This week: Don't Be Afraid This Halloween Edited by: NaNoKit  
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Halloween can be a worrying time for people of faith. But it doesn't need to be...
This week's Spiritual Newsletter is all about knowing yourself and knowing your limits.
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Yeps, it’s that time of the year again. Happy Halloween, everyone! 
Personally, I don’t really celebrate Halloween. When I was a child, back in the Netherlands, it just wasn’t a thing. It is celebrated here in the UK, but I’m a little bit too old to go around knocking on people’s doors asking for candy. I do have candy ready for the children who knock on my door. It’s always difficult to estimate how much candy to have in – some years loads of kids stop by, others a few. Not good for my diet when I have lots left over, but you’d just see that the year that I barely get any candy in, my doorstep will be a busy one.
Anyway, I don’t dress up nor decorate my house. Nor do I participate in anything that’d send chills down my spine. Call me a wuss, or superstitious, or perhaps influenced by my Christian roots, but there are some things I don’t want to mess with. I can’t even watch horror movies, especially ones with ghosts or spirits...
That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy the costumes of the kids who stop by my house. Last year a little Hermione Granger knocked on my door, and she was adorable. When I told my gran about her, she felt concerned about children showing an interest in witchcraft, but I don’t think it’s like that. I believe Hermione Granger to be a good role model – she is intelligent, she studies hard, she is brave, and she’s a very loyal friend. Besides, the Harry Potter series were influenced by Christianity , and contain quite a few Christian themes and messages throughout. Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Harry’s school, even quotes from the Bible.
I think that there is a balance to be found, then, in Halloween and in our approach to novels, series, movies etc that deal with the supernatural. One of my favourite TV series – probably my favourite one, in fact - is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy fights against the forces of darkness, and ends up sacrificing herself in order to save the world. If you haven’t seen the series, I don’t want to spoiler it too much (even though it ended in 2003), but it’s worth a watch, especially from halfway through series 2 onwards. As the series progresses, it deals with very serious issues, often beautifully, and asks questions about life and death and what it is to have a soul.
I myself don’t shy away from writing about darker subjects. It’s about knowing yourself, I think, and knowing where your limits are. What you are comfortable with, and what pushes you too far out of your comfort zone.
I believe this message from the Harry Potter series to be true – we are all made up of darkness and light, good and bad. It’s your choices, your actions, that determine who you are. I tried for a long time to deny the darker side of me, as yes, I have one, too. I get upset. I get angry. I experience envy. I can be overly competitive. I can have uncharitable thoughts about people. I can be lazy. Resentful. I don’t go out of my way to hurt people, but I have done, by saying or doing the wrong thing. Mostly accidentally, but still... It’s no good denying that. It’s better to confront it and, for me, where necessary, to release negative feelings and emotions through my writing in order for me to deal with situations better, and in a calmer manner, in person.
And sometimes I get inspired and encouraged by materials that my more religious family members would tell me to avoid. Yes, the Buffy series contains vampires and other baddies, but it’s mostly about taking responsibility, even when you are afraid, even when it’s very difficult, and doing what is right. The same message resonates through the Harry Potter series, along with the message that the most powerful force, the force that evil will never be capable to stand against, is love.
I hope you have fun this Halloween, however you celebrate it (or don’t celebrate it). I have my bowl of chocolates and candy at the ready.
NaNoKit
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Spiritual: October 31, 2018 Issue [#9205]
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