rick and deborah farrington

nancy, that was the best explanation i've heard. my 13 yo old dh decided she wants
to go trick or treating this year, so she can dress up. our town doesnt trick or
treat they have a party at the community center instead. she may go with friends
in lewiston though. we haven't t or t in the past. they didnt want to.

Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall wrote:

> From: Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall <tn-k4of5@...>
>
> >Nanci,
> >I could highlight and copy your whole post and say "well said"!
>
> Thank you, I'm glad that you enjoyed it.
>
> >I don't think it really matters when Christ was born, it is the one specific
> >time that the world can come to a something close to peace.
>
> I agree. One basic tenet in Paganism is to respect the beliefs and
> religious practices of other religions. There are as many ways to be Pagan
> as there are Pagans (much with Christianity in many ways) and there are
> lots of other beliefs, traditions, etc which can be appreciated, and or
> incorporated, into a Pagan way of life.
>
> I love Santa, it
> >is fun, but hey, I was raised in a time when we had a haunted house in the
> >basement of our church. Halloween was a time of fun and joy for the kids,
> >and people weren't lecturing us that it was the celebration of Satan, maybe
> >in other countries it was, but it was never that intent here and as a child
> >we had such fun, dressing up and getting free candy, and roaming for hours
> >outside, at night! by ourselves!
>
> It is always interesting to me (in an exhasperating way) how people insist
> on associating Halloween (Samhain to me) with "Satan" or the "Devil."
> There is NO country in the world where Halloween is a "celebration of
> Satan." This is a Christian church propoganda from the middle ages. The
> entire idea of Satan is Christian in origin, and not taken from other
> religions. "Satan worship" only (ONLY) exists AFTER the advent of
> Christianity and was mainly practiced by sick (Gasp!) cast out priest and
> their followers. It was, and still is, a backlash and stubborn rebellion
> against the Christian church. I think THAT is pretty obvious by the fact
> that Satanist do everthing exactly backwards of Christians, and others as
> well (ie: Black Masses, inverted crosses, inverted pentacles, speaking
> bible verses and prayers backwards, etc.) Satan's similar "appearance" to
> many Pagan male gods (goat footed Pan, the horned God of the hunt, etc) is
> no accident, but propoganda perpetuated by a very politically minded church
> establishment. This propoganda was designed to Deify Christian Saints and
> the Christian God, while discrediting the Pagan deities as evil in nature.
>
> Halloween is the Eve that Winter begins in the old Celtic calendar. As
> such, some of the traditions and rituals associated with it can be
> construed as "Dark" in nature, although they are not in intent. It is
> paying respect to the turning of the Wheel of the year into the Season of
> "Death" or hibernation. Also because it is the Celtic new year, that
> evening was seen as belonging neither to Past, nor present, the old dying
> and the new on the verge of birth. So it was/is viewed to be a very
> psychicly charged time when the "Veil" between the world of man and the
> world of the spirit is very thin. It is believed to be a time when the
> spirits of the dearly departed may be invited (NOT summoned) to feast and
> keep company with those still living.
>
> October 31st was also the time of year when the last of the fall crops must
> be gathered in and (for the old pastorals who could not feed herds through
> the long Northern winters) for culling their stock of all but the best of
> the breeding stock for the spring, and preserving the meat. This must be
> done very critically...(Am I leaving enough stock, too many, too few? Are
> these truly the best and strongest? Do we have enough feed to keep them
> through the winter and ourselves as well? etc...) It was a time of
> divination, communion with the dead (which I think can best be equated to
> the Asian practice of Ancestor worship,) and feasting and celebrating in
> the face of the coming lean times ahead. These also are part of the
> reasons that the Winter Solstice (Yule, Christmas) was/is so important and
> meaningful as the beginning of the imminent return of the Sun and warmth,
> the growing seasons and the times of plenty.
>
> These holidays based solely on Natural cycles, and particularly Halloween
> with it's other-worldly qualities were particularly rankling to the
> Christian church. They, in an effort to quash them, demonized their
> practices, twisted meanings and persecuted their praticioners. I hope I do
> not offend any of you Christian list members, but this is all History, and
> not revisionist at that.
>
> >Heck, my boys were born, Dec 3 and Dec 24.
>
> We too have a joint birthday party the second week of Dec. here. My DH's
> birthday is the 16th and my eldest son's is the 22nd.
>
> >Sorry, seems I am replying to everybody's posts on holidays and bday parties!
> >Teresa
>
> What a great way to save yourself some time!
>
> Nanci K. in Idaho
>
> > Check it out!
> http://www.unschooling.com

Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall

>Nanci,
>I could highlight and copy your whole post and say "well said"!

Thank you, I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

>I don't think it really matters when Christ was born, it is the one specific
>time that the world can come to a something close to peace.

