Just Why Is It At Halloween...???

I dressed up as Elvira once. Not a classic witch though... maybe when my nose grows a little longer...

I want to thank you for this post I am a wiccan or as some of my family said when I came out of the broom closet over 10 years ago aAAHHH a witch no I am not pretty but I do not wear a pointed hat am my cat is a saimse an a grey one not black my black cat passed away a few years ago my pentagram is around my neck not in my bedroom I do know that the burning times women who were midwives an help by using hebs to heal people were pissing the doctors off because they were takeing thier bussness so they scream withcraft an the women were hung or burn an if a man made an advance to a womman an she decline the advance he yelled witchcraft an of course more then half the people killed to the burning times were not really witches anyway you are right about the Michael jACKSON I have seen them every where my daughter even asked for one what drives me nuts though is the girls 14 to god only knows like to dress in things that are to short an really revealing my neighbors daughter 13 is going as a sl#### fairy I didnt know fairies were sl### anyway she came here wanting to know if my daughters had fishnets yea sure an now my oldest wants to go as a basket ball player with short short shorts aah no way an my 13 year old wants to go as Jason the killer from friday the 13th movies thats fine but she picked out something that if she moves the world will get a treat so thats another no which will make me mean to them as they say have you notice the girls costumes have gotten shorter

Ya know what I never in my life dressed as a witch. But it think mostly come from Snow White witht he witch looking all green and warty and evil doings to posin SNow White Or was that Sleepy Beauty or both?

I don't know either why everyone likes to dress as a witch, considering witches are looked down upon the rest of the year. I think though for some reason people dress as a witch bacause they see it as a symbol of halloween. Even though it is really the pumpkin that is a real symbol of halloween. And I can't remember if I ever dressed up as a witch.

Shakespear brought evil witches to the forefront with McBeth. I don't get "into" Halloween, but a lot of folks do. I may be all wrong here, but I think folklore says that all Hallows Eve is when the evil spirits and such have their last chance of the year to do their dastardly deeds until midnight when they are chased away with the dawning of All Saints Day on Nov. 1st. That and the media coverage of witches, both good and bad, makes witches a rather fun symbol for everyone to pretend with. And not all that scary for the kids since they always lose the good/evil conflict in the end in movies. My daughter is wiccan, though I am not, so I have heard quite a lot about the practice.

We are very much aware of Halloween here and some of the kids go trick or treating but it is not a huge thing and some years we’ve had no children come to our door at all! My little girl went out trick or treating last year with her dad and she wore a black dress and a witch’s hat because it is the only thing we had that would suit the theme. Funnily enough she did ask some questions about witches and I did explain that there are good witches out there...

I really don't think there will be too many children going "trick or treating" as Michael Jackson. I think my favorite halloween getup was as the old traditional gypsy.

You said it yourself, witch craft is still very misunderstood. Many people have the same thoughts as they always have had. They never take time to learn anything about it. Therefore they are stuck in the old habit of thinking bad things about it. The is still an enigma attached to witchcraft and it is so widely unknown and people are scared of it, just as they always have been. Things that frighten them they dress as, or things that peak their interest they dress as.

I never did dress up but if I were to dress up I would think of horror movies once my hair was black and long and someone said I should be morticia, or something. she was in the adams' family. I even thought of funny things like sylvester and tweety just for the fun of it

Pye, though witchcraft is still practiced in this part of the world by some quarters, halloween is not being celebrated here like the west. It is unheard of. It might have local names which I am not aware of. They are still pagans celebrating their festivals according to their beliefs. But halloween is an alien word here.

Hi there Pye, I think for the most part that people are aware that it is just fairy tale magic and don't really view witches as evil hags that cast their black magic spell. Still, you go into the pagan/wiccan discussions on here and you will find that there are many adults who still actually do view them as evil. I have never dressed up as a witch on halloween but that is because I always made my own costumes for me and my girls and the witch costume was too common and lacked challenge. I did once dress up one of my girls as a witch because she really really wanted to be one. She was a beautiful witch and not warted and scary at all. Interesting topic, Pye. I'll enjoy reading the responses, I'm sure.

