It's that time of year!

So as of my last entry, I had mentioned that yes, I am indeed Pagan. Scary no? And today is in fact a religious observance for myself and thousands of others out there who consider this time of year a more spiritual time, than commercial.

Yes I am talking about Halloween. Or as I call it Samhain. And no it's not pronounced like it's spelled here. It's actually pronounced Sow-en. And no I don't know the exactly wordy type meaning, just some of the other meanings about the day in particular. To get the not-so bitterness out of the way, I'm not sure if Christianity has perverted this ancient festival, or if the meaning of the day has evolved overtime to accommodate the cultures of the period. It's well and good that the Christian faith has tried various methods to convert Pagans, and it does include some absorption of ancient days of worship and reverence, the most notable being Christmas (Dec. 25th) crowding out Yule (Winter Solstice around Dec. 21st). Some people would consider Samhain to be a time of great evil, mostly the hardcore Christians. So much so that some local churches have used Halloween as a staging point for the war on Satan, and have even produced such elaborate schemes as setting up Christian oriented haunted house displays, and producing video propaganda.

Pshaw.

The last time I checked there was nothing inherently evil about Samhain. Maybe the only thing evil about it is the commercialism associated with it, as with Christmas time. The amount of money flying around during holidays that have religious roots is ridiculous, and somewhat shameful I might add. Now before I continue, Halloween is a good time for the kids to enjoy being out and about, going through the neighbourhoods, and being together in the enjoyable quest for candy. I would not take that away from them. With that, my next comment will sound contradictory. The commercialism of this (for Pagans at least) or any other day of worship seems to detract from the spiritual aspect of it all. Not only that it takes away from the creativity that a day like this could inspire. What other day of the year could you have so many different costumes show up at your doorstep? I predict an abundance of Ironman, and Hanna Montana clad children tromping up my stairs to 'Trick or Treat'. Manufactured is a word I would use to describe this day. The candy factories mass produce the sugary confections to the delight of the kiddies, and chagrin of the parents. Toy companies stamp out cheap costumes so children can harass mommy into buying the next dress-up fad. The imagination is partially lost this day because big business sees the profits to be made. Communities for the most part do not come together like the small agricultural towns of yesteryear, to celebrate the end of the harvest, or the turning of the season. As opposed to elders telling stories of ghosts and hauntings, they have been replaced by Hollywood blockbuster slasher films, and gaudy lawn displays of dismembered corpses. Our world has become more complicated, overly so, to the point that the man in sheet moaning and shaking chains no longer frightens. Now unless there's six gallons of blood spilt, and a homicidal maniac, no one will pay it any mind. The modern world has made us desensitized to the point where formerly fearful things are passe, and the most shocking thing to put fear in our heart seems to be when the local coffee shop breaks the espresso machine. Children are growing up tuned into the idiot box, plugged into their iPod, and hooked up to the internet to the point where imagination seems to be an unpleasant distraction, a buzzing in behind the ears, annoying them if it steals them away from their favorite video game. Parents are no better and I include myself in this category. We're bombarded by jobs, the telephone, cars, world crisis, the price of oil and so on. Day to day, hour to hour we toil at our jobs, only to come home too tired to cook a good meal, and slump on the couch, order a pizza, and watch the next disaster in progress on the evening news. It's shameful.

Days like Halloween are suppose to excite us and bring us together, not cause our wallets to go up in flames, or serve as a way to make our local dentist more money. Days like Samhain are a time for reflection, and reverence for the passing of the year, not a dividing point over religious belief.

Just my two cents.

Freeman