Ah, Halloween. The only day of the year when it’s accepted, and even encouraged, to dress up in the most ridiculous costumes and gorge on junk food.

But not everyone will be reaching for the Snickers bars or Dracula fangs tonight. Many Christians do not celebrate Halloween at all, and some Wiccans, Celts and Druids celebrate it in a far different way than the rest of Americans.

‘It’s not right or wrong, it’s just not something I want to partake in,’ said Rachel Roy, a junior voice performance major. ‘I honestly don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything special.’

Roy’s mother did not let her or her siblings dress in costumes or go trick or treating, and as a child she did not understand. She did not go to school on the days of Halloween parties because it was impossible to avoid the celebrations.

But when she grew older, Roy, who is a born-again Christian, made her own decision to not celebrate the holiday because it has connections with worshipping Satan and evil spirits.

‘For the majority of people I know, their holiday celebration doesn’t involve worshipping Satan,’ Roy said. ‘But I know there are people out there, for example, witches and warlocks, who do.’

But Halloween is not about worshipping Satan, according to many Wiccans.

The holiday originated from the Celts and their priesthood, the Druids, said David Davis of Seven Rays Bookstore in Syracuse. It celebrates the harvest and happens to fall on the same day as the Celtic new year. Present-day Halloween is the Celtic New Year’s Eve, called Samhain, or summer’s end. It is part of a trilogy of days, followed by All Souls’ Day and All Saints’ Day.

‘Wicca’s become an earth-centered religion, with eight Sabbaths at the solstices, equinoxes and all the midpoints,’ Davis said. ‘Samhain is one if their celebratory times.’

Davis, who is not Wiccan, believes that Halloween is a day of harmless fun for most people and a spiritual day for others and is in no way dangerous.

‘God made all of the days. They’re all part of the cycle,’ Davis said. ‘It’s still sacred and holy.’

The Wiccan calendar is also based on the changing seasons and the harvests, said Caroline, a Wiccan Syracuse University student who would not reveal her full name. Halloween represents the last harvest, and Wiccans usually give thanks to the goddess or god for a plentiful year.

Caroline would only reveal her middle name because she is very uncomfortable revealing her religion to the public. Many students, she says, do not understand the beliefs and rituals of Wicca.

‘People can stereotype so easily, even on an open-minded campus,’ Caroline said. ‘Some people will just look at you and say, ‘So you’re a witch, right?”

But not all witches are Wiccans, Caroline said. Wiccans belong to many different sects, which each have varying rituals and traditions, Caroline said. Only satanist witches, who are not considered Wiccan, worship the devil.

‘Different sects believe in different things, and with me, there is no such thing as hell or a devil,’ Caroline said. ‘So when people associate witches with the devil … I feel offended because people just need to open their minds.’

The SU Pagan Association held Samhain circles to celebrate the day last Friday and Saturday nights on the Quad near Hendricks Chapel, and it also held an information session to educate members of the university community of its rituals and beliefs.

‘A lot of what we do know about the ancient practice is what people during the Inquisition wrote about it,’ said Kate Bell, the Interdenominational Protestant Campus Ministry chaplin. ‘Wiccans, pagans, we can’t just lump them all together.’

The organization, based in Hendricks Chapel, meets all the chapel’s requirements for a religious group, including one which prohibits a group from acting in secret.

‘In terms of standing within the chapel, they have absolutely the same standards as every other group,’ Bell said. ‘Are you working for the good of the world? Are you accountable for what you do?’

Halloween, which is celebrated more heavily in the United States than in any other country, is the second most lucrative decorating holiday for retailers. Some people do not celebrate Halloween for this reason, and because they believe Samhain maintains its original values and purposes.

‘It was created as a ‘holiday’ by corporations who made it up just to make money and exploit people,’ said Andrea Ogden, a graduate student studying social work. ‘I’ll participate and celebrate a ritual that has meaning and significance in my life, but I won’t be told what is and what isn’t a holiday by a corporation.’

Ogden fully supports those Wiccans and pagans who celebrate Halloween as Samhain because it has a real meaning for them.

‘If you celebrate All Hallows’ Eve and All Saints’ Day, then right on,’ Ogden said.

But if people learned more of the religious background about Halloween, Roy said, they could decide if they truly want to celebrate the day.

‘I wish people could be more educated about the history of it,’ Roy said, ‘rather than go about celebrating it just like everyone else does.’

Published on October 30, 2003 at 12:00 pm