Samhain

This article from the Washington Post website, http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/starhawk/2009/10/the_true_spirit_of_halloween_for_real_witches.html, discusses the Samhain holiday that Wiccans celebrate instead of Halloween. The article is written from a Wiccan herself and is written to urge people to learn more about Wiccans and their holiday.

Since the article is by a Wiccan, it does not include anything negative about the Wiccan religion. The article made their Wiccan religion seem sort of hippy like, as if they were all just easy going people who celebrate “art, music, poetry and dance.” I was surprised that the writer claimed that a spiral dance at their San Francisco celebration can include over a thousand people dancing together, because I’ve only met one Wiccan in my whole life.

The article mentions that they honor their ancestors and mourn for those lost throughout the year and it reminded me of the Catholic’s day of the dead in which the Catholics go to the cemeteries of their lost ones.