I am grateful to my friend, Leita for informing me about the
Celtic origins of Halloween. I have generally believed that Halloween is a
meaningless and flippant holiday; one that I avoided. It is the cause of jokes
now that our children have grown up totally scarred because they were never
allowed to go out trick or treating or engage in Halloween activities. The fact
is…. in our house…. Halloween didn’t exist. I suppose that caused some issues
for our kids.
We saw some great movies on Halloween night when the boys were young. It
was my only way to help them get through the Halloween excitement without
engaging in the activities. We didn’t have a lot of money in those days. I
remember consciously saving enough to take them out for the evening and avoid
the trick or treaters knocking on our apartment door begging for candy. I, for
one, looked forward to having that night away from the antics of the holiday
and together, creating alternative experiences with my kids.
My children grew up in a Jewish home. Wearing costumes and pretending to
be someone else happens on a holiday called Purim when the intention is to
dress up like the characters of the story of Purim. Wearing costumes on
Halloween had no particular cultural significance. And going from house to
house, begging for candy, dressed in monster costumes or Batman, simply went
against every idea about healthy eating and nutrition that I tried to model.
Halloween is a very scary time for some youth. I realized that when I
was a middle school teacher in the inner city of Toronto. In the students’
journals, as Halloween approached, expressions of stress and worries about ‘being
mugged’ or ‘attacked’ for candy became a common topic of note. Many of these
youth came from other countries, wanting to fit in to the Canadian way. In
adolescence they want nothing more than to be accepted in the social mores of
the environment. For many, Halloween made no sense in their country of origin,
and complying with the practice just became easier than fighting the
mainstream.
In addition, Halloween became opportunity for danger. Stories of razor
blades and poison in distributed food led to the termination of homemade,
interesting desserts to share with neighbours. The holiday became, for many,
opportunity for violence and horror! Even movies depicting frightening faces of
vampires and monsters intended to scare and haunt the child psyche.
Desensitization to murder, carnage and gore brutality becomes desirable and amusing.
There’s something wrong with this picture! Especially in a world that struggles
with war, urban violence, prejudice and teen bullying, we want to promote and
model positive activities. We need to be way more loving and compassionate and
kind. Those are the behaviours we want to model and highlight.
We were definitely the exception in our community in Toronto. Most
people completely bought into the practices of Halloween. Making (or buying)
costumes, purchasing bags and bags of Hershey’s or Cadbury to distribute,
getting involved with Halloween parties, all became a part of the days leading
up to October 31st.
In my own classroom the challenge was to acknowledge the holiday and
still respect the various cultures and religions that were represented in our
learning environment. To represent the day, we would have a potluck lunch.
Everybody had to bring food that was black or orange. Recently I have learned
some interesting information about Halloween that opens me up to make more
sense of this holiday.
A Pagan holiday in origin, it is said that October 31 is considered to
be the identification of the end of the harvest season and the beginning
of winter or the 'darker half' of the year. The separation of the seasons is a
time for change, ‘house cleaning’, preparation and inner reflection. It is time
when many believe the ‘door’ to the otherworld opens allowing the souls of the
dead to appear. It reminds me a bit about saying Yizkor and connecting to the
loved ones in our lives who have passed. The Celtic holy day of Halloween is
actually called Samhain (pronounced sow in). During the festivities
people wore costumes to disguise themselves so they are unrecognizable from the
evil spirits that could appear. Jack-o-lanterns, originally made from turnips,
were carved and lit along the pathways for light and protection from the
spirits. This was the last chance for these souls to seek vengeance on Earth
before they were permanently settled in heaven. The trick or treating practice
originated from the desire to distribute food to poor people who came to one’s
house. Doing good and helping others, people believed, would save their souls.
Like Yom Kippur, it represents your ‘last chance’ for redemption.
There is also a Christian connection to Halloween, which many of us know
as ‘All Hallows Eve’. Like the Celtics, it too is assumed that those spirits,
who have not yet passed in to the Other World, use their last chance to make a
presence in this world before they are moved on to Heaven.
I wish I had known more about Halloween while I was growing up and
growing up my children. I’m not sure if it would have influenced me to practice
the rituals for the holidays, but I do think I would have been much more
forgiving of those who did.
Happy Halloween to all those who care…
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