Halloween is Politically Correct

This morning when I dropped my kids off at school, it was so fun to see all the ballerinas, princesses, pirates, Jedi Knights, etc. hopping out of all the cars. Even the teacher on duty was all decked out as "Bat Girl." You see, in Utah I guess it is O.K. to celebrate Halloween. I felt like I had returned to my childhood--back in those days there was never even a hint that there was anything sinister or evil about Halloween. It was just plain fun. My kids have grown up in Arizona, where Halloween was politically incorrect. They didn't have Halloween parties at school, they had "Fall parties" and they certainly weren't allowed to dress up in their costumes at school. Here in Utah, there is just a festive feeling in the air and the kids get to celebrate all day. I went and helped with a Halloween party in Jet's classroom this afternoon. Every child was dressed up. It was fun to see the variety of costumes. (My hats go off to those teachers--I wouldn't want to deal with those hyper, excited, costumed kids all day.)

Now, the reason that Halloween parties were not allowed at school in Arizona is that it would violate some people's religious beliefs. And I can totally respect that. After all, being a devout Mormon, I am used to associating with people who think nothing of participating in some activities that are not in harmony with my personal religious beliefs. So it is strange to be on the permissive side of the aisle for a change. I hope there wasn't anyone at the school who was distressed by the celebration. I think Halloween is a lot of fun! I have a lot of happy memories of how exciting and fun it was to decide what to dress up as each year and of getting lots of candy.

For those of you that are wondering about the history behind the holiday this is it in a nutshell: Halloween: Oct. 31, the eve of All Saints' Day, observed with traditional games and customs. The word comes from medieval England's All Hallows' eve (Old Eng. hallow=“saint”). However, many of these customs predate Christianity, going back to Celtic practices associated with Nov. 1, which was Samhain, the beginning of winter and the Celtic new year. Witches and other evil spirits were believed to roam the earth on this evening, playing tricks on human beings to mark the season of diminishing sunlight. Bonfires were lit, offerings were made of dainty foods and sweets, and people would disguise themselves as one of the roaming spirits, to avoid demonic persecution. Survivals of these early practices can be found in countries of Celtic influence today, such as the United States where children go from door to door in costumes demanding “trick or treat.”

Doesn't sound sinister to me. We're just dressing up to avoid demonic persecution. So everyone have fun tonight and be safe! And take it easy on the candy so you don't get sick.