I'm not a Wiccan, although I do know a little about Wicca ... enough to know that the festival known today as Halloween pre-dates the religion known as "Wicca" today by at least two millenia, and perhaps even three, four or more.

As such, the festival of Halloween embodies a cultural heritage common to all northern Europeans - Christian, pagan or whatever. And Halloween is not strictly a European tradition ... see the thread called "Halloween, C17 Huron style" for an eyewitness account of how "Halloween" was celebrated by one "nation" of the indigenous peoples of North America before the arrival of the Europeans.

So, imo a Wiccan's opinion of present-day Halloween traditions carries no more weight or relevance than that of a Christian, a Native North American or any other genre of "pagan".


daylia