I’ve been told that my history of learning about the origins of Halloween is unique. When I was in the 5th grade, the gifted program I was in decided that we needed to learn that the entire world wasn’t Christian, and there are other belief systems out there. It was certainly a lesson we needed to learn, but their methods of teaching it might seem unconventional in this day and time.
They taught us this by teaching us about ghosts, witchcraft, and the occult. And that same year, some family friends went to Salem, Massachusetts and thought it would be fun to bring me back a devil’s trap. So now you know why I have/wear a devil’s trap and don’t think it’s weird at all. I’ve had one since I was 10. Sadly, I lost that one when we moved in 2008, but I did get another one online. Still, I hate I lost the original one I had.
Honestly, it was probably my most interesting time in school. While I was aware of some ghost stories, I found this strange “otherworldly” stuff to be fascinating. I even tried to recreate it by taking a comparative religion course in college as an elective, but that fell far short of my childhood education as they decided to venture to “safer” topics like Native American beliefs as their nature-based religion course. Perhaps that’s why I gravitated toward being a paranormal mystery/suspense writer. I’ve been in a scifi mode the past few years, but I do intend and hope to return to paranormal mystery in the future.
It’s also why I see Halloween as a fun holiday. While it might sound shocking to have 10 year olds study such things, they did make it fun and age appropriate (as age appropriate as you can get with this stuff, anyway). It wasn’t presented as fact, but rather as a history of the season to show the true origins of what we recognize and/or celebrate this time of year. That gave it an “aha” element because now we knew the origins of Halloween, and what contributed to it. It’s also good to know, good to respect in others who believe in it, but you don’t have to like or believe it. If only we had similar attitudes toward different opinions in this day and time!
Of course, it’s not exclusive knowledge in my 5th grade class anymore. We all know about the Festival of Samhain, the Celtic New Year, the supernatural, the paranormal, and all things otherworldly now. The Internet and television have made this common knowledge. But I must admit that it was fascinating to learn it “old school” and it’s one of many happy childhood memories.
I wonder if they’re still teaching this in that gifted program in our school district? That school closed in June, but surely the snazzy new school they moved to has room and staff to satisfy childhood curiosity on why we dress up and trick or treat for Halloween.
That’s all today. Take care. Have a fun, safe, and Happy Halloween, and a great rest of the week.
Bye!
They taught us this by teaching us about ghosts, witchcraft, and the occult. And that same year, some family friends went to Salem, Massachusetts and thought it would be fun to bring me back a devil’s trap. So now you know why I have/wear a devil’s trap and don’t think it’s weird at all. I’ve had one since I was 10. Sadly, I lost that one when we moved in 2008, but I did get another one online. Still, I hate I lost the original one I had.
Honestly, it was probably my most interesting time in school. While I was aware of some ghost stories, I found this strange “otherworldly” stuff to be fascinating. I even tried to recreate it by taking a comparative religion course in college as an elective, but that fell far short of my childhood education as they decided to venture to “safer” topics like Native American beliefs as their nature-based religion course. Perhaps that’s why I gravitated toward being a paranormal mystery/suspense writer. I’ve been in a scifi mode the past few years, but I do intend and hope to return to paranormal mystery in the future.
It’s also why I see Halloween as a fun holiday. While it might sound shocking to have 10 year olds study such things, they did make it fun and age appropriate (as age appropriate as you can get with this stuff, anyway). It wasn’t presented as fact, but rather as a history of the season to show the true origins of what we recognize and/or celebrate this time of year. That gave it an “aha” element because now we knew the origins of Halloween, and what contributed to it. It’s also good to know, good to respect in others who believe in it, but you don’t have to like or believe it. If only we had similar attitudes toward different opinions in this day and time!
Of course, it’s not exclusive knowledge in my 5th grade class anymore. We all know about the Festival of Samhain, the Celtic New Year, the supernatural, the paranormal, and all things otherworldly now. The Internet and television have made this common knowledge. But I must admit that it was fascinating to learn it “old school” and it’s one of many happy childhood memories.
I wonder if they’re still teaching this in that gifted program in our school district? That school closed in June, but surely the snazzy new school they moved to has room and staff to satisfy childhood curiosity on why we dress up and trick or treat for Halloween.
That’s all today. Take care. Have a fun, safe, and Happy Halloween, and a great rest of the week.
Bye!
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