Boreal Witch

When I was a kid, I didn't know anyone who didn't celebrate Halloween. My sisters and I loved dressing up and going door-to-door. We greatly anticipated sorting through our haul afterward, trading candy and discarding the items we didn't want. (These pieces were usually eaten by our father. The pieces he didn't want sat until the following March...just in time for Easter.)

As I got older and started to mingle with a younger generation of kids, I became completely baffled by the number of children who didn't celebrate Halloween. "It's evil," they'd say.

Evil?

Really?

I couldn't fathom what was so evil about dressing up and Trick-or-Treating. I thought the whole matter was utterly ridiculous.

As it turns out, the rise of Evangelicalism has brought about more than a wave of ignorance. It's brought back the Harvest Festival.

Brought back? you say.

Interestingly enough, Halloween is more of a Christian holiday than it is a Pagan one. Many European groups (most notably the Celts) celebrated Harvest Festivals as a time to celebrate the end of fall and to prepare for the beginning of winter. As the Christian belief system started integrating with the local Pagan customs, new rituals emerged: wearing costumes to prevent soul-snatching and requesting treats in exchange for prayers.

Different traditions continued to meld until Halloween was eventually formed into the holiday we know and love. It seems that many avid Evangelicals have forgotten its Christian roots and instead have claimed it as Satanic.

Here in Fairbanks I don't recall a church that didn't have a Harvest Festival this year (except for the Mormons - we attended their Halloween Canival and Trunk-or-Treat Extravaganza - rock on, Mormons, rock on). Signs broadcasted that on the night of October 31st, there would be no Halloween - just the Harvest Festival.

The whole situation is deliciously ironic: Christianity, in its attempt to stomp out Pagan rituals, has re-kindled the very rite they tried to extinguish. I smile knowingly whenever I see a "Harvest Festival" sign.

Additionally, we also had the pleasure of seeing a Halloween picketer on the corner of College and University just a weekend ago. His sign read, "Halloween is Satanic. America will be judged."

Apperantly he didn't get the memo either.

My thoughts? If you are truly Christian, go on. Wear that costume. Go trick-or-treating with your kids. Enjoy Halloween. Don't worry about whether or not God's going to strike you down. Halloween's been around since the late 12th century. If God were going to punish anyone for dressing up and demanding treats, He would have done it by now.

And if you're Pagan? Go ahead, dress up. Eat some candy. But roast a chicken and braise some root vegetables as well. Give thanks for the fall and make a mental list of all the winter preparations you'll need to do. Celebrate your loved ones who have departed within the last year. Thank them for all that they taught you.

Me? I'm off to get some more Halloween candy.

Blessed be.

Arthur didn't have school on the 26th, so we invited his friends over for a Halloween Party. While some people are not wild about getting a party favor after a party, I love giving out party favors. I think it's a nice way to express gratitude for someone coming over and spending time with you. That being said, I don't always like receiving party favors because inevitably they are little made-in-China-pieces-of-crap that end up shattering when I accidentally step on them. So, when I do give favors, I try and give something small, useful, fun, and homemade.

Thus, the troll booger.

I found a recipe for "gak" online and made some for the party. Arthur helped me stuff the bags and print and stick on the labels. He seemed pretty excited about the "boogers."

As the party wound down, I told the kids that Arthur and I went under our house and collected some troll boogers for everyone. As his friend Jade was getting ready to leave, she asked what the green stuff was. Amanda told her it was a troll booger that we had collected from the trolls under our house. Jade could play with the booger, but could not eat it.

After all his friends left, Arthur asked why we had trolls living under our house.

I wasn't sure if he was honestly curious or if he was playing along with the game I began, so I told him the trolls liked our house because it was just the right size. Other houses on the block were too small or too big or had mean dogs, but not our house. So they wanted to live here.

Eventually I asked him if he'd like to make some bread for the trolls. He screamed, "YES!"

There is some method to my madness. It is customary to make bread for the dead around Halloween for the spirits. I wasn't sure if Arthur would understand that concept (what is a spirit anyway?), but I knew he would (sort of) understand if the trolls were given bread to eat. One day, when he's a little older and wiser, he'll be able to make the transition from trolls to spirits a little easier. I hope.

On the Menu: Troll Bread
Serves 4 Trolls
adapted from Chikousky Farms (recipe here)

Starter:
2 cups flour
2 cups kefir

Bread:
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tbs. sugar
1 1/5 tbs. butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rye flour
extra butter for greasing pans
raisins for decorating

Mix together ingredients for the starter. Let sit for about 24 hours in a warm place.

When starter is ready, mix together the rest of the ingredients. Let sit for about an hour or two in a warm place to rise. Knead the dough into troll shapes and decorate with raisins. Put on a greased pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (or until nicely browned on the outside).

Place on a plate and set outside for the trolls.   

Blessed be.

It's the last three months of the year. My tongue says, "Into my mouth, sweets!" but my waistline says, "No, no, NO!!!"

Even when given an opportunity to throw away those tempting sugary sweets I won't do it. Example: I made too much frosting for Arthur's Halloween party. He begged and begged to squeeze out the rest of the frosting...but I hate to let good frosting go to waste, so I promised to make cookies over the weekend. Sugar cookies. The frostable kind. (You can find the recipe here. Make them with the brandy instead of milk. You will not regret it.)

We decorated the cookies while Balin napped. Arthur loved squeezing the frosting onto the cookies and trying to make designs (even though most of his efforts created little frosting worms instead of actual shapes or designs).

I frosted a pumpkin. Arthur liked it so much he ate it. I find that he has a knack for choosing the "best-looking" thing and wanting it, even if he didn't make it. The boy's got good taste; someday he and I will have to go antiquing and redecorate the house together.

I think Arthur's going to have a blast this year when we create another entry for Fairbanks' annual gingerbread house competition. Not only will he be able to put candy on the house, but he'll be able to use the cake decorating tips to distribute the frosting as well. Balin will have fun decorating (and eating the candy), but Arthur will enjoy making the gingerbread house on so many other levels.

Blessed be.