[richlevy]

It's Halloween and the obligatory neo-pagan story is on the wires.

Neo-paganism sees growth in numbers

Pagan minister Adam Holtzinger says "the veil between this world and the next is thinnest" during Halloween - what Wiccans call Samhain. Holtzinger's Antioch store, At Sacred Earth, is busy this time of year. He says it's the only place between Milwaukee and Chicago for local witches to buy their tools.
Holtzinger admits it's getting easier to be a witch, but the practice is still misunderstood and feared.

"As soon as you tell people you're a witch, the curtain goes down," he said. "We want to reclaim the word and remove its negative connotation. It's a matter of education."

Getting a grasp of the facts can be tricky. Wicca, the modern name for witchcraft, doesn't fit into neat categories. It lacks a central organization and has no creeds, rules or buildings. There isn't one main god or goddess, and the rituals are as varied as the people who practice them.

"Pagans honor all faces of the divine," Holtzinger explained. "Who you choose as your deities is up to you."

Choosing gods based on feelings doesn't sound like a good idea to the Rev. Mel Svendsen, senior pastor at Harvest Bible Chapel in Vernon Hills. "Wiccans worship created things rather than the creator - Jesus Christ," he said. "They are looking for life's answers in all the wrong places."

Being Jewish I find both of the above viewpoints interesting. If you do not believe that Jesus was the incarnation of god, or at least no different than all men and women are incarnations of the creator, than Christians too are deifying a creation of God and the two religions become more alike.

Personally, I don't think there is a wrong place to look for life's answer, since the answer is different for each of the 6.4 billion people on this planet. When I go to a yard sale I look at all of the tables, I don't just grab something off of the first one and say "I've found something. I'm done."

As for Pagans and Christians, let them have fun with it this time of year, especially with Halloween falling on a Sunday. Pay no attention to the Jewish man in the corner.