One Last Halloween Post...

I have seen Wicked on Broadway twice. Most recently was this past summer when I took my in-laws.

(If you are not familiar with Wicked, in a nutshell, it is a musical based on the novel with the same name, about the Wicked Witch of the Wests' side of the Wizard of Oz story.)

I will never forget this lone protester who was standing outside the lobby of the show saying, in a very conversational tone: "Witchcraft is sin." He stood out to me because he seemed so passionless about his apparent conviction. He had no sign, no literature, no booming voice, no entourage...just this one sentence, drifting in the air...

I felt like saying to him: It's a play. It's make-believe. It's not real. There is no witchcraft being practiced here tonight.

It's no secret that I enjoy the Harry Potter Books, and I am also a fan of sci-fi and fantasy literature and programming. I am also a huge fan of Halloween. I do not believe that enjoying these things is a sin or taking a step towards the dark side.

Today my daughter and I were dancing on the sidewalk, shaking a maraca that was painted with a cartoon witch face. A fellow mom approached and kind of inquired at what we were doing and I said: "We are doing a little witchy dance!"

She replied with: "We don't do witches." We then had a short conversation about how her family doesn't "do" Harry Potter or Wicked, and that they like to focus on the lighter side of Halloween. I then made sure it was ok with her that I was dressing up as a witch for a special Halloween Story time for the kindergarten class on Wed., and she was totally fine with it.

So then I was confused because I feel that our family also focuses on the lighter side of Halloween. We do not talk about evil things or try to make REAL magic. We just try to look for the fun in the season. And why would dancing on the sidewalk, shaking a maraca with a witches face painted on it, be considered the dark side?

I totally get her position, but I guess I don't understand where the line is to be drawn in regards to our actions/decorations/costumes, especially when she was ok with my witch costume. I am also a bit on edge now about how I present myself as a witch, because though I wasn't thinking about being evil or spell binding (just totally rocking hot green and purple witch makeup complete with long press-on fingernails), now I feel that if I mention any witchy words: broomstick, brew, cauldron, spells....that she might feel icky about that, and I would never want that. Because, I am just a frustrated actor looking for an outlet, I am not trying to really be a real witch...ya ha ha ha...