Don't tell them about the chicks and bunnies

TORONTO - Teachers should forego traditional classroom Halloween celebrations because they are disrespectful of Wiccans and may cause some children to feel excluded, says a Toronto District School Board memo sent to principals and teachers this week.

"Many recently arrived students in our schools share absolutely none of the background cultural knowledge that is necessary to view 'trick or treating,' the commercialization of death, the Christian sexist demonization of pagan religious beliefs, as 'fun,' " says the memo.

Entitled "Halloween at TDSB Schools: Scarrrrrry Stufff," the document seeks to clarify for teachers and principals the extent to which Halloween activities should be pursued in multicultural settings. In the past, the unsigned memo laments, schools have received "mixed messages" from the board regarding Halloween.

So Canada is just as whacky as the US at trying to appease everyone. Show me one witch who's offended by Halloween. And as far as the "background cultural knowledge," how do their parents explain what's in the neighbor's yard, at the grocery store or why little kids come and ring the bell asking for candy on Oct 31? Anyway...

Citing calls by concerned principals and parents on the subject, the memo aims to make classroom Halloween celebrations consistent with the board's "equitable schools policies" and warns that "some students and their parents/ guardians might experience their first Halloween not as a 'strange surprise,' but a 'traumatic shock.' "

Traumatic shock. I took my 2 year old to the mall's trick-or-treat last night and the only thing that scared her was the noise coming out of Spencer's.

The memo goes on to remind teachers that, "Halloween is a religious day of significance for Wiccans and therefore should be treated respectfully."

Actually, that would be Samhain, which is a separate entity from Halloween as most folks know. But I blogged about that previously.

For other students, "food products that are marketed heavily during the Halloween period" may conflict with dietary habits that children know from home. An alternative to eating sweets in class would be to "write health warnings for all Halloween candies."

This is why I can't hand out Snickers anymore.

The memo also warns teachers that "some students have had first-hand traumatic experiences of violence that make talking about death, ghosts, etc. extremely alienating."

Oh good god. Some children might have once been poked by a pencil; that doesn't mean they're denied writing implements, does it?

Nicole Cooper, a first-degree priestess of the Wiccan Church of Canada's Toronto Temple, agreed. "Frankly, Wiccans are a minority -- an extreme religious minority," she said.

The Halloween celebrations of North American pop culture, she added, are "not actually threatening to my religion anymore than eggs and cute little bunnies are threatening to Easter."

Called Samhain by many Wiccans, Oct. 31 is the day the faithful celebrate the "turn of the new year," when the veil between this world and the underworld of departed souls is "at its thinnest," Ms. Cooper said.

Many Wiccans perform "dumb suppers," eating meals before spaces made empty for the dead. Some gaze into water-filled bowels [!] for a peek at the future, a divination technique called "scrying."

But none of this, Ms. Cooper said yesterday, should persuade schools to stop the candy-eating and costume-wearing of students. Indeed, many Wiccans themselves celebrate both Samhain and the masks-and-treats version of Halloween.

"If I had children I wouldn't deprive them of that -- it's a really fun thing to do. It's engaging in the spirit of the season; it's exciting for kids," Ms. Cooper said.

Well I don't gaze into water-filled bowels but I do scry. I usually flame-scry, which I also do at Yule.

This reminds me: I need to get my Samhain shit together so I can actually do something Monday night.