I have mixed emotions about Halloween. On the one hand, I have fond memories of being a child and dressing up as all kinds of things, getting scared at haunted houses and savoring candy for longer than most kids did. (I still take my time with whatever sweets I get!) When my kids were little, we did the same thing, taking them trick or treating, having fun with costumes, and being careful not to eat too much candy at once.
I’m not sure at what point certain aspects of the holiday began to bug me. I grew in my spiritual journey, and I began to experience some supernatural things, plenty of great things like being given images for artworks and learning about miraculous healings. But then I also bumped up against real evil and found myself contending for someone else against demonic oppression. It’s not my story to tell but I learned that seriously evil stuff exists, and some of the aspects of Halloween hit a bit too close to reality to make me entirely comfortable with images of witches and evil spirits now.
You might wonder what in the world am I talking about when I myself create imagery relating to death, using skulls and dead creatures to produce my artworks. Isn’t that a lot like the pot calling the kettle black? It’s true that I do not shy away from death in my artworks. But you might notice that there is also always something more in my works and that often the image is more about life and transformation than death. It’s funny to me that people have found some of my own artwork “creepy,” because I never think of it that way myself. So, I’m sure that I see other folks things through my own filtered views. At some point I might get past my discomfort with Halloween, or maybe I will just sit with the discomfort and be careful not to jump to any conclusions.
I know that most people are just having fun with Halloween, and I do sometimes, too. I certainly don’t judge anyone else for having fun with Halloween; it’s not really a big deal and I’ll just keep muddling through it each year. It’s just one of those complicated things, maybe you’ve got something like that in your life, too.