by Naomi Leveton

Created on: December 31, 2007

I'm not sure it's really right to say whether or not Christians should celebrate Halloween. It's really up to them isn't it? I'm not a Christian: I never have been and I don't plan to become one. None of my immediate family (except my cousins who I see rarely) are Chirstian, so I've never really experienced Halloween with a Christian family.

Most of my friends are Christians - not regular church goers or anything, but they do tend to have Christian based beliefs...which isn't all that surprising considering the fact that we live in a mostly Christian country. But all of my friends have always celebrated Halloween - we don't celebrate it like it's religious - we do what any teenagers do on the 31st of October: we dress up in ridiculous costumes, play silly games and eat far too much! If Christian kids (or adults for that matter) want to do that - why shouldn't they?

The only person I've ever come across to openly express a dislike (well, it was more like disgust) for Halloween was my guide leader. I remember me and a few of the other girls begging her to hold a guides Halloween party because Halloween fell on a guides night that year, and I distinctly remember her saying no, because we would not worship the devil.

Now, I think it's very important that people understand that Halloween is NOT a festival for Satanists or Devil Worshipers - Halloween, or Samhain (pronounced sow-en) is in fact the Witches New Year, and it's a time when witches remember those that have passed away during the previous year. So, in a way, I suppose linking Halloween to witches is in fact correct, but not really the way people do link it.

Being Wiccan, however, I'm not about to criticise the way people do things, so long as they don't insist that the way they do it is the right way. At the time of my guide leader telling me Halloween was about worshipping the devil, I hadn't discovered Wicca - if I had, I wouldn't have hesitated in telling her that Halloween was most certainly not for worshipping the devil.

I do still go to Halloween parties, just because I'm a teenager, and I like to have a laugh with my mates, but I try to put aside time every October 31st to meditate and to welcome in the New Year...or Samhain Shona as Witches say.

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