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Publication: The Minaret, University of Tampa, Tampa FL.
By BIANCA LOPEZ
The thought of Halloween often provokes images of pumpkin patches, children in costumes and witches on broomsticks. For the members of the Pagan Student Organization , however, Halloween, or Samhain, means so much more. For these students, witches aren’t green with crooked noses and cauldrons—this season holds a spiritual value.
This year, PSO is working with Better Together for a Samhain event the week of Halloween, time and location to be determined. Halloween, among other Western holidays like Christmas, stems from Pagan and Wiccan origins.
A Pagan is defined as “a follower of a polytheistic or pantheistic nature-worshipping religion,” according to paganfederation.org. In congruence with their nature-focus, Pagans link important dates and celebrations with the moon cycle and nature. Samhain, for instance, traditionally marked the end of harvest.
“I think one thing that’s really hard for people to wrap their heads around is that [Paganism is] such a broad term,” said Kimberly Grassett, vice president of PSO and junior marine biology major. “It is so individualized. It’s a call back to nature. It’s a respect for the natural order of things.”
PSO President Caroline Stadler, a junior public health major, founded the organization last fall. At the inaugural meeting, PSO gathered just four or five members, according...