I agree. One basic tenet in Paganism is to respect the beliefs and
religious practices of other religions. There are as many ways to be Pagan
as there are Pagans (much with Christianity in many ways) and there are
lots of other beliefs, traditions, etc which can be appreciated, and or
incorporated, into a Pagan way of life.

I love Santa, it
>is fun, but hey, I was raised in a time when we had a haunted house in the
>basement of our church. Halloween was a time of fun and joy for the kids,
>and people weren't lecturing us that it was the celebration of Satan, maybe
>in other countries it was, but it was never that intent here and as a child
>we had such fun, dressing up and getting free candy, and roaming for hours
>outside, at night! by ourselves!

It is always interesting to me (in an exhasperating way) how people insist
on associating Halloween (Samhain to me) with "Satan" or the "Devil."
There is NO country in the world where Halloween is a "celebration of
Satan." This is a Christian church propoganda from the middle ages. The
entire idea of Satan is Christian in origin, and not taken from other
religions. "Satan worship" only (ONLY) exists AFTER the advent of
Christianity and was mainly practiced by sick (Gasp!) cast out priest and
their followers. It was, and still is, a backlash and stubborn rebellion
against the Christian church. I think THAT is pretty obvious by the fact
that Satanist do everthing exactly backwards of Christians, and others as
well (ie: Black Masses, inverted crosses, inverted pentacles, speaking
bible verses and prayers backwards, etc.) Satan's similar "appearance" to
many Pagan male gods (goat footed Pan, the horned God of the hunt, etc) is
no accident, but propoganda perpetuated by a very politically minded church
establishment. This propoganda was designed to Deify Christian Saints and
the Christian God, while discrediting the Pagan deities as evil in nature.

Halloween is the Eve that Winter begins in the old Celtic calendar. As
such, some of the traditions and rituals associated with it can be
construed as "Dark" in nature, although they are not in intent. It is
paying respect to the turning of the Wheel of the year into the Season of
"Death" or hibernation. Also because it is the Celtic new year, that
evening was seen as belonging neither to Past, nor present, the old dying
and the new on the verge of birth. So it was/is viewed to be a very
psychicly charged time when the "Veil" between the world of man and the
world of the spirit is very thin. It is believed to be a time when the
spirits of the dearly departed may be invited (NOT summoned) to feast and
keep company with those still living.

October 31st was also the time of year when the last of the fall crops must
be gathered in and (for the old pastorals who could not feed herds through
the long Northern winters) for culling their stock of all but the best of
the breeding stock for the spring, and preserving the meat. This must be
done very critically...(Am I leaving enough stock, too many, too few? Are
these truly the best and strongest? Do we have enough feed to keep them
through the winter and ourselves as well? etc...) It was a time of
divination, communion with the dead (which I think can best be equated to
the Asian practice of Ancestor worship,) and feasting and celebrating in
the face of the coming lean times ahead. These also are part of the
reasons that the Winter Solstice (Yule, Christmas) was/is so important and
meaningful as the beginning of the imminent return of the Sun and warmth,
the growing seasons and the times of plenty.

These holidays based solely on Natural cycles, and particularly Halloween
with it's other-worldly qualities were particularly rankling to the
Christian church. They, in an effort to quash them, demonized their
practices, twisted meanings and persecuted their praticioners. I hope I do
not offend any of you Christian list members, but this is all History, and
not revisionist at that.

>Heck, my boys were born, Dec 3 and Dec 24.

We too have a joint birthday party the second week of Dec. here. My DH's
birthday is the 16th and my eldest son's is the 22nd.

>Sorry, seems I am replying to everybody's posts on holidays and bday parties!
>Teresa

What a great way to save yourself some time!

Nanci K. in Idaho

[email protected]

In a message dated 9/30/99 6:48:16 PM EST, tn-k4of5@... writes:

<< What a great way to save yourself some time! >>
LOL! That is a very tactful response to my long-windedness!

What you said about the different holidays is very interesting, I have always
found those ancient customs so interesting. But, like I said, it is to me a
time to have fun and dress up period! no behind the scenes, hidden words
written backward, just fun and fun for my kids.
Teresa

[email protected]

In a message dated 09/30/1999 10:06:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
Hsmotgo@... writes:

<<
What you said about the different holidays is very interesting, I have
always
found those ancient customs so interesting. >>
I think it is interesting to look at many customs and theire common roots--we
have much more common ground than we think :-)
Debra

[email protected]

Nanci,
Can you recommend any reading on this? Are there one or two books that
make a nice introduction? (for adults, unless you know of any great ones
for kids too)
Mary Ellen
The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.

>>>>One basic tenet in Paganism is to respect the beliefs and
religious practices of other religions. There are as many ways to be
Pagan
as there are Pagans (much with Christianity in many ways) and there are
lots of other beliefs, traditions, etc which can be appreciated, and or
incorporated, into a Pagan way of life. >>>>>
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