# School District Cancels Halloween So As Not To Offend Real Witches **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492 **Category:** The BBQ Pit **Created:** [October 21, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492 "2004-10-21T21:23:27Z") **Posts on this page:** 20 **Page:** 3
### Author: ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/41 "2004-10-22T09:57:17Z")
Are there any hard-line, fundamentalist Wiccans out there? PLEASE tell me they burn schismatic, Samhain-and-Beltain-only Wiccans at the stake? ---
### Author: ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/42 "2004-10-22T11:22:25Z")
> [@](#): > > Many Wiccans trace the name (Wicca and/or witch) back to variants of “wise-woman” . . . Which is the point of my snide remark, above: the word “witch” in all its earlier incarnations back to the beginnings of English has never meant “wise”; it has always been the word indicating a person who uses supernatural influences to inflict harm. (A much later introduction was “white witch” to indicate a person dabbling in the supernatural without intending harm, but without the “white” modifier, witch always meant a nasty, harmful person.) There have been occasions, during the periods when spelling was not a priority for writers of English, when people occasionally used _wice_ to spell _wise_, but it was clearly a simple substitution of c for s that did not affect pronunciation and was never extended to include the _wicce_ or _wyche_ variants of people doing evil. I do like the idea that sending a kid out in a three-piece suit and a briefcase could truly inspire fear in people. Lord knows a handful of suits have inflicted more damage on this country than all the neo-pagans we’ve engendered, combined. ---
### Author: ![NorwegianBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NorwegianBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NorwegianBlue) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/43 "2004-10-22T11:42:31Z")
> [@Cinnamon Girl](#): > > Honey, is that you? Trippy. Mr. Cinnamon ( **Norwegian Blue** , respectfully) and I were discussing this earlier today. He said exactly the same as you, pointing out that our 5 year old daughter is also a going to be a witch this year. He (being a pagan) is not in the least offended by this. As a matter of fact, we are quite proud she chose to be as I am a witch every year on this one day (the other 364 I’m just a plain ole agnostic). > 😃 Nope, but this is what I get for waiting before posting. **Diogenes** beat me to it. Funny the circumstance is very similar though. I suppose there are pagans who don’t like the storybook “evil witch” image, but they need to get a grip on reality. One could apply very similar misonceptions to any given holiday, or group of people and they all seem to deal with it in their own way. **off topic** Actually, I see Halloween as more than just a candy grab. I also associate it with Samhain, which is the time I take the opportunity to honor loved ones who have died and offer them thanks for being a part of mine. I light a candle and say a blessing for them. The little one informed me, without prompting, that this year she wants to honor our kitty who died unexpectedly this past year. **resume topic** But the cruxt of this issue is that we are finally seeing a progression of overly sensitive political correctness. (if you want to call it that) some will misunderstand the intentions as trying to minimize the holiday as non-religious. If they want to stop offending us pagans then stop making them say “under God” in the Pledge of Allegience, and stop pushing intelligent design in their science books. Telling us that Holloween is cancelled because they don’t want to offend real witches is disingenuous as far as I am concerned. However, as has already been pointed out, this is only one of a small list of reasons they are cancelling the in school festivities. As for the less fortunate who cannot afford costumes. That never stopped kids in my neighborhood from trick-or-treating. Children can be very resourceful. Given a very low budget, I’ve seen some pretty creative costumes using houshold items. But lets not foster creativity in the school system…that would be horrible. In the words of Nigel Thornberry _“That’s Sarcasm Dear, Muahhhh!”_ that was for you cin ---
### Author: ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/44 "2004-10-22T13:10:50Z")
Results of the KSBW poll, as of this morning: ```auto Should schools cancel Halloween parties so as not to offend people who practice the Wiccan and Pagan religions? Choice Votes Pct of 17117 Votes Yes. It may offend Pagans and Wiccans. 452 3% No. But they should be canceled for other reasons. 2774 16% No. Let students celebrate Halloween. 13891 81% ``` (I’d still like to find out if they had _Wiccan_ complaints or whether they are covering up the fact that they had _Fundy_ complaints.) ---
### Author: ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/45 "2004-10-22T13:26:38Z")
**tomndebb** , that’s _exactly_ what I was thinking. > [@](#): > > Actually, I see Halloween as more than just a candy grab. I also associate it with Samhain, which is the time I take the opportunity to honor loved ones who have died and offer them thanks for being a part of mine. I light a candle and say a blessing for them. See, me too. And then I do the candy after that… just like I have a ritual for Yule and then trek up to Mom’s house for Giftmas. If I get stuff and nobody makes me pray, I’m in. ---
### Author: ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/46 "2004-10-22T13:38:28Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > The problem with opposing the witches, though, is they can turn you into a newt. Yeah – look at what happened to that poor congressman from Georgia! ::: ducks and runs ::: ---
### Author: ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/47 "2004-10-22T13:46:27Z")
\See, the one Samhain tradition I wanna see come back is the turnip carving. Yes, that’s right, turnips. In parts of Ireland, folks used to carve out turnips in which they’d put a candle, n’ place that in the window to draw the ghosts of the ancestors in for their feast. 😉 (That’s an old Irish thing, apparently.) \ I say let the kids be kids, damnit. What does it matter, anyway! I’ve heard of many catholic schools in the Ottawa area who “cancelled” Halloween because it was a satanic holiday anyway. :rolleyes: ---
