h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nice report, but some of your Pagan based info is (for want of a better word) 'incorrect'.
Although Pagans generally believe in freedom of belief, and are not keen on the idea that there is a right way and a wrong way to follow a religion, there are certain things that are agreed upon.
Samhain is not an evil god, it is just *another* god. Also, the major function of the Samhain festival is not to chase away evil (that is a christian corruption), it is to celebrate the memory of those who have died. The festival is a time to remember those you knew but no longer see (dead or alive), and a chance to show the dead that you are thinking of them.
Pagans believe that when someone dies, the energy that was thier life (thier soul if you like), passes back into the pool of energy that we call the universe. This means that the pagans do not fear death, or belive in such a thing as 'evil dead' - there are evil things out there, but they are not the souls of the dead.
I know this message seems quite negative, but I'd hate to think I let go of an oportunity to put right a misconception. There are a hell of a lot of people out there who believe the christian concepts of Pagan festivals, and if I can make it one less, it's an improvement :o)

Note taken and understood. I'm pretty much out of time online right now, but I hope to begin work on a revision of this article before Halloween itself, and want to incorporate more pagan perspectives, to give the piece a bit more well-roundedness.

Well, if you need any more info on the Pagan side of things, feel free to contact me - I'll help in any way I can

If I may humbly offer an article on Samhain at
http://www.h2g2.com/P189470

Additions, corrections, complaints, criticisms, etc., etc. are welcomed in the forum for the above, although would prefer no religious rants or symbolic burnings-at-stake.


Note:
Will also accept positive comments, however...

Ooh yeah! I like the Samhain piece. I plan to link to it from my page as soon as I'm done typing this up.

My ex-wife and many friends are pagans. In fact I have a pagan sleeping in my papasan chair as I type these words. =) They're all over the place. Admittedly my christian upbringing has scarred me, but I try to rise above it.

I hope to have more time to devote to this topic in a few days. Like I said I want to do a good revision before Halloween comes and goes this year. Anything specific in your own words will be useful to me here in the forums.

If there are more specific facts and thoughts that you feel belong in this Halloween piece, please feel free to just type them out here in the forums. And get any other h2g2 field researchers in here to crack this too. As Halloween approaches I'm hoping this page will at least briefly become very popular with many opinions from all across the theological and geographical spectrum, so the final revision of this guide entry will become useful as an approved piece.

Hey Zach!

Question: Where'd you get the rhyme for the graphic? I'd always thought it was "Trick or treat, smell MY feet, give me something good to eat." [emphasis added]

Also, check out my spooky stories page (or whatever it's called) at http://www.h2g2.com/A180767. I've added three more links to ghostly tales from my home state...

See what happens when you've got access to newspaper databases all over Pennsylvania! Some of the longer stories are pretty cool, though Gen. Mad Anthony Wayne keeps popping up - at some point I may have to write a bio explaining who he was since he keeps showing up in my entries!

This page of yours keeps getting better and better. KUTGW!!

- Jimi X