Halloween
I have a strange relationship with Halloween. I actively participate in all the other "holidays" as Americans would call them but I've always found the notion of Halloween a bit odd.
All Hallows Eve was first used as a phrase around 1556 and there's debate about where it came from. All Hallows Eve was certainly a Christian religious observance and still is in many places with services and the lighting of candles on the graves of the dead. Most people think Halloween traditions originated from Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic Samhain, which probably had pagan roots. There is debate about whether modern Halloween is a combination of the two or was a Christian event which later had some old pagan ideas attached to it.
Samhain marked the end of the summer and start of the winter with people believing that this was a liminal time when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld, where 'spirits' or 'fairies' could more easily come into our world. People would lay out offering to placate this nasty things and there were also a belief that spirits of the dead would return home on this night and the offerings would be for them. Essentially, people were putting out food to welcome their dead family or protect themselves from monsters.
The link from there to what we recognise as Halloween is a bit vague. From around the 16th century people in some parts of the UK went 'mumming', going house to house in costume reciting verses or songs in exchange for food, like carol singing. People are less sure where the spooky costumes came from. It's thought people may have dressed up as the 'spirits' or 'fairies' with the notion that doing so would protect them from being attacked or essentially threatened people into giving them food. n Christianity, All Hallows Eve was basically an excuse for a bit feast, the beginning of celebrating All Saints Day.
The big problem I have with Halloween is what are we actually celebrating. Now I'm not religious but for me most religious based holidays are an excuse to bring the family together. Easter represents Spring and new life whilst Christmas is an event which helps us to get through the otherwise intolerably dark and miserable winter. But the feasting part of Halloween has vanished and what are we now left with.
I can understand why kids like Halloween. Trick or treating is the only time of the year where they are allowed to obtain as many sweets as possible from across the local neighbourhood. My brother and I went trick or treating once when we were kids, dressed as devils. They were very cheap costumes consisting of a foam mask and plastic trident bought from Woolworths, black clothing and capes made from bin bags. We obtained lots of sweets and got a mention on children's television when my Dad wrote in with some comment about how we were always 'little devils'. I still have the autographs of Angellica Bell and the gang.
I can't understand an obsession with Halloween as an adult. For many it's just an excuse to drink copious amounts of alcohol though they do that most weekends so hardly need an additional excuse. People inexplicably seem to like dressing up too. I've long since considered people that are obsessed with dressing up the sort of people who lack personality and struggle with being themselves. Their costume becomes the main topic of conversation because they have nothing else to discuss. Perhaps that's unfair but I've met plenty of people where an outfit is a proxy personality.
There's a little bit of conflict in me though. Because as much as I dislike the idea of Halloween as a celebration, I like monsters. So much of what I read and watch features monsters like werewolves, vampires and especially zombies. I don't have any belief in ghosts and monsters but they create wonderful stories. Alone, they are not that interesting but it's humans reacting to an unprecedented threat which makes for endless storytelling possibilities. I welcome this time of year when monsters are suddenly all over the TV and horror films pop up on streaming services.
I'm not sure what my point was here. Like Halloween itself, I don't really have one. I look forward to turning off the lights at the front of the house and ignoring the local youths as fail to have thought through any tricks.
All Hallows Eve was first used as a phrase around 1556 and there's debate about where it came from. All Hallows Eve was certainly a Christian religious observance and still is in many places with services and the lighting of candles on the graves of the dead. Most people think Halloween traditions originated from Celtic harvest festivals, particularly the Gaelic Samhain, which probably had pagan roots. There is debate about whether modern Halloween is a combination of the two or was a Christian event which later had some old pagan ideas attached to it.
Samhain marked the end of the summer and start of the winter with people believing that this was a liminal time when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld, where 'spirits' or 'fairies' could more easily come into our world. People would lay out offering to placate this nasty things and there were also a belief that spirits of the dead would return home on this night and the offerings would be for them. Essentially, people were putting out food to welcome their dead family or protect themselves from monsters.
The link from there to what we recognise as Halloween is a bit vague. From around the 16th century people in some parts of the UK went 'mumming', going house to house in costume reciting verses or songs in exchange for food, like carol singing. People are less sure where the spooky costumes came from. It's thought people may have dressed up as the 'spirits' or 'fairies' with the notion that doing so would protect them from being attacked or essentially threatened people into giving them food. n Christianity, All Hallows Eve was basically an excuse for a bit feast, the beginning of celebrating All Saints Day.
The big problem I have with Halloween is what are we actually celebrating. Now I'm not religious but for me most religious based holidays are an excuse to bring the family together. Easter represents Spring and new life whilst Christmas is an event which helps us to get through the otherwise intolerably dark and miserable winter. But the feasting part of Halloween has vanished and what are we now left with.
I can understand why kids like Halloween. Trick or treating is the only time of the year where they are allowed to obtain as many sweets as possible from across the local neighbourhood. My brother and I went trick or treating once when we were kids, dressed as devils. They were very cheap costumes consisting of a foam mask and plastic trident bought from Woolworths, black clothing and capes made from bin bags. We obtained lots of sweets and got a mention on children's television when my Dad wrote in with some comment about how we were always 'little devils'. I still have the autographs of Angellica Bell and the gang.
I can't understand an obsession with Halloween as an adult. For many it's just an excuse to drink copious amounts of alcohol though they do that most weekends so hardly need an additional excuse. People inexplicably seem to like dressing up too. I've long since considered people that are obsessed with dressing up the sort of people who lack personality and struggle with being themselves. Their costume becomes the main topic of conversation because they have nothing else to discuss. Perhaps that's unfair but I've met plenty of people where an outfit is a proxy personality.
There's a little bit of conflict in me though. Because as much as I dislike the idea of Halloween as a celebration, I like monsters. So much of what I read and watch features monsters like werewolves, vampires and especially zombies. I don't have any belief in ghosts and monsters but they create wonderful stories. Alone, they are not that interesting but it's humans reacting to an unprecedented threat which makes for endless storytelling possibilities. I welcome this time of year when monsters are suddenly all over the TV and horror films pop up on streaming services.
I'm not sure what my point was here. Like Halloween itself, I don't really have one. I look forward to turning off the lights at the front of the house and ignoring the local youths as fail to have thought through any tricks.
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