Today is a big important holiday in this country I call home. I suppose I'm not much of a patriot after all, I was never bothered by it. October 31st is important to me because of Halloween. What did you excpect after all? Of course a ''holiday'' like this will be right down my alley. Día de Muertos even more so, it would literally be a dream come true for me to be in Mexico for this event at least once. But enough about that. Back to Halloween. I feel like I haven't complained enough over this country and Halloween traditions or lack of them for that matter. I get it, it's an ''imported'' holiday, since it's big in the States but honestly, looking at the origins should it really be imported? Halloween also known as All Hallows Eve or All Saints eve is a celebration observed by a number of different countries all over the world. It is believed that many if not most traditions originate from Celtic harvest festivals, which may have pagan roots. Halloween was supposed to be Christianized from a Gaelic festival called Samhain, which was a festival marking the end of the harvest season and the begining of winter or as they called it ''the darker half'' or the year. Samhain is believed to have Celtic and pagan origins since there is evidence that the very date October 31st was an important one in ancient times. It was the date the cattle was brought back down from summer pastures, livestock was slaughtered for the winter, they lit fires which they believed had protective and cleansing powers. They believed that on Samhain the barrier between our world and the other side was down, making it easier for the spirits to come into our world. The souls of the dead were believed to be revisiting their homes, and places at the table on their feasts were left empty for them. As part of the festival people were actually going door to door in disguise, reciting verses in exchange for food. Disguises were meant as a way to scaring away the so called Aos Si or the nature spirits. In medieval Britain, “supplicants moved from door to door asking for food in return for a prayer for the dead,” and they would carry “hollowed-out turnip lanterns, whose candle connoted a soul trapped in purgatory.” (Halloween—From Pagan Ritual to Party Night). But I think unfortunally we can all agree that lately it's more of a commercial celebration, just like Christmas, shopping malls and people ruined the charm of both holidays. Nothing upsets me more the when I see Christmas decorations in stores before Halloween. And this is not because of my love for Halloween. This is because it's stupid. Christmas lights, trees, god damn Santa all in the middle of October? What for? So the stores sell more? Idiotic. The whole point of the holiday is lost. It's supposed to be a family holiday after all. Not about the presents not about celebration but about spending your time with your family. Even if you shouldn't really need a holiday to take time for your family but let's leave that right now.
In some places of the world Halloween is more important then here, there's things like trick or treating, costume parties, pumpkin carving, bonfires, pranks, haunted houses, scary stories and movies...so on and so on. What I find funny though is how some, not all but some religious people preach about Halloween being evil, a satanic holiday due to it's pagan roots. Of course we all know how Christians tend to flinch each time you say ''pagan'' or ''atheist'' but calling a holiday satanic is really far fetched. The only ''evil'' part of it is the golrifiying vampires, witches, ghosts, satan or whatever else you chose to dress up in. Calling it satanic is just as silly as saying black cats are evil. You know where that comes from anyways? Christianity of course, after church stole Samhain and named it All Hallows eve, people believed in witches and black cats were supposed to be witches companions they believed a witch can actually turn into a cat. You do know what a black cat crossing your way means right? No? I'll tell you. It means that the animal is headed somewhere.
Then you've got the pumpkins, I think everyone when somone says Halloween thinks about the States and the pumpkins. That's a tradition that I actually love. It's fun, it's creative and it's artistic. But where did it come from? There's evidence that the roots of pumpkin carving or Jack o lanterns if you will actually comes from Europe. They were supposedly invented to scare away the evil spirits from homes that left them on their door steps on Halloween night. Others believe it's used as a light to guide back the spirits. Some believe it's from a legend about a man who played a game with the devil who prevented him entering heaven or hell and was condemned to wander the earth forever, a Jack o lantern to light his way, but the truth is the tradition was brought to America by British and Irish immigrants, though they were carving turnips at the time and people later decided that a pumpkin is much easier.
And the colors orange and black? It could be as simple as orange representing autum or pumpkins and black as the short days, the darker colder part of the year. Let's be honest though, black is mysterious, dark, a little scary too I suppose. Nobody wants to read about the ''mystical powers'' of orange right?
Then you've got spiders and bats. Any Halloween party you walk into you are sure to see spider webs, spiders, bats,...Now I'm not sure about spiders, should they have a meaning beyond they're creepy and they fit into the whole idea of Halloween but bats are a different story...they are creatures of the night so that's obviously a plus but what it is back in the time of Samhain they had big bonfires which would attract moths and bats, they were most likely pretty common and that's why they stuck with the new version. Not to mention the vampire folklore, vampires can turn into bats and all that, and the fact that there are actually bats that feed only on blood? They are probably most hardcore Halloween stuff there is.
Theres plenty of these symbols, like skelletons, skulls, ghosts, representing the dead, and the costumes, people would dress up to hide from the evil spirits and such. To me Halloween holds precious memories, good times spent with people that are no longer in my life and most important getting to dress up into something I'm not. Someone I'm not. Sometimes it gets really hard to be in my skin so being someone else is a welcome vacation. So there you go, Happy Halloween if you celebrate and if not then enjoy your day none the less.
You know what they say about the crazy ones...
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