### Author: ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/48 "2004-10-22T14:17:52Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Thanks for weighing in, **Taters** , since it gives me the opportunity to ask the \*real \* question that everyone reading this thread has no doubt been wondering: what the hell kind of name for a place is “Puyallup,” anyway? It sounds like one of those mythical frontier beasts like the jackalope or the hodag. Is it by any chance a Native American term meaning “land of cranky witches?” Puyallup is a Native American name. They are a tribe. We also have the Puyallup river. I don’t know what the name itself translates to. I used to know, but it’s one of those things you learn in school and then forget. I like your name better though! ---
### Author: ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/49 "2004-10-22T14:44:03Z")
> [@Elenfair](#): > > \See, the one Samhain tradition I wanna see come back is the turnip carving. Yes, that’s right, turnips. In parts of Ireland, folks used to carve out turnips in which they’d put a candle, n’ place that in the window to draw the ghosts of the ancestors in for their feast. 😉 (That’s an old Irish thing, apparently.) \ > > I say let the kids be kids, damnit. What does it matter, anyway! I’ve heard of many catholic schools in the Ottawa area who “cancelled” Halloween because it was a satanic holiday anyway. :rolleyes: I will carve a turnip and put it out for all to see. I have two carved pumpkins on my stoop. ---
### Author: ![NorwegianBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NorwegianBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NorwegianBlue) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/50 "2004-10-22T14:47:32Z")
> [@Taters](#): > > Puyallup is a Native American name. They are a tribe. We also have the Puyallup river. I don’t know what the name itself translates to. I used to know, but it’s one of those things you learn in school and then forget. I like your name better though! No disrespect but I thought it was just something you say when someone falls down a well…“hang on, I’m going to Puyallup!” Ooooh, I’m going to pay for this one. ---
### Author: ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/51 "2004-10-22T15:08:58Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > The problem with opposing the witches, though, is they can turn you into a newt. Sir Bedevere : What makes you think she’s a witch? Peasant 3 : Well she turned me into a newt. Sir Bedevere : A newt? Peasant 3 : …I got better. Crowd: [BURN HER ANYWAY](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071853/quotes). Come on people! This many messages and no Monty Python reference?? ---
### Author: ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/52 "2004-10-22T15:39:33Z")
> [@Elenfair](#): > > I say let the kids be kids, damnit. What does it matter, anyway! I’ve heard of many catholic schools in the Ottawa area who “cancelled” Halloween because it was a satanic holiday anyway. :rolleyes: The Catholic school next to my bus stop has Halloween-type decorations up in the classroom windows. Skeletons, witches, jack-o-lanterns, and such. ---
### Author: ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/53 "2004-10-22T16:11:17Z")
> [@5que](#): > > Sir Bedevere : What makes you think she’s a witch? > Peasant 3 : Well she turned me into a newt. > Sir Bedevere : A newt? > Peasant 3 : …I got better. > Crowd: [BURN HER ANYWAY](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071853/quotes). > > Come on people! This many messages and no Monty Python reference?? Build a bridge out of 'er! ---
### Author: ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/54 "2004-10-22T16:16:21Z")
I thought Puyallup was a traffic reporter term: '_Commuters should avoid 495 this afternoon, there’s a puyallup on the outer loop between 95 and 1_. 😃 ---
### Author: ![Cerri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3bc359/32.png) [@Cerri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerri) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/55 "2004-10-22T16:33:39Z")
> [@Kallessa](#): > > I have known both Wiccans and Witches that were bothered by the pointy-nosed portrayal of witches (the ones that really got them were the witches that could be stuck on a tree or post so it looks like they flew into it). I’m a pagan, and I think those things are hilarious. I laughed so hard the first time I saw one, I almost peed. I used to have one when I had my house, and put it up every year. ---
### Author: ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/56 "2004-10-22T16:45:05Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Build a bridge out of 'er! Can you not also build bridges out of stone? ---
### Author: ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/57 "2004-10-22T17:22:50Z")
Lessee… a) Part of the initial attraction to the concept of “being a witch” is that it was antithetical to the orthodoxy. It is, in other words, one of the things that the pompous, self-righteous, ubiquitous and brickheadedly nonthinking religious folks one likely has the misfortune to be raised around, if not necessarily by, condemn as **Eeeeevil**. b) Part of the more serious and continued attraction to the concept of “being a witch” is that its very perspective is inherently antithetical to such things as a hierarchy of spiritual authority or an Official Establishment of WitchChurch, and that it is critical in a serious sense of orthodoxies, of recipe-following approaches to religion, of asserting that there are single answers to questions and that we know what they are and can or could ever insist that everyone ascribe to them. In other words, there are serious and mature philosophical underpinnings to that “Halloween mask”, to that delicious fun of identifying as that which the orthodox condemn as **Eeeeevil**. In light of that — it’s one thing to complain about witch-burning or condemnation of people as witches in a way that actually does them damage. (Not so much because it is a Bad Thing to oppress actual card-carrying self-identified Wiccans as because of the larger sense in which, if Witch = Outsider-labeled- **Eeeeevil** , it is always wrong to oppress those so identified). It’s another thing, and a **damn stupid thing** , to lay claim to this identity and then turn around and complain “Waaah, they are pointing fingers at us and not taking us seriously and according us due respect, they’re, you know, calling us ‘Witches’ and stuff.” ---
### Author: ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/58 "2004-10-22T17:40:23Z")
> [@gobear](#): > > Can you not also build bridges out of stone? Well, what else floats besides wood? ---
### Author: ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/59 "2004-10-22T17:42:48Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Well, what else floats besides wood? A duck! ---
### Author: ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic) #### Post date: [October 22, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492/60 "2004-10-22T18:30:21Z")
Very small rocks? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/school-district-cancels-halloween-so-as-not-to-offend-real-witches/270492.md?page=4)