Strange things have been happening with Halloween lately. Recently the Anglican Church held talks with some supermarkets asking them to stock less frightening or gruesome Halloween products on their shelves, and some appear to have agreed. (Will they be banning violent DVDs I wonder? Probably not.)

Now I’ve always liked Halloween, Samhain, call it what you will. For me it marks the real onset of winter, and everything changes. Autumn’s bright colours fade or darken according to species, you can see your breath in the morning, and even the clocks go back by one hour and we’re all scurrying around in the dark like moles at both ends of the working day.

Having a few happy games with apples on string or floating in a bowl of water, telling spooky tales and trying to scare each other was part of the fun.

I have to say I have a lot of sympathy with those who dread Halloween if it means gangs of children (and some of the not so young) go round banging on doors, demanding trick or treat and pelting the house (and people) with eggs if they refuse.

I don’t however, have any sympathy at all with those simpering ninnies who want to do away with Halloween celebrations, and call it the Autumn Festival instead because teachers are afraid it may offend some parents. This is what has happened apparently at Tonna primary school in Neath. Which parents? Which religions, exactly?

Halloween IS a religious festival. Make no doubt about it. For pagans past and present it IS a religious celebration. The problem here seems to be that commercial interests have instead fostered a great egg and flour throwing free for all which I don’t believe were ever part of the original celebrations. Think of it – we’re just entering Winter. Food stocks might not last for a community. They wouldn’t go throwing it away, would they?

It might make more sense if the school instead had a go at teaching about the real Halloween, encouraging traditions that didn’t involve a dozen eggs and 8 pounds of flour. But don’t sanitise it completely. A little fear is normal at Halloween. It is a festival of the dead after all. It is one of the great pagan festivals, which like May Day, was never entirely suppressed.

The headteacher, Lloyd Jones has apparently promised there will be ‘a little disco that everyone can enjoy – whatever we decide to call it.’ And thereby lies the rub. Why would they want to call it something else anyway? And who gave him the right to change its name?