When I think of scriptural stories containing women, my mind doesn’t immediately go to the descriptor wicked. It’s probably not even the second or third thought that crosses my mind. Ann Spangler, however, thought differently and therefore got my vote for the Halloween episode of Faith Conversations.

Spangler did a play on the word wicked that this gal from Maine really likes. I grew up with the word wicked being a descriptor to the word good. So wicked meant really, very, especially. When I had great ice cream at my favorite hang out, Houlton Farms Dairy, it was wicked good ice cream, not just really good.  And good, in Northern Maine speak, was a two syllable word.  So you’d say the ice cream was wicked goo-ud! Ann Spangler means, by the word wicked, in her book Wicked Women of the Bible, bad and good, very and extremely.  To give you the fuller picture, there is the story of A Wicked Girlfriend: The Story of Delilah. Not a good woman. And the story of Wicked Old Sarah, or very old Sarah.  You get the idea.

Regardless of how Ann Spangler uses the word wicked, I like it for my Halloween episode of the podcast. I grew up the daughter of a Baptist minister and I’m delighted that Halloween was not a four letter word.  Our church had Halloween parties, not Harvest gatherings, it was a costume party in which devilish costumes were discouraged, but no one was kicked out for wearing one either, since it was a favorite time for the whole neighborhood to show up at the church.

On the podcast this week we’ll look at a few wicked women. We’ll touch on Jezebel, as you might imagine. We’ll look at a wicked smart woman named Abigail. And we’ll also focus a few minutes on probably the woman who does fit the season better than any other, and that’s the wicked sorceress,  the story of the medium of Endor.

I hope you’ll come along for a wicked goo-ud Halloween ride on this week’s Faith Conversations!