Happy Hallowe'en
I've always liked Hallowe'en.
Granted, growing up in rural Canada this usually meant freezing my ass off in the bed of a pickup truck as we were towed from one house to another trick or treating. Still, those were the days when you still could get homemade treats because you knew and trusted everyone in the community.
Being part Welsh, Scottish, and Irish this day resonates deep within me. It's a natural boundary between summer and winter, forty days after the equinox (give or take) and fifty days before the solstice. My ancestors felt this day to be really important, and our cutesy North American rituals subtly reinforce it.
My, that should really kack the religious right, shouldn't it?
That being said, I'm still dyed in the wool Christian, so Christian I'm almost Jewish (I'm too fond of ham). I don't do bonfires at Beltane or burn a wicker man at Samhain, but I do mark the change in season and mark it with the appropriate Christian holiday.
Hm. Probably ticked off those antagonistic to organized religion.
I guess I really don't care what people think about my religious convictions: I am unashamed of being a Christian, and a traditional one at that. I'm not a GOOD one by any stretch of the imagination, so I know I can't cast any rocks.
So go ahead, hand out candy, note the change in season, think about your dear departed, remember the good folks who have gone before, and don't get sick on the leftover milk duds.
Granted, growing up in rural Canada this usually meant freezing my ass off in the bed of a pickup truck as we were towed from one house to another trick or treating. Still, those were the days when you still could get homemade treats because you knew and trusted everyone in the community.
Being part Welsh, Scottish, and Irish this day resonates deep within me. It's a natural boundary between summer and winter, forty days after the equinox (give or take) and fifty days before the solstice. My ancestors felt this day to be really important, and our cutesy North American rituals subtly reinforce it.
My, that should really kack the religious right, shouldn't it?
That being said, I'm still dyed in the wool Christian, so Christian I'm almost Jewish (I'm too fond of ham). I don't do bonfires at Beltane or burn a wicker man at Samhain, but I do mark the change in season and mark it with the appropriate Christian holiday.
Hm. Probably ticked off those antagonistic to organized religion.
I guess I really don't care what people think about my religious convictions: I am unashamed of being a Christian, and a traditional one at that. I'm not a GOOD one by any stretch of the imagination, so I know I can't cast any rocks.
So go ahead, hand out candy, note the change in season, think about your dear departed, remember the good folks who have gone before, and don't get sick on the leftover milk duds.