Alternative Viewpoints on Halloween

* Re: “Is Halloween a Holiday That Should Be Celebrated?” (O.C. Religion, Oct. 28):

In the article, one group’s comments were conspicuously absent--a religion for whom Halloween is actually a religious holy day, the Wiccans.

Was it really so hard to find a Wiccan willing to comment on the nature and origins of Halloween? (Which, by the way, involves not only the ancient Celtic harvest festival of Samhain but also the Christian liturgical calendar.) Samhain (pronounced SOW-in) is the day when we hold services to honor our beloved dead, and to consider the nature of life, death and rebirth in the context of a fertility religion. We are fully aware of, and often participate in, the fun-and-games, trick-or-treat nature of Halloween, because we recognize that this profoundly secular holiday does not threaten or lessen the sanctity of our private worship.

I only hope that you will give the Wiccans a chance to express their own informed point of view on this matter.

LAURIE E. SMITH

Winnipeg, Canada

* Thank you for the religious commentary on Halloween. While I deeply respect the religious positions of your commentators, I recommend that each read Ronald Hutton’s “The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain” (Oxford University Press, 1997) before making their decisions regarding Halloween. Those who fear the holiday as a pagan celebration of death should be aware that solid archival research by an historian with academic credentials reveals the holiday’s “pagan” origins as a simple harvest festival. Associations with death and remembrance are purely Christian, and Hutton’s flawless historical method should put the old “Druid Day of the Dead” myth at rest.

Your commentators may, of course, still be uncomfortable with the holiday because of its Christian and/or secular associations, but at least they will not be making their decisions upon historically fallacious information.

R. McCLELLAND-NUGENT

Department of History

University of Central Arkansas

* I am disappointed that in your discussion of a pagan holiday and whether or not it should be celebrated, you didn’t have any input from pagan leaders the way you did other religious leaders. However, it was nice to see how we are portrayed by others following other paths.

At the same time, many of the statements made were inaccurate. It frightens me that in the year 2000, we, as a society, still view witchcraft as evil or dark, and the religious leaders across the board, have very little knowledge of what paganism entails and how we practice.

I suggest you do a stint on what modern paganism is, and what it means to practice witchcraft in today’s world. From the sounds of it, it would be greatly beneficial.

JENNIFER HARDIE

CO Director

The Coalition for Spiritual Unity

Chicago

* Please accept our thanks and regards on publishing the Muslims’ view on Halloween. Also it is nice to see the information on CAIR (The Council on American-Islamic Relations) fund-raising dinner program.

We always hear Muslim stereotypes in the media and the act of a Muslim is portrayed as a terrorist act. We never hear of a Christian or a Jewish terrorist in the newspaper and TV.

Once again, thanks a lot on covering all the positive views on Islam and hope to see more in the future.

SUBI ALI

Irvine

* If, as the Rev. Connie Regener says in her article (“On Faith,” Oct. 28), “all Christians’ prayers ascend to the same place,” where do the prayers of all other religious and spiritual peoples go?

PATRICIA CROWELL

Huntington Beach