This week much of Scotland will be awash in the discarded plastic left over from a commercialised Halloween. How many of us are wrapped in misinformation about the roots and current experience of this Holy time?
This article discusses the history of the festival we have inherited, and some of the misinformation surrounding it.
Look around you and ask the questions needed to understand what people are celebrating at this time.
- Why do some people still want church buildings to celebrate births, deaths, and marriages – but feel uncomfortable even just going into them at other times?
- What deep aspects of human being are recognised, celebrated, in secular festivals like this?
- As walkers in the Way, how many of these are we encouraged to promote?
- What are the differences between appropriating Halloween and trying to attract people to events that acceptable to religious conservatives (eg. running things like light parties) and celebrating Halloween with your community, acting invisibly like salt or yeast within what is already going on?