Witch Watch: Halloween lore all can be explained

Redford Observer, October 23, 1980

Sure Halloween lore can all be explained but there was only enough copy for Gundella to cover pointed hats, broomsticks, black clothing, cauldrons, wands and color dyes. All for practical purposes except for the pointy witch hat which evolved solely from the fashion trends of the Middle Ages. Even the princesses wore them just in a less melancholy shade. Witches wore black to move about covertly at night for fear of death. Skin dyes were merely identification markers in the same manner of the Native tribes of America. Nothing strange. As was the cauldron used practically to cook outdoors for the family without killing them with carbon monoxide. Wands and phallic symbols were more a show of ritual but since they were equated with witchcraft they had to be made into a common tool and this the duality of the wand and broomstick become one in witch lore.