Through the Smoke Screen of Halloween On October 31 every year, the majority of the country and several other countries celebrate the diabolized holiday of Samhain, otherwise more widely known as Halloween. Despite all the negative stigmas attached to this holiday, it is actually a very sacred and the holiest day to those that follow the Old Ways. Having known many pagans and being married to one, I have had the unique opportunity to gain a new insight into this holiday. It was and still is considered a celebration and reverent time to remember and honor the souls of family and friends who have died and departed this world. Before and especially during the Middle Ages, the new religion of Christianity was struggling to take hold on the people living throughout Ireland, Norway, the U.K. ranging to France and Germany. It was hard for the Church to convert those people and make them discard their gods, festivals and rituals. The Church resorted to assimilating the peoples' customs, ritual and beliefs into the Church's beliefs and then demonizing anything that didn't fit or they wanted to do away with. Samhain was one of those festivals that the Church would have done away with for the people revered this holiday a great deal. The time of Halloween, or Samhain, in an effort to eradicate these beliefs and practices, was depicted as a demonic evil time filled with horror with October 31 being the night of great dissonance and mischief. In actuality, Samhain is the third and last of the harvest festivals. It was a time in which farmers brought their herds down from the summer pastures and thinned out the animals that would not survive the harsh winter ahead. It was a time in which the Goddess in her dark aspect or Crone aspect was revered and the death of the Horned God was mourned and commemorated; thus the association of this sabbat with black and death. The Church implanted the idea that it was a night when devils, demons and witches gathered and held Black Masses, made sacrifices and casted evil spells and urged the faithful to stay home. It was a time indeed of gathering, bonfires, songs, dance, chanting and feasting and still is, but not to honor the devil or Satan, the devil or Satan is purely a Christian ideal or demi-god. You see, the old gods such as the horned Cernunnos and Greek wild god Pan had no link to evil prior to the Church trying to convert the pagans. As a result, horns, hooves and goatish beards of the gods became attributes of the Christian’s Satan. Halloween is associated with many negative stereotypes and images. One such image is the ugly hag or wart green faced witch. She is supposed to be evil, waiting in the shadows to trick and harm unsuspecting innocent children. In a time when it was almost unheard for women to live past 40 years of age, it might've been viewed as unnatural and suspicious instead of revering the wisdom this woman had as ancient cultures had in the past. Of course, this may not be such a long stretch to imagine a face such as this. I would like you to think back to the “Burning Times”, the Inquisition or during the times of the witch hunts. Many poor women were taken from their homes and arrested on charges of witchcraft. They were tortured and beaten into confessing committing horrendous deeds. When it came time for her execution, a bruised and bloody woman was produced and paraded on the streets to where she would spend her final moments before her death, all in an effort to save her soul. Perhaps she was a sickly green in the face, perhaps she had broken teeth or torn up gums where teeth used to be. One could definitely see where the stereotypical witch's image came from. I would also like you think about all the symbols of Halloween and how they make you feel. Think about the images of ghosts, skeletons, black cats, jack-o-lanterns. Think about the messages that Fundamental and Evangelistic Protestants hand out on little tracts of papers. They totally disregard the origin of these images, attach their own meanings to them and send messages of hate, fear and intolerance. The once innocent hollowed out and carved turnip used as a hand held lantern and used to scare earthbound ghosts away was named the Jack-o-lantern (“Jack” being another name for the devil in the U.K.). Ghosts and skeletons now days are images put in the same category as bloodthirsty werewolves and vampires. However, many pagans decorate their homes and alters with these images to show their strong belief in reincarnation and birth, death, rebirth cycle. Cats, black cats in particular, are associated with sorcery and mystery and thought to be a witch's familiar. They were considered to be evil and many were put to death with their owners during the “Burning Times”. Looking at the history of the cat though, it's not so hard to see why they too were demonized. Cats were considered sacred to several different goddesses in Egypt and in Europe. The strategy here; demonize the goddess and demonize what is sacred to her. And, of course, associate these evil things with the witches' favorite holiday, Samhain or Halloween. Our culture continues until this day to look at this holiday with negative feelings to the extent that Conservative Jews, Fundamentalist Christians and Muslims won’t let their children take part in festivities such as Trick or Treating or dressing up. The demonization still has hold on this sacred day even though the original purpose of this holiday was not evil at all. The misunderstandings still happen. Those who still celebrate the holiday are looked on as Satan worshippers. Until the population is truly educated and the ignorance is dispelled, it will continue to be viewed as evil.