Hello Pye I dressed up as a witch a couple times but not as a green skinned, crooked nosed, ugly style witch. I didn't know it was the most popular costume or anything, never really thought about it actually. If I had, I would too would have assumed that the most popular costume would change from year to year. Maybe it is a popular costume because there are so many different styles of Halloween witch costumes available perhaps. I mean, you can get really creative with witch costumes. Also, a classic, fairy tale or movie type can be easy and economical to do so maybe that has something to do with it. For example, the first time I dressed as a witch was back when I was a kid. The reason I did so then was because my parents didn't really have the money to buy a costume, however, I had a long black skirt and a black blouse and could easily make a pointed black hat, so I decided, I just wear my black skirt and blouse, make myself a hat, and waalaaaa! I was a witch, economical! The other time I was a witch was as an adult for an adult Halloween/costume party. That time I was a "sexy" witch. Basically, I just liked the costume. I had a short black and purple dress that came just above the knees and had a lot of sparlky/glittery decoration on it (purple is my favorite color and I think it looks awesome with black). The hat was velvety and had purple fringe hanging off it. Then since the costume was supposed to be a fun or sexy witch, I also put some glitter on my cheeks and painted my nails with a glittery purplish nail polish to match. I have seen other similar witch costumes of other colors as well. So from that I'm thinking that a witch costume can be very creative these days and not necessarily just some ugly, green hag. lol So, I don't know, but maybe that is why. *shrugs*

Pye, prior to Christianity taking over all the pagan festivals, the night was called Samhain, at least in the traditions I am familiar with, and this was considered the one night of the year when the veil between the real and spirit worlds was at its thinnest, and all sorts of ghostly and weird things could happen. The Christians called it All Hallows Eve, thus Halloween, and tried to counter the pagan spirituality of the festival by changing its meaning. Apart from the fact that this was originally one of the great pagan festivals, and in modern terms therefore witches' festivals, I don't know why the witch costume has become so popular. In the view of "witchcraft" that I subscribe to, the witches were the wise women and men of the rural villages, the midwives and herbalists, and in earlier days most likely the "priest/esses" of the old pagan paths. Most of what modern Christians know of witchcraft comes from the medieval Inquisition, which was, if you ever take the time to read the books at the time, written by a bunch of misogynistic and sadistic neurotics. The Malleus Maleficorum (1487), the witchhunters' handbook, (by Spenger and Kramer, two Dominican priests), is one of the most neurotic pieces of garbage ever penned. E.g. To quote the Malleus “all witchcraft comes from carnal lust, which is in women insatiable.” The Wiki entry is very informative. Lash

I think it's because your belief has been around as long as Christianity. Most christians don't understand the belief and so they think it's evil. That's just my opion

Maybe it's so popular because it's easy to recognize... "Oh, you're a witch". No explaining what you're supposed to be, like the little girls who dress up as Hannah Montana... essentially in everyday clothes. Princesses are another classic favorite that're easily recognized. As for adults dressing up as (ugly) witches, it's a good way of disguising yourself totally. Then, there's the "sexy" witches...

Possibly, pye...whenst growing up, the hyperbole of witches, for many of us, was only the Hallowe'en encounter. And nary, a thought given, until the next Guy Fawkes day! The genre, witches...evil! To some of us, nary a thought was given of a witch, after Hallow Eve..and we were NOT appraised of the pagan/wiccan existence, of course, I am speaking for me, my family! And I can honestly say, it has never been a meaningful conversation that I have had with some-one! cheers!

[b]When as a kid I trick-or-treated, which wasn't often, I never went as a witch. I remember going as a fairy a couple of times, & a pirate, once. But I came to know of Halloween rather late in my childhood (age 11). I doubt my mother would have let me go as a witch. I wouldn't have wanted to, anyway, since the stereotype was ugly. Princesses & fairies are so pretty! Maggiepie "OBAMA IS AN 'UNDOCUMENTED WORKER!'"[/b]

I think the simple answer is, it's an easy costume to assemble, for a woman. Just a black dress, pointy hat, perhaps a few spiders and a broomstick, and some black and green make up - all easily and cheaply available. I always dressed as a witch for Hallowe'en parties - until the day I came downstairs in my costume and my husband said, 'I thought you were going to dress up!' I won't give him the satisfaction of coming out with that one again, so for the last couple of Hallowe'en parties, I've dressed as a sexy red devil. Another easy costume, but with this one I get asked to dance a lot, so my partners can feel my tail. (That's the fake red tail, BTW).

When The Christians began to take over Samhain they referred to anyone doing pagan rituals or traditions they hadn't warped, witches, and therefore evil. As with some of the other traditions this warped into what you see today.

im not sure about that. because, in my country, there's no halloween