SANTA WALKS AMONG US!! BEWARE THE GHOULS!!
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
Let’s face it, Halloween in Utah is a crap shoot, weatherwise. You just never know what you are going to get.
My daughters, for years, insisted on froufrou, frilly, barely there costumes, like princess dresses. These are not practical costumes, because you have to know that mom is NOT going to let you out of the house, in freezing temperatures, wearing little more than Cinderella’s dress! Better you should choose to dress up like the abominable snowman. Or an antarctic explorer. But you don’t see many of those at Halloween.
Growing up, we always knew there was the chance we were going to have to put on our costumes and then COVER IT UP with a huge coat and gloves, as it could be raining or even worse, snowing. I remember visiting houses on Halloween covered by a large, black garbage bag, to keep off the rain and sleet. Gee mom, thanks! Hard to see the princess costume through that!
We used to try and sneak out before mom caught us, and wrapped us up tight until our costumes were no longer recognizable! It never worked. My mother had five kids, eyes in the back of her head and spider sense. Necessary tools when raising that many kids.
The truth is, with that many kids, we never had storebought costumes. We had to make do with what we could find around the house. Despite that, I never once went trick-or-treating dressed as a good little Mormon girl in her Sunday best. I did go as a gypsy, wearing my mom’s old skirt, a bandanna around my head, and big hoop earrings made from string and canning jar lids.
Since I went without costumes as a child, I was determined that my OWN children would not. Their first few Halloweens were spent in costumes from Disney, that I might have been able to buy cheaper by hopping a plane and flying to California to get personally–Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Cruella DeVille. A few years after THAT phase, I discovered that Wal-Mart and K-Mart have cute costumes that are cheap. The last few years, I have discovered that my mother was not as dumb as I thought. “Here, put on this garbage bag and paint your face white. Wow, don’t you look cute!”
My kids do not appreciate the new me. My wallet does. I spent about $4.50 on their costumes this year.
Back to Halloween in Utah. I’ve always been a little perplexed, though, by the way Utahns (read Mormons) embrace Halloween. Most of the Christian Churches around here do not celebrate the Pagan holiday, and in fact, usually hold other events like “Harvest” festivals.
Mormons don’t seem to have the same problem with Halloween, despite the fact that SATAN walks among them EVERY DAY! I’ve never heard so much referring to Satan as I do when I get emails from Mormons. They constantly tell me that Satan is VERY, VERY real, and he is working his ways on me BIG TIME. Don’t listen to Satan! He is sneaky! He is conniving.
I’ve always wondered how they differentiate “Satan” from the Holy Ghost? Hmmm? How do THEY know that it’s the Holy Ghost, and not the bad guy talking? They don’t wonder the same thing. They figure if it’s a pro-Mormon message, it’s the HG, and if it’s anti-Mormon, it’s Satan. Life is easy when you are Mormon. There are no gray zones.
Speaking of that, has anyone else noticed that if you switch a few letters around at the end, Satan becomes Santa? Just wondering. I’m sure people like Mormons–people that haven’t noticed the fact that if you remove ONE LETTER from Mormon, it becomes Moron–are not going to notice that. But I digress.
With the strong belief in Satan, why, when they believe LUCIFER is so real, do they LOVE Halloween, with its ghosts, ghouls, witches, and Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles? Hmm. Not sure that last one belongs. But you get my drift.
Satan is REAL! He walks among us. Be careful tonight! Watch for people saying Mormonism is NOT true. That’s how you can identify him. Other than that, you’re on your own.
Trick or Treat!
Let’s face it, Halloween in Utah is a crap shoot, weatherwise. You just never know what you are going to get.
My daughters, for years, insisted on froufrou, frilly, barely there costumes, like princess dresses. These are not practical costumes, because you have to know that mom is NOT going to let you out of the house, in freezing temperatures, wearing little more than Cinderella’s dress! Better you should choose to dress up like the abominable snowman. Or an antarctic explorer. But you don’t see many of those at Halloween.
Growing up, we always knew there was the chance we were going to have to put on our costumes and then COVER IT UP with a huge coat and gloves, as it could be raining or even worse, snowing. I remember visiting houses on Halloween covered by a large, black garbage bag, to keep off the rain and sleet. Gee mom, thanks! Hard to see the princess costume through that!
We used to try and sneak out before mom caught us, and wrapped us up tight until our costumes were no longer recognizable! It never worked. My mother had five kids, eyes in the back of her head and spider sense. Necessary tools when raising that many kids.
The truth is, with that many kids, we never had storebought costumes. We had to make do with what we could find around the house. Despite that, I never once went trick-or-treating dressed as a good little Mormon girl in her Sunday best. I did go as a gypsy, wearing my mom’s old skirt, a bandanna around my head, and big hoop earrings made from string and canning jar lids.
Since I went without costumes as a child, I was determined that my OWN children would not. Their first few Halloweens were spent in costumes from Disney, that I might have been able to buy cheaper by hopping a plane and flying to California to get personally–Tinkerbell, Cinderella, Cruella DeVille. A few years after THAT phase, I discovered that Wal-Mart and K-Mart have cute costumes that are cheap. The last few years, I have discovered that my mother was not as dumb as I thought. “Here, put on this garbage bag and paint your face white. Wow, don’t you look cute!”
My kids do not appreciate the new me. My wallet does. I spent about $4.50 on their costumes this year.
Back to Halloween in Utah. I’ve always been a little perplexed, though, by the way Utahns (read Mormons) embrace Halloween. Most of the Christian Churches around here do not celebrate the Pagan holiday, and in fact, usually hold other events like “Harvest” festivals.
Mormons don’t seem to have the same problem with Halloween, despite the fact that SATAN walks among them EVERY DAY! I’ve never heard so much referring to Satan as I do when I get emails from Mormons. They constantly tell me that Satan is VERY, VERY real, and he is working his ways on me BIG TIME. Don’t listen to Satan! He is sneaky! He is conniving.
I’ve always wondered how they differentiate “Satan” from the Holy Ghost? Hmmm? How do THEY know that it’s the Holy Ghost, and not the bad guy talking? They don’t wonder the same thing. They figure if it’s a pro-Mormon message, it’s the HG, and if it’s anti-Mormon, it’s Satan. Life is easy when you are Mormon. There are no gray zones.
Speaking of that, has anyone else noticed that if you switch a few letters around at the end, Satan becomes Santa? Just wondering. I’m sure people like Mormons–people that haven’t noticed the fact that if you remove ONE LETTER from Mormon, it becomes Moron–are not going to notice that. But I digress.
With the strong belief in Satan, why, when they believe LUCIFER is so real, do they LOVE Halloween, with its ghosts, ghouls, witches, and Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles? Hmm. Not sure that last one belongs. But you get my drift.
Satan is REAL! He walks among us. Be careful tonight! Watch for people saying Mormonism is NOT true. That’s how you can identify him. Other than that, you’re on your own.
Trick or Treat!
