HALLOWEEN? BAH HUMBUG!
The year I turned four, my mother borrowed a witch costume from my aunt and dressed up for Halloween. I will never forget the trauma of watching that beautiful woman transform into a dark disfigured creature. She put on the voluminous black dress first. When she tugged a rubber mask over her face and secured the black stringy wig and pointed hat, she turned to look at me. All trace of her sweet face had disappeared, replaced by wrinkles, warts, and a huge hook nose. I swallowed hard and stepped away. My heart stopped beating for a frightful moment. I blinked, trying to dislodge the nightmarish image, but it wouldn't go away.
She reached out a hand to me.
I backed up farther. That wasn't my mother. It was a witch.
She laughed. "Don't be afraid."
Even her laugh sounded different. Memories of Hansel and Gretel and Snow White flooded my mind. I had to get away before she offered me an apple, so I ran from the room in tears.
The next year, my mother dressed me up like Jill and my sister like Jack from the nursery rhythm, complete with bandaged head and a wooden bucket. Since we lived in the country, we had no neighbors close enough to visit on foot. Mother drove us to her friends' homes and nearly shoved us onto porches where we had to ring the doorbell and say, "Trick or treat?" I was never so humiliated in all my short life, and I wasn't even the one dressed like a boy.
The whole thing always felt wrong to me. Why have a special day to celebrate scary monsters? As a child, I experienced quite enough of them during the rest of the year when the lights went out at night. Why glorify witches, wizards, bats, and zombies anyway? Doesn't that seem a bit warped?
Add theology to the mix. God makes it clear in the Bible that He takes a dim view of sorcery, divination, fortune telling, witchcraft, being a medium, magic, and consulting the dead. Such verses as Deuteronomy 14:10--12 list these practices as detestable, right along with sacrificing of children in the fire. These are pagan pursuits, which seek to counterfeit power that belongs to God alone. They originate with Satan. Why would we want to imitate that? Isn't that playing with fire?
As long as I can remember I have tolerated Halloween through gritted teeth, kind of like a trip to the dentist. I've never been a fan of this holiday--except the dressing up part (I like to play dress-up). The witches and goblins thing scares me. Not to mention trick-or-treating. Hate that. To my way of thinking, it's a good excuse to beg for candy, which no one needs.
Thankfully, Halloween will be over in a week. I guess I can tough it out for that long. This year my husband wants to buy candy and pass it out to the cute trick-or-treaters. Be warned. If you bring your trick-or-treat bags to our house, don't expect me to answer the door. I will be hiding. Guess that makes me a curmudgeon.
And I'm okay with that.
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