Mischief by Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D.

Mischief

Reader, do you remember the scene in the movie Meet Me in St. Louis where the kids are throwing furniture on the bonfire in the street on Halloween and Tootie (Margaret O’Brien) approaches the door of the “evil neighbor” and throws flour on him?

          For reasons having much to do, I suspect, with the Puritan foundation of the U.S., an enormous amount of mischief is associated with the hallowed evening we call Samhain. In Detroit, for example, it’s Devil’s Night. People commit acts of vandalism, and set fires. Trying to fight the “devil,” city officials have recently organized an Angel’s Night wherein volunteers monitor the streets to stop the vandalism.

          Possibly the most interesting bit of Halloween mischief occurred on October 30, 1938, when Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre broadcast a realistic adaptation of H.G. Wells’ novel, The War of the Worlds, on CBS radio. Wells’ novel was set in England in the 1890s, but in Wells’ adaptation the fictitious invasion took place in New Jersey. The drama was a simulated news broadcast that interrupted a musical show, much as our Eyewitless News broadcasts interrupt with breaking news—“This just in.” Wells’ listeners were captured by the drama. People rushed to New Jersey, there was a public panic, and eventually the police had to be brought in. Ever since, TV networks have broadcast disclaimers during movies about atomic war, plague, and the late, great Y2K bug.

          I’ve noticed a new mischief. I collect witches. From August through October, I shop for new ones. But you know what? I’m finding fewer and fewer witches. I find vampires and movie monsters, but there are almost no witches. Children are being “kept safe” from Halloween. Retailers are being pressured not to sell witches. Preachers are still preaching that their devil is behind our holiday.

Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D. (www.barbaraardinger.com), is the author of Pagan Every Day: Finding the Extraordinary in Our Ordinary Lives (RedWheel/Weiser, 2006), a unique daybook of daily meditations, stories, and activities. Her earlier books are Finding New Goddesses, Quicksilver Moon, Goddess Meditations, and Practicing the Presence of the Goddess. Her day job is freelance editing for people who don't want to embarrass themselves in print. Barbara lives in southern California. To purchase a signed copy of Finding New Goddesses, just send Barbara an email at bawriting@earthlink.net.