https://wildhunt.org/2025/11/hallowmonday-a-rare-holiday-from-the-amen-pew.html

HallowMonday: A Rare Holiday from the Amen Pew

By Manny Moreno

MIAMI – I’d like to propose a new holiday: HallowMonday. It’s a rare one, appearing only when Halloween falls on a Friday or Saturday, creating the perfect three-day weekend for revelry, ritual, and recovery.

By my back-of-the-envelope math, that happens about once every six years. Indeed, it is rarer than a blue moon, and about as frequent as a minor Jupiter–Saturn conjunction or an Earth–Mars opposition.

When Halloween lands on a Sunday, however, there’s simply not enough time for the usual suspects, those pearl-clutching conservative Christians, to denounce the holiday as “demonic” on Saturday night and find redemption in church the next morning.

I was reminded of this pattern from my days as president of a community alliance supporting homeless LGBTQ+ youth. Over a decade ago, one email arrived in my inbox that read:

“I notice you had fundraising on Halloween. This is a dangerous combination that mixes money with the homosexualism lifestyle and Satanic worship. SHAME, SHAME SHAME”

That was in 2014. I was dressed as Cthulhu. I was equally impressed that they wrote “Shame” three times, like they were casting a spell or something.

But that was then. This is now, and here we are!

Happy HallowMonday! Right on schedule, Sister Bertha Better-Than-You has risen again from the amen pew (see below and thank you, Ray Stevens).

Christian media outlets are abuzz, sounding the alarm and warning believers that Halloween is not merely a night of costumes and candy. Rather is a gateway drug to spiritual peril.

One pastor cautioned that witchcraft imagery is “like leaving your front door open” to demonic influence. Participating, even casually, she argues, “blurs the line between light and darkness” and sends “the wrong message to both believers and nonbelievers.”

Various Christian sites warned that a recent survey (Pew Religious Landscape Study, by the way) cited in these reports claims that over half of Americans have read horoscopes, one in five have used a Ouija board, and smaller numbers have explored witchcraft, divination, or healing crystals. Even among practicing Christians, 36% admit to reading horoscopes (can you imagine?).

The handwringing boils down to this takeaway: Halloween “normalizes” occult practices, and that Christians should instead turn their focus to All Saints’ Day (Nov. 1) or Reformation Day (Oct. 31) as faith-centered alternatives celebrating “God’s light over darkness.”

Martin Luther, they remind us, nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the church door on October 31, 1517, deliberately timing it for All Hallows’ Eve to ensure his protest reached a broad audience.

One local church in South Florida threaded the needle and participated in “HolyWeen,” a contest where you had to dress as saints or biblical people. Several of us wanted to participate. Our resident Strega said, “I keep wanting to visit as a biblically accurate angel.”

Here at The Wild Hunt, we also received our annual “invitation to redemption.” This year, it was a call to pray at the Shroud of Turin, the 14-foot linen cloth believed by some to be Christ’s burial garment. Its promoters cite over 600,000 hours of study revealing Middle Eastern pollen and fluid markings “consistent with the wounds of John 19:34.”

(Thanks, I saw it earlier this year)

Another Christian parenting site joined the performative outrage, reporting that members of one congregation had seen the film Pan’s Labyrinth and—brace yourself, dear reader—“not once did anyone declare ‘Jesus is Lord.’”

Their advice? Christians should subscribe to the “three R’s”: Reject, Receive, Redeem, especially on November 1, when the “horror” is over.

One Christian movie “critic” emailed The Wild Hunt to inform us that “God is not opposed to the use of horror.” I thanked him for the insight and reminded him that, having read the Bible, I can confirm horror isn’t the only genre God seems to appreciate.

Bishop Antonio Suetta of Ventimiglia-Sanremo issued his own pastoral warning:

“This is not a harmless fun night. The devil disguises himself as an angel of light.”

He expressed alarm over a “renewed rise in paganism,” describing witchcraft as “inseparable from idolatry” and claiming that Samhain represents the “Satanists’ New Year.” His prescription? Faith, prayer, and sacraments—for those who “abide in God’s grace have nothing to fear.”

As usual, The Wild Hunt received its own round of accusations. Apparently, we are once again the “mouthpiece of Satan.” We stand guilty of “opposing Christmas in favor of Halloween” (guilty as charged) and have incurred the wrath of something called Operation Christmas Freedom.

We were also accused of whatever this means:

EFFEMINATE DEFENDING FOR THREE DECADES OF SELF-INTERESTED CARNALITY AND DISGUSTINGLY ANTI-BIBLICAL FALSE GOSPELS.

I updated my résumé.

Unfortunately, not all of this year’s drama was confined to rhetoric and email. We are investigating a developing story in northeast Ohio, but have not yet received confirmations; we’ll cover it as soon as possible.

However, in Washington, Georgia, local Pagan leaders Harold Sanford Carter III and Priestess Rhonda Fields of New Moon Eclectics Covenstead and WitchcraftTV became targets of a prayer rally after a Facebook post warned:

“A witch coven has come into the county. They are deeply involved in black magic, the occult, and herbal medicines. We must gather to pray against this satanic invasion.”

The post called for townspeople to meet at the courthouse square and “take a stand against this demonic intrusion.”

First and foremost, Carter and the New Moon Eclectics are safe. He told The Wild Hunt:

“Our covenstead and Witchcraft TV stand strong despite religious discrimination. We rise with purpose—to create a sanctuary of spirit, share empowering stories, and build unity. To our critics: we invite you to witness our resilience, our joy, and our love. Even in the face of adversity, we choose to build bridges—not burn them.”

He and Priestess Rhonda plan a pilgrimage through all 48 continental states, promoting interfaith dialogue and Pagan visibility.

Thankfully, not everyone in Washington County joined the crusade. The Washington-Wilkes Informer, a local paper, published a thoughtful counterpoint reminding readers that:

“Being Pagan doesn’t equate to worshipping Satan. Many Christian traditions are rooted in Paganism, which existed long before Christianity… People who are Pagan have a great respect for nature, animals, and celestial cycles. Singling anyone out for not being Christian is both inaccurate and un-American.”

In a moment when fear and misinformation are on the rise and continue to haunt the headlines, it’s good to remind ourselves that the antidote to hysteria is not another exorcism but education, empathy, and, perhaps, a sense of humor.