After some open-minded and positive reporting of witchcraft and paganism over recent years, it is a shame to see discriminatory views being expressed without challenge, particularly now that it is almost a half a century since the repeal of the Witchcraft Act. After all seeds need the dark to germinate and we need the dark of night in which to recuperate and dream. Death come to all of us and whatever one believes to be the post-mortem destination of the soul, it is not the end of existence. Halloween, or Samhain as we call if after the Celtic culture, it is a time when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest. It is a time when we remember and honour our ancestors, both genetic and cultural, bid farewell to those who have passed away during the year, and to welcome new souls into the world.

Samhain, or Halloween, deals with the difficult questions of life an death, rather than simply brushing them under the carpet. Witchcraft and other forms of paganism are holistic spiritual systems, which are concerned with the whole person. We do not claim to be the only way and Christianity is a perfectly valid form of observance for those drawn to it. But some of its adherents seems to think it is in a way they would surely not dare with regard to Hinduism Islam or Buddhism.