Celebrations! Don’t we just look for an opportunity to celebrate?
Between Halloween and New Year’s Day, we have more celebrations than at any other
time of the year.
Halloween is just one of those holiday celebrations that do not make a lot of sense to me.
Ghosts and goblins are not a part of my life. I do not have children, so the holiday does
not have the same significance to me that it has for parents with children. Though I was
an educator for most of my professional career, teaching at the college and university
level, I do not decorate my home for the holiday, and some might even think I’m not
kid-friendly.
Pagan Ritual
Halloween is a celebration, emanating from a historical pagan ritual, with origins that go
back many centuries. The holiday has different meanings in different cultures, the depth
and breadth of which is beyond my interest. For the truly interested, the mystery
surrounding jack-o-lanterns and trick or treating can be answered through a search of the
Internet.
More modernly, lots of groups, including churches, will hold their Halloween parties,
although often referring to the party under a pseudonym, such as “Costume
Party,” and perhaps holding contests for the best costume or the best carved pumpkin.
I see nothing wrong with that, though I think we could do just as well to have a themed
party.
Is the day evil? I think most of us would agree that the day is not evil, or not
particularly so; though, evil, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Although some
cults may have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did
not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new
year, and out of medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, even many churches have
Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. After all, the day itself is
only as evil as one cares to make it. Perhaps we should rename Halloween
“Make-Believe Day.”
Characters and Costumes
When I was a kid, I loved the Wizard of Oz. It scared the daylights out of me and my
cousins! Yet, one year, I went to my Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity party dressed as the
Tin Man, the character from the Wizard of Oz. I handily won the contest as ‘best
dressed.’ I looked just like the original character with my silver makeup, silver
painted tennis shoes, and my funnel hat. Back then, as a young man, I even resembled Jack
Haley, the actor who played the character in the Wizard of Oz.
The next year, I went to the Halloween Party dressed as “The Devil.” Okay, that
really wasn’t my first choice for a costume, but I was late picking out my selection
that year, and, apparently, dressing like the devil wasn’t at the top of the fashion
list.
Before the contest, one of the judges who recalled my overwhelming victory from the year
before said, “Don’t think you are going to win this year!” Come to think
about it, his tone snarled, and sounded like a guttural expression often heard during the
statement by a Don Corleone-type figure saying, “Don’t even think about
it.” Now, that is a character I could get into. As I have gotten older, and gained
more weight than I care to think about, I could definitely play a heavy Marlon Brando.
Stella!!!!
Apparently, the scales of justice were not balanced for that contest as the Devil
didn’t receive a fair shake that year. Perhaps the Devil’s tail was bouncing
around a little too friskily for the satisfaction of some folks!
A couple of decades ago, I had a Halloween Party in my home. Never again! Folks were too
much into their characters to suit me, and I prefer to know who is and isn’t in my
home, if you know what I mean. Now, if someone even comes near my home wearing a mask,
they had better run, because I’m about to call the police!
One fellow even showed up dressed as “Burton Fletcher the Attorney,” wearing a
suit and carrying a briefcase. Okay, he was creative, but he wasn’t my favorite
character. I dressed up as a convict with a ball-and-chain for that party. Now that was a
change of roles, perhaps expressing some deep down psychological urge to act out as a bad
boy that night!
Ritual
Is all of this ritual necessary? Before you call me the Halloween equivalent of
“Scrooge,” I will not say “Bah humbug,” as a Christmas character who
found rehabilitation at the end of the story. No, we can have fun at any time of the year,
and that includes Halloween. I know this is the time, particularly for folks with
children, to be spooky, creepy, and some might say kooky, but most of all, it is a time
for fun. Life is too short to not have fun along the way.
Halloween is like kids’ day anyway for most of us, though I hear some of the adult
parties for Halloween are anything but kids’ play, if you know what I mean!
In true Halloween tradition, candy corn, pumpkin pie, and sweets are fun. Bats are not
particularly frightening to me, though I might forego the opportunity to touch one. Trick
or treating is no longer considered to be safe, and alternative events are increasingly
commonplace, as parents seek to protect their children from the harshness of a world that
seems increasingly violent.
I like cats, and have owned a couple, but never a black cat. Personally, I think the black
cats should form an anti-defamation league to demand equal treatment. “We deserve
equal treatment!” they might purr.
I don’t see headstones and cemeteries as scary places, so you may want to think twice
before inviting me to your party. As a memorialist, my professional life centers on
honoring the lives and telling the stories of those who have parted this earth, so my
perspective of cemeteries is different than most folks outside the death-care industry. I
love visiting cemeteries! Does that make me a bit weird? Hmmmm. Please hold judgment. (For
some reason my spell check indicated “Hamm” when I wrote “Hmmmm.”
‘I see dead people’ and ‘I hear voices’ come to mind.)
Halloween, like a number of other commercial holidays, provides us with an opportunity to
dress the kids up and take lots of pictures. That seems like a fun thing to do.
Decorations, crafts, and social camaraderie are good things. Trick or treating is okay
too, as long as it is not malicious. I can also get a laugh out of seeing a house rolled
with toilet tissue as well as the next person, so long as it isn’t my house! (Smile.)
Celebrations! Don’t we just look for an opportunity to celebrate?
Between Halloween and New Year’s Day, we have more celebrations than at any other
time of the year.