Does Halloween tell us anything about ourselves?

[ferretrunner]

I've been wondering about the OP's question this year, too.

It seems there are two generalized camps of halloween costumers: those who see Halloween as an oppurtunity to push the envelope in regards of sexuality, morbidity, obscenity, etc., and those who see it as an opurtunity to honestly display their creativity. Like most things in life, I'd wager that one camp is inspired of Satan and the other of God. But, I digress...

I think the answer has already been stated: we can use Halloween as an excuse to reveal our deeper/deepest desires. For those who haven't had their carnal nature changed through the Atonement and whose behavior isn't dictated by higher moral codes, that means they dress up to inspire lust, fear, or shocked awe in others (to create an attention-getting sensation) for a variety of reasons. For others, it could mean visually displaying part of their personality and being- like dressing up as a polynomial (which sounds like an AWESOME idea, btw).

One other aspect of Halloween that might reveal our inner nature might be the fascination with the Occult and sorcery. I'm not going to rant about how Harry Potter is evil (I bought all 7 books, thank you very much) but I think we'd be hard pressed to find a witch or user of magic that was good and godly "back in the day". It seems the origin of many things that have become "kiddified" (faries, for example) were actually malevolent or downright evil in their earliest (recorded) incarnations. So, what do we do with the cultural fascination with the supernatural? Do we delve into the side of evil witches and banshees that reak havoc on God's children, or do we prefer to believe in the supernatural as positive and happy (the "kiddified" version)? Or do we prefer to avoid such things altogether? The answer probably tells a lot about us, as well.

For the record, I'm tempted to copy Jim from 'The Office' and dress up as 3-Hole Punch Maxel. Or just don a nametag.

Define 'back in the day' and define 'godly.' Many wise women/ healers/ midwifes were considered "witches" by their communities. "Witch" taking the meaning of "wise one." Christianity vilified the word "witch" and many of the earth based healing practices as being Satanic.