Spell bag making, pumpkin painting and tarot card readings were some of the offerings students engaged in during The Veil is Thin: Spells, Symbols and Stories event.
The event was held by Elon’s Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life on Oct. 23. Director of Multifaith Programming and Engagement, Hillary Zaken, said the event marked the second event in the center’s effort to bring more Pagan-centered events to campus. In September, the Truitt Center hosted a Tea and Tarot event to kick off it’s new initiative.
Students were welcomed into the Halloween event in McBride Gathering Space by sweet treats, hot chocolate and spooky music.
To open the event, Zaken gave a presentation about different Halloween traditions, symbols and celebrations around the world. She also explained the meaning behind the phrase of the veil being thin around Halloween.
“You see it in Celtic tradition with the holiday of Samhain, you see it in Christianity with All Saints and All Souls, and then you see it in lots of other Earth-based spirituality, Dia de los Muertos, around the same time of the year, the idea of things can happen, the unexpected and perhaps the supernatural will show up in your life,” Zaken said.
Following the presentation, students got to rotate around to different tables highlighting different traditions including spooky stories, guardian spirits or familiars, mini pumpkin painting, spell bags, ancestral notes for a community altar, and tarot card reading and crafting.
Participants at the Truitt Center's Oct. 23 event, "The Veil is Thin: Spells, Symbols, and Stories," had the opportunity to create spell bags with various herbs, stones, and affirmations in the McBride Gathering Space.
Zaken said this event is part of a new push to include Pagan culture in the center’s events.
“We've heard from students that there's an increased interest in Pagan Life, sort of non-traditional spirituality, whether you want to call it earth-based spirituality, or some form of Paganism, Wicca or something else,” Zaken said. “Over the past year, we've built up a small community, and this year, our professional staff was ready to launch a few events to bring students in to build community and to see what students would be interested in taking on leadership of our Pagan Life community.”
According to Elon’s Fall 2025 Registrar’s Report, there are six students that list Pagan as their religious tradition.
Sophomore Finn Hughes, who works with the Truitt Center’s Pagan Life community, said he practices Paganism by taking time for nature and having intentionality.
“What Paganism is to me is just having this deep reverence and respect for life, but also the way that you live your life, and living it intentionally,” Hughes said.
Hughes said he enjoyed the offerings of the event, especially the pumpkin painting. However, Hughes said the best part of the event was watching other students learn new things.
“I also just enjoyed getting to see different people and how they were coming to this event, and the reasons why they would, which is very interesting,” Hughes said. “I also really enjoyed the fact that some people were like, ‘Yeah, I don't really know about much of this stuff, but I want to learn.’ And that was really cool. I love getting to even learn myself, which is really cool.”
Hughes said having events dedicated to the religious form is important to expose people to new perspectives.
“It's important because people can open their minds and see that things that are different aren't so scary or evil,” Hughes said.
Zaken said she hopes that events like these remind people that the Truitt Center is not just for traditional views of religion but is open to anyone with any beliefs.
“We want students to know that the Truitt Center is here for anyone who wants to look for meaning and purpose in every way, in whatever way that resonates for you.” Zaken said. “Our doors are open to everybody, and we invite everyone to come as they are. I hope that hosting events like this educates the community about the fact that religious and spiritual life is, in fact, open, that all of our students are on journeys, right? We're all looking for meaning and purpose. We're all looking to understand the world around us.”