Views and Mechanics Publisher's Note Editor's Note Review of Terrorist Review of God's Gym Review of Cherry Blossoms in Twilight Creative Nonfiction Ain't Is A Word By Marcie Hollowell & Kristen Munch Love Under the Big Top By Andy Martello Revival By Brenda G. Wooley Poetry Letting Go Wish By Antoinette Brim Pam Farwick By G. David Schwartz Confession While Dining By Mary Lou Taylor Homeschooling Adventures By Beth Happel Fiction Ike Experiences Vanity By Sidney Kidd What Keeps Me Alive By Paul Brittain Minor Damage By Jane Hammons How To Cook for Your In-Laws By Ricky Ginsburg About the Contributors © 2006, River Walk Journal and respective authors and artists. All rights reserved. Do not use or reproduce without permission. River Walk Journal, Inc. Board of Directors Chairman - Elizabeth Ross Vice Chairman - Joseph Koch Secretary/Treasurer - Geri Stock-Ross Editorial Director - Patti Kurtz, DA Literacy Director - Bill Mausteller Policy Director - PA State Rep. Jess Stairs Advisory Board Chairman - Patti Kurtz, DA Asst. Chairman - Dan Lachenman, PhD Samuel Hazo Christopher Leland Edwin Yoder Joseph Bathanti Journal Staff Publisher - Elizabeth Ross Editor-In-Chief - Joseph Koch Sen. Fiction Editor - Patti Kurtz Sen. Poetry Editor - Neeldhara Misra Sen. Creative Nonfiction Editor - Brenda Coxe Contributing Editor - Robert Dittman Publicity Director (PA) - Geri Stock-Ross For information about submissions, visit http://www.riverwalkjournal.org/subs.html. Questions about promotions, subscribers' services, and advertising should be sent to publisher@riverwalkjournal.org. River Walk Journal, Inc. is a non-profit corporation run entirely by volunteers. For information about volunteer opportunities and internships, visit VolunteerMatch. |
Autumnal Musings “What will our son be for Halloween this year?” I asked the loaded question, since it now involves catering to my youngest son’s passing whims – one week it may involve Thomas the Tank Engine, the next one of the DC Marvel Superheroes. It is the last year for us to consider this choice without the restrictions imposed by schools – his preschool is at a Protestant Church, and doesn’t observe the holiday “officially” at all. Thanks to the ever-vigilant news agencies like AP and Reuters, I’m fully aware of a vast array of restrictions to and alternatives for the pagan celebration that many consider their New Year. Schools are mostly concerned about violence – rightly so in a post-Columbine society. The Christian objections to the holiday as a whole are most amusing to me. “Never forget to put out a lighted pumpkin on Halloween,” my great-grandmother would say. “You don’t want to let the devils in.” She was born in Germany, and I still don’t know if she carried this tradition over from there, or if it was acquired in the old working class neighborhood of Homewood. I did know that there were only God-fearing Christians in her old neighborhood, and they all put out jack-o-lanterns with the same reverence she did. Día de los Muertos – the Christian celebration South of the border that coincides with the Americanized Halloween – could be described as a cross between a wake and Mardi Gras. That celebration remains a time of remembrance of the dead, and recognition of the mystery of death in general. The opposite of theoretically sinful behavior of worshipping non-Christian deities or spirits, it is a tradition that discourages the return of spirits to the earth – appeasing them with gifts of food and flowers. American Christians engage in similar activities – usually placing flowers on graves on personal anniversaries. The schools recognized that the entertainment industry had pushed the envelope too far with the marketing of violent character costumes, and began restricting those sorts of things. Radical Christians, instead of trying to remind people what the holiday was really about, started offering “sin-free” alternatives. Death remains a mystery to man, and this holiday should remain a time to consider that. All Hallow’s Eve – Halloween – Día de los Muertos - All Souls’ Day – Samhain. Regardless the name, the purpose is still to remember the dead, and engage in traditions created to keep the line between the world of man and the world of the spirits intact. It is guided by superstition, but the goal is to keep man on the side of good – protect him from potential evil. Understanding that history makes one wonder what can be sinful in the old traditional observances of this holiday, and why today’s Christians choose to scorn the holiday instead of reminding the public of these roots. There is also the practical problem behind trick-or-treating – the potential for children to end up with poisoned candy or treats filled with glass or pins. As a child, I remember the hospitals opening their doors so that parents could X-ray their children’s treats. Today, the basic rule for my children is that no “strangers’” houses can be visited on this night. In October 2001, I placed stickers with our family name and phone number on every Hershey bar we gave to children – I knew some parents may have been nervous about the chocolates since they weren’t vacuum sealed and hoped that placing our name on them would alleviate any fears. It’s doubtful someone would tamper with chocolate and then place personal information on the wrapper. Shopping malls and organizations of all kinds have been offering safe trick-or-treating options for years, for the benefit of those who are new to a community, or where the streets are not very safe for children. In the late 1980s and early 1990s there was an influx of pagan activity. Some of it was malevolent, including people who would claim they had the ability to curse or “hex” others, but most was harmless, people seeking to live closer to nature or seeking alternative cures to ailments. The internet was filled with personal and group websites on paganism – some excellent educational sites, sites offering spiritual goods, and thousands of personal spots offering journal style pages on the authors’ experiences in spiritualism. The current increase in herbal medicinal treatments on store shelves worldwide is undoubtedly a direct result of that spiritual awakening, as new markets for these products were created through the information people learned from the Internet and spiritual books. Today, many publishers focus on Christianity, and shun the paganism books as sinful – a certain hypocrisy is carried with the trend as many Christians make use of the herbal remedies that were brought to the fore in part because of the pagan reawakening. “They don’t burn us anymore today, but don’t talk about the herbs,” my grandmother would say. I learned about many of the herbal remedies sold today from the women in my family. Reading the paganism books on herbal medicine was amusing, since they were telling me what I’d learned as a child. My grandmother understood that women had been burned generations before to remove women from their place in the world of medicine – a profession that men wished to control completely. Many of the women who were accused of witchcraft were actually midwives and herbalists – direct competition for the male doctors. The men used Christianity as they had before and since, to justify the removal of a group of people who were standing in their way. As I go out this year to find the perfect pumpkins to carve scary faces in, I will remember the heritage of the practice – I will yet again be thankful that pumpkins replaced turnips for creating lanterns to ward off spirits. I will cringe when I see the signs at local churches offering Halloween alternatives, and ponder which group the venom of Christian zealots will poison this year. I will teach my youngest son that this time of year is not just about costumes and candy – it is about remembering friends and relatives who have moved on, and considering the mystery of death. He will learn that death is not something to fear, in spite of the fact that it is still mysterious – the unknown in general is not meant to be feared, but considered thoughtfully and researched when possible. Most importantly, he will be taught that intolerance is born of fear and ignorance – empathy, understanding, patience and knowledge are the enemies of intolerance and tools for living a rich life. Elizabeth Ross Disclaimer Note: The views and comments conveyed in this article are exclusively those of the writer and in no way reflect, in whole or in part, the official or unofficial views, attitudes, or beliefs of River Walk Journal, Inc. |