[GCFL-discuss] White Sox

[Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List]

Hey Jeanene, that is the second time we have been in nearly total
agreement.

I don't like the way Halloween is blown up, or scary movies like Freddy
Kreuger and Pet Sematery, and those are NOT what Halloween as I knew it
was all about. It was a short, limited, but special celebration, mostly
for the children, but those of us who like to work with children can
still enjoy carving a really good jack o'lantern.

The dark side of Halloween comes in two forms.

One, it is the descendant, from dozens of generations back, of a pagan
Celtic holiday. But it has been filtered through many centuries of
Christianity, so unless we are seriously trying to cast spells, or bring
back human sacrifice -- all of which traditional celebration left behind
a long ways back -- we should be OK. Pumpkins are a strictly North
American overlay, since they did not have pumpkins in medeival Europe.
Yule logs and holly also have pagan roots, but they have been comfortably
Christian for a long time.

Two, and this is what neither of us like, the commercial exploitation of
the holiday has taken perverted twists that the average Druid would find
revolting. Those come from the minds of Hollywood scriptwriters, not from
pagan rituals, or from very modern perversions. I would like to cut those
off like cancers, but what we would have left could be a healthy
Halloween.

Harvest fairs are equally good, and all the games and features you
mention are exactly what the holiday should be about -- no matter what it
is called.

Siarlys