Well, it seems that in some circles I have stirred up quite a bit of interest! I have gotten some -interesting- e-mail, been given MicroSoft's One Click Away Web Award , interviewed for a newspaper article, contacted by newspapers in Europe, interviewed on the "Voice of America," considered a "hot topic" on Fidonet's HOLYSMOKE newsgroup, the page listed as a "must see" in the University of Tennessee at Martin campus newspaper, listed with the Esplanade News Line, mentioned in the Richmond Post-Despatch, linked from the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, listed with McGraw-Hill, linked with the University of Alabama's Anthropology department, linked from the Walpole Public Library in Mass., USA, linked from the Milwaukee Public Library in Wisconsin, USA, listed as a Computize Pic of the Week and even been complimented by the Witches' Voice! And the New Life Community Church even quoted quite a bit of this little effort, and reproduced my bibliography in full, for their page on Halloween!

I have even been threatened.

But .... let's set some things straight here and now:

I believe in God. That's all I will tell you about my particular religious choice, other than to say that I also believe that Jesus was -everything He said He was.- I am at peace with the Deity, and believe that the Deity is at peace with me, and my religion is a personal, and private, matter. I will NOT discuss religion with you.

I also believe in finding out the facts. I was seriously offended at the tracts' sheer ignorance (and am still offended by the lack of updated scholarship on the part of many encyclopaedias) and decided to set the record straight on the historical facts of Halloween.

If you believe that Halloween is a satanic thing, and therefore will not celebrate it, then I rejoice in your decision. If you believe that it is harmless, and thus choose to celebrate it, then I rejoice in that decision too. After reading my little paper here, I hope that you have gotten enough FACTS to make an intelligent decision, and not one based on superstition, factoids and just plain untruths.

Please don't send me e-mail filled with Bible quotes. I have read the Bible several times.

Please don't send me e-mail filled with Wiccan/Neo-Pagan quotes either. I've read much of that material too.

I am a professional folklorist.¹ I have tried to be as evenhanded as possible in this article, tho I will admit some of my irritation does come thru on occasion ..... :-) ....... if that offends you, then I apologize.

And to those who say that my use of "CE" (Common/Christian Era) rather than "AD" proves I have an anti-Christian bias ...... get real!

If you disagree with the conclusions of this article, then please research and prove your point, with references. I will be glad to read your conclusions .... and your references.

If you don't believe the information in this article, then I invite you to read it for yourself from my bibliography.

If you have some more references / links for my listing, please let me know. If they are appropriate, I will be glad to add them.

If you have a commercial site about Halloween, and you wish to list our site as a link from yours, feel free. If you wish to do a banner exchange from a commercial site, we must refuse. Any such inquiries will go unanswered.

And just in case you didn't notice this on the opening screen of this site: This document is © copyright 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 W.J. Bethancourt III All Rights Reserved, but you can link to this page without my permission, and reprint rights are liberally granted to religious and non-profit publications if you contact me first. God bless you all!

All e-mail received by the Webmaster concerning this site becomes the property of the webmaster, and may be posted in the "Comments" section of this page.

1) A "professional folklorist" collects and studies traditional songs, stories and such like. I am a professional folk
musician, and continue my interest in social anthropology by studying folklore related subjects ...... such as
Halloween, childrens' songs, urban legends, religious beliefs and practices etc. For more information, click here.