| << Front page | News | November 3, 2006 |
Off the Cuff: Sophia Potter
In recognition of Halloween, it behooves us to honor the holiday’s roots. This week, the Review interviewed College senior Sophia Potter, president of the Oberlin Pagan Awareness Network, to find out what lies beneath the costumes and candy bars.
What does ‘Pagan’ mean to you?
Pagan has a really broad definition. It technically [refers to] anyone who subscribes to any earth-based religion.
For myself, I’m a lot more specific: for me paganism is more specifically [about] Wicca…Wicca and paganism are not the same thing — like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares.
What is the true meaning of Halloween?
The root of Halloween is that it’s one of the [eight] pagan sabbats. The festival is actually called Samhain [pronounced SAH-wain] which means “summer’s end.”
It’s sort of a harvest festival. At this time of year, because it’s a switching of seasons, the veil between this world and a spiritual world is thinnest [and] permeable to things from the other world. This is probably where the idea of ghosts comes from.
It’s also the Pagan New Year. I see it as a time to have fun, to celebrate the past year. It is a time to change bad habits and do away with anything you weren’t pleased with in the past year.
What images or notions associated with Halloween do you see as misleading?
I hate the ugly witches. I know they’re cute and a part of Halloween for a lot of people, but when I walk by stores that have the ugly cackling witch over the caldron it drives me nuts because I call myself a witch.
That’s really the only Halloween imagery that bothers me.
How is dressing up and eating candy related to the permeability of the veil between this world and another?
I really do enjoy wearing costumes on Halloween and I love candy, [but] for me they’re not associated with it at all. There’s Samhain and then there’s Halloween. It was my favorite holiday even before I converted to Wicca. I think it still maintains some of its roots.
How did Halloween come so far from its roots?
I really don’t know a lot of the history of how it [came] to be commercialized. My guess it was a similar path [to] Christmas.
What are the Oberlin Pagans up to this Samhain?
We are having a retreat this weekend to one of the state parks. We basically chill out in the woods for a night [and] a couple of people will do a ritual. Two years ago it involved a string of rubber bands and funny masks.
Funny masks, huh? Apropos, what are some of the misconceptions people have about Paganism?
It’s really a range. A lot of the perceptions of pagans is that Paganism and Wiccanism are one and the same.
Also, I’m sure everyone knew that one creepy Goth kid in high school who ran around casting spells on everybody. I’d also refer to the movie The Craft, a big [example of the] misconception[s] of what pagans are about.
What does ‘Pagan’ mean to you?
Pagan has a really broad definition. It technically [refers to] anyone who subscribes to any earth-based religion.
For myself, I’m a lot more specific: for me paganism is more specifically [about] Wicca…Wicca and paganism are not the same thing — like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares.
What is the true meaning of Halloween?
The root of Halloween is that it’s one of the [eight] pagan sabbats. The festival is actually called Samhain [pronounced SAH-wain] which means “summer’s end.”
It’s sort of a harvest festival. At this time of year, because it’s a switching of seasons, the veil between this world and a spiritual world is thinnest [and] permeable to things from the other world. This is probably where the idea of ghosts comes from.
It’s also the Pagan New Year. I see it as a time to have fun, to celebrate the past year. It is a time to change bad habits and do away with anything you weren’t pleased with in the past year.
What images or notions associated with Halloween do you see as misleading?
I hate the ugly witches. I know they’re cute and a part of Halloween for a lot of people, but when I walk by stores that have the ugly cackling witch over the caldron it drives me nuts because I call myself a witch.
That’s really the only Halloween imagery that bothers me.
How is dressing up and eating candy related to the permeability of the veil between this world and another?
I really do enjoy wearing costumes on Halloween and I love candy, [but] for me they’re not associated with it at all. There’s Samhain and then there’s Halloween. It was my favorite holiday even before I converted to Wicca. I think it still maintains some of its roots.
How did Halloween come so far from its roots?
I really don’t know a lot of the history of how it [came] to be commercialized. My guess it was a similar path [to] Christmas.
What are the Oberlin Pagans up to this Samhain?
We are having a retreat this weekend to one of the state parks. We basically chill out in the woods for a night [and] a couple of people will do a ritual. Two years ago it involved a string of rubber bands and funny masks.
Funny masks, huh? Apropos, what are some of the misconceptions people have about Paganism?
It’s really a range. A lot of the perceptions of pagans is that Paganism and Wiccanism are one and the same.
Also, I’m sure everyone knew that one creepy Goth kid in high school who ran around casting spells on everybody. I’d also refer to the movie The Craft, a big [example of the] misconception[s] of what pagans are about.
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