Halloween

 I am in two mines over writing this blog and I’ll probably divert onto other things as we go, but here goes.

I don’t like Halloween. There I have said it. I am really hoping I am not alone. I am presuming it is cause of my upbringing. My mum and dad were really religious. We went to church every week and when we went to secondary school it was a church school. So Halloween was not part of my life growing up. Saying all of that Halloween was not a very big thing in the UK anyway during that time. Like many things it has grown in popularity from the states and has now become a very large commercial event. 

So I thought I would do some digging and find out about the history of why Halloween is even a thing and how has it become the event that it is today. So apparently it originates from a Celtic festival of Samhain which occurs around the 1st November and is supposedly when the boundary between the dead and the living becomes blurred. With the advent of Christianity this tradition was absorbed into the celebration of All-Saints Day on the 1st November and the 2nd November became All-Souls day to honour the dead. This festival is very much still followed in central and South America as the “Day of the Dead” which is a celebration of these lives of those that had passed. (Little known fact is that the Day of the Dead parade was created for the opening scene of the James Bond movie Spectre). All-Saints Day became known as All-Hallows day and the 31st October All-Hallows Eve and then on to Halloween. Many of the traditions of lighting fires to ward off evil spirits and dressing up rolled into one event. 

My daughters yearly carving!

Pumpkin carving does come from America, but only because the original tradition of carving turnips and beetroot to be placed by the door to scare off evil spirits went over with the pilgrims to America. They found that pumpkins were much easier to grow and carve. The tradition of trick or treating is a relatively modern tradition and probably stems from a medieval tradition where on All-Soul’s Day the poor in the society would ask for food in exchange for prayers for the household’s dead relatives. I quite like the idea of that. Not sure the Karen’s of this world would relate themselves to the poor of our society now.

So it seems that Halloween is a British tradition that has travelled the globe over the centuries. So why don’t I like it. I am not 100% sure. I think it is because like many of our festivals and traditions they have become so commercial that the original ideas are lost on most people. I quite like the idea of celebrating those that have left us and can see the idea of dressing up and pumpkin carving. I think what I don’t like is the trick or treat idea. So basically what we are teaching our children is that it is OK to say give me some sweets or I will do something horrible to you. Not really unlike a mugger. It would be much nicer to say give me some sweets and I will pray for your loved ones. I can see the logic in this. There is no doing something horrible if you don’t give me something nice. We also teach children not to take sweets from strangers but every year many kids go around to people they do not know and ask for sweets. It’s OK if the kids know the people, but I believe in this day and age there are many they do not know.

Cause a horse is scary.

Saying all this I did join in with the Halloween activities in my local village. We had Halloween parties and went around to those in the village happy to participate and ask for sweets. We dressed up, Amy once went on her horse. But like many of our traditions I wish the commercial element was not there. I wandered down the aisle in Sainsbury’s looking at the large number of Halloween costumes and props that you can buy and the costs are ridiculous. The expectations for a festival that most people don’t even understand is quite astounding. The pressures to keep up with others can lead to financial issues. How did it get to this? 

On top of all this is the excuse that it gives some people to carry out acts of violence. A very very small minority I know but it got so bad in some US cities there was even thoughts of banning Halloween. I suppose what I would like is for it to be the festival it was meant to be not an artificially created commercial scam as it seems to have become. I suppose I will probably need to do the same posts when we get to Christmas or Easter and Thanksgiving in the US. 

In light of the true tradition of Halloween or really the Day of the Dead on the 2nd November I am going to remember my Mum and Dad in this post. They sadly left this world in 2020 and 2022, potentially another statistics of Covid. I want to celebrate their life, the legacy they left behind - 5 children, 14 grand-children and so far 8 great-grand children and the basic concept that we should all be kind to each other. I think that is why Halloween doesn’t sit well with me. Fundamentally, I believe that we should all be nice to each other. So I will say a little prayer for my Mum and Dad and probably give myself some sweets 🍭.

Thanks

Lois

PS If anyone wants me to say a prayer for their loved ones that are no longer with us, please let me know (no need to send me any sweets)