16
Thursdav. October 29, 1987 / University Daily Kansan
Campus/Area
Holiday has religious roots that date back to the Druids
By BRIAN BARESCH
Staff writer
Ghosts, hags on brooms wearing black hats, jack-o'-lanterns and other-worldly creatures stalking the streets are part of the traditional U.S. celebration of Oct. 31, Samhain, the Celtic New Year, also known as Halloween or All Saints'Eve.
The pagan new year festival and the Christian holiday were combined 1,100 years ago, although the distinctions still exist
Despite the holiday's reputation as a festival for Satanists and evil practitioners, celebrants today said that nothing particularly sinister happened in the pagan history of Halloween.
Mike Nichols, a parapsychology instructor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City who has taught a course in witchcraft for 18 years, said that witches and magicians are creating the holiday this weekend in a variety of ways.
Nichols said that he knew of about 30 covents in the Kansas City area, but that there probably were many more that he didn't know of because of their tradition of secrecy.
"First and foremost, they're a real good party," he said.
A coven party looks like any other Halloween party, Nichols said, except that some may include fortunetelling or a ritual such as a magic circle or a seance.
Meanwhile, several area churches will observe All Saints' Day; some just by reading the names of parishioners who have died in the past year. At the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, 1631 Crescent Road, both secular Halloween and traditional All Saints' Day services will be held.
Ken Thevenet, director of music at the center, said that although All Saints' Day was a holy day of obligation on which church attendance was required, it was as significant a holiday as Christmas or Easter.
The holiday honors saints, martyrs and anyone who has died and to whom Christians look as a role model, Thevenet said. Apart from a special liturgy, however, the services won't include much extra.
Also, the center does not discourage secular activities such as parties and trick-or-treating. A dance has been scheduled for Friday evening, he said.
All Saints' Day was first celebrated May 13, 609, when the Roman Emperor Phocas gave the Pantheon in Rome to Pope Boniface IV to use as a church. The
Pope turned the occasion into a martyr's celebration. The original date still is used in the Greek Orthodox Church.
In the ninth century, the Roman church moved its All Saints Day and all Hallowmas to Nov. 1, to convert the pagans by turning Samhain into a Christian holiday. The night before thus became All Hallowe'en.
Samhain goes back at least 2,000 years to the Celts and Witches in what are now Britain, Ireland and northern France. On Celtic New Year, the Celts would have believed that it had passed and take stock of what had happened.
Also, the Celts looked to the future to see what lay ahead. Fortunetelling, with crystal balls or tarot cards, usually was part of the holiday.
Originally, the Celts believed that the dead would return from the underworld and the fairy realm to the underworld.
To aid their return, the Druids, or Celtic priests, would move aside the stones blocking the entrance to burial mounds and put lights along a path from there to nearby celebrations.
One spirit who supposedly still walks the earth is Jack. According to English and Irish legend, Jack could not enter Heaven because he was a miser and could not enter Hell because he played tricks on the devil. So Jack had to walk the earth, with his lantern, until Judgement Day.
Jack-o-lanterns originally were made from potatoes, turnips or beets. When the tradition came to the New World, pumpkins were used instead.
Nichols said the name Samhain is Celtic for "Summer's End." Some accounts say that Samhain also was the name of the Celt god of the dead, who would guide souls to come into the world of the living for the night.
All hearth fires would be extinguished on Samhain, and a huge bonfire would be built in the middle of the village. Although legends speak of human and animal magic, the most sacred rituals, Nichols says the legends have no merit.
In reality, Nichols said, the Druids revered life and detested violence, so much so that even unsheathing a sword in the presence of a Druid was once a capital offense.
The bad press given to Witches is unjustified, he said. During medieval times, and especially during the Spanish Inquisition, pagans, Jews and all others who weren't Christian were accused of Satanism.
KU AIDS task force holds first meeting to review policies
By AMBER STENGER Staff writer
A 25-member AIDS task force for the University of Kansas met for the first time last week.
Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor, began appointing members to the task force in early September. Ramaley has asked the task
wanted to get many different viewpoints on the task force. The task force is large because of the complexity of the issue.'
— Judith Ramaley executive vice chancellor
force to evaluate existing campus educational programs dealing with AIDS and to recommend additional ones. The recommendations will be submitted to Ramaley by the end of the semester.
The task force also will review existing campus treatment and care procedures and procedures related to the participation in campus activities of AIDS-afflicted individuals. The task force will also provide for protecting the confidentiality of faculty, staff and student records as they relate to AIDS.
Ramaley appointed five students, nine faculty members, eight unclassified employees and nine classified employees to the task force. Ray Patterson of the department of health service administration, is the chairman.
Employees in areas such as health services, food services, the athletic department and KU police are represented on the task force.
"I wanted to get many different viewpoints on the task force," Ramaley said. "The task force is large because of the complexity of the issue."
Jeanette Johnson, assistant to the executive vice chancellor, said that if members thought any expertise were lacking, they may ask others to assist. Johnson said the task force was free to consult with anyone in the community.
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, said the Lawrence task force would first look at ways to educate people about AIDS and then teach them how to treat the task force will determine whether KU needs a separate AIDS policy.
"We don't have a separate potio, for measles." Ambler said. "Measles is more contagious than AIDS; chicken pox is more contagious than AIDS. We don't have separate policies for measles and chicken pox in infectious diseases. So we don't know yet if we will need separate policies for AIDS."
In September, Chancellor Gene A. Budig appointed a two-campus University Committee on AIDS Policy. That committee, which covers the University of Kansas Medical Center and the Lawrence campus, will address policies related to the treatment, care and participation in campus activities of people affected by AIDS.
The two-campus committee also will monitor national and state legislation related to AIDS. Edward Meyen, dean of education, will serve as a leader between the two-campus committee and the Lawrence campus task force.
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