC protest thing. No matter what you say, people will belive what they want.

Every year I do the halloween thing with one group of freinds (trick or treating, parties, ect.), then l get together with my other freinds and kick it pagan style.

In fact, I'm dressing as a witch this year, and my freinds are getting a kick out of it.

So, what do you do?  

[Jezehbelle]

Last year, I went to a Halloween party. I knocked on the door and they asked where my costume was. "Oh I'm a witch (:" And then I put the hat on "And now I'm a stereotype (x"

They didn't like the costume. ):

I celebrate Samhain and Halloween separately. They're not the same holiday.  

[Purrly]

¨*:·.♥.·:*¨

I'm a big fan of modern Halloween (I even find amusement in the warts-and-all image of witches). I take my daughter Trick-or-Treating, pass out candy to the neighbor kids, and then after I've tucked the little one in bed, I do my Samhain rituals. It's a very busy day to me, but it's so worth it.

 

[WebenBanu]

I was never offended by the whole Samhain/Halloween thing- I mean, when you think about it Christmas is a horribly commercialized Christian holiday, so it's not like Pagans are getting singled out. And Halloween is just so much better than Christmas- people enjoy it more, and don't get nearly as stressed out about it, so where's the offense? wink

While no longer Wiccan (I'm a Kemetic reconstructionist), my roommate Arcane is a witch. I celebrate with him in good fun- I still have a pewter skull that used to be a part of my Samhain altar setup when I was Wiccan and I bring her out, I deck out the skull, my ancestor shrine, and certain of my gods Whom I know to be amused by such things with Samhain-esque flowers (last year, I think it was marigolds). We delight in pumpkin ale, and candies in black and orange stemmed goblets- and while the Vampire wine isn't really my favorite, I still enjoy decanting a more palatable wine into the bottle and pretending. heart Last year we bought an aromatherapy mister in the shape of a cauldron, and this year we'll be using it for more than just decoration. We have a Harry Potter movie marathon each Halloween, this year will be our first for inviting a guest over.

All in all we just have a good time, taking full advantage of the abundance of candles, treats, and Halloween-themed toys which are available in the stores these days. Arcane may or may not do something else on his own for the holiday- I don't know, but we both really love this time of year.  

[Starlock]

I haven't bothered with political correctness either, but I also haven't been in a sittuation where I'd have heavy cause to. I see Halloween as something distinct from the Neopagan celebration, though they may share historical roots and have some similar themes. Halloween incorporates 'things that scare people' more than Samhain does, so it makes sense in popular culture to include the witch. And people are *still* afraid of witches... I wonder what to make of that sometimes.

I might dress up as a witch for Halloween, but would that really be dressing in costume? I mean... aren't you supposed to dress up as something other than what you are for Halloween? whee

Rather than getting some new costume, I'm going to use one of my Ren-fest ones this year. I like any excuse to wear stuff like that... I wish it was still in fashion. So much of modern fashion bores me. Cloaks need to come back into style big time. Cloaks = awesomeness.  

[twilight insanity]

yeah, cloaks are cool! whee

anyway, every year my family hosts a big party at our tiny house, because we never go trick-or-treating. (my mom's paranoid, and my stepdad just doesn't wanna bother.) so naturally us teenagers get to make the bonfire, then get shooed away from it and forced to hang out in the driveway and chat, glowstring, listen to music and gossip. after everyone leaves my siblings and i go and hang out by the fire and try to bring it back up to size. but the whole month while waiting i feel so much happier and refreshed and tend to go outside and into the woods on my own and just drink it all in. i pay extra homage to the faeries, and am extra carefull not to stay in the woods to after sunset. they don't like that.... sweatdrop  

[Damion5160]

I feel that the two, while linked, are no longer one and the same, so I do not feel any problem with taking my kids trick-or-treating, or with performing my ritual after dark, when it should be held. I am not Wiccan, or a witch, I am a heathen, a Norse recreationist, and feel no need to worry about PC  

[ballardb]

halloween is a sacred time i like to celebrate it in many ways trick or treating makes all the rituals fun u trick or treat then later in the evening you do a ritual if you want it makes life more interesting  

[10 of Diamonds]

Well, my "coven" and I, (I use coven as a familiar term to label my group of casters) go around and put the fear of Gods in the children of small town Emporia, KS. Immediately following we go to the campus woods and gather all of the stray spirits and send them off.  

[FtM_Anarchist]

I don't think people who charge against any holiday fully understand the historic significance of those holidays. It's useless to make a protest against Halloween as a Pagan because, quite frankly, Halloween precedes us as we know ourselves just as Christmas traditions precede Christianity. To use a more one-religion-specific example, there was no "Wicca" when Samhain first came into being, so for any Wiccan to try claiming the holiday we celebrate culturally today is a bastardization or offensive parody of a Wiccan holiday is absolutely ludicrous. Yet there are people who make this charge. I wish they would take a look at what exactly they think they're protesting, and then maybe they'd realize that the modern cultural celebration, aside from its mass-market appeal which I oppose on non-religious grounds, just isn't that bad or offensive.

Most of these larger holidays started out fairly secular, with religious associations either added in later or no more intrinsic than religion in everything at the time.

As much as some of us would like to think we do, Pagans do not have some sort of copyright or patent on Samhain or Halloween, just as Christians don't have the same on Christmas. To think we do is to be incredibly ignorant of not only the history of those holidays, but the history of how we got where we are now.  

[Dain Maxwell]

i usually dress up in a costume i put together from things i already own
last year i was a witch in a purple dress, green and black stockings and black boots
the reason i don't usually by a costume is because when i was about 4 or 5 i told my aunt i wanted to be a witch for halloween,
by this i wanted not to be glenda the good or the wicked witch of the west but i wanted to wear a robe and the hat, i still love the look of th brimmed and pointed witches hat, i ended up being forced to be the wicked witch and my skin was irritated by the paint, i ended up washing it off and getting grounded for the rest of the night, i was really hurt
these days as a witch and pagan i usually leave offerings outside my door for spirits and just try to have fun, i avoid anything psychic though, to mean of my dead around for thatsorry about the soap box, i'm really wordy  

[AnurenDark]

I dress up a bit and hang out with my non-pagan friends and watch horror movies but I'll also do a little celebration of Samhain by myself too.