161 Thoughts on Halloween 2019

I love Halloween!  Apparently, so do a lot of other folks, because I’m told that it’s second only to Christmas in terms of how much money people spend on stuff related to it.  And, yes, it is a holiday (holy day), because it is the eve (day before) of the Christian All Saints (Hallows) Day.  Of course, it is also related to the Mexican Day of the Dead, the Celtic Samhain, and other autumnal/harvest celebrations throughout many cultures.  So, while Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallows’ Eve; because celebrations of this type precede Christianity by many centuries, some “Christians” would like to convince us that it is actually some sort of Satanic celebration, when, in fact, it’s nothing of the sort.  But I don’t really want to get into religious studies in this post.  I do discuss some things related to this holiday in Posts #8, 44, 73, 105, 132 in the Archives, for anyone who might be interested in further thoughts of mine about it.
 
Still, in spite of the declared dislike of this (“Satan’s”) day, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Christianity has, in fact, “borrowed” a great many things from various forms of (mostly European) Paganism, and not just stuff related to Halloween.  I saw a reference to tee shirts being sold at some “neo-pagan” shop with this design printed on it not long ago, which reminded me of that fact all over again.

There are many connotations to the various aspects of Halloween-related ideas and stuff, many of which I find amusing.  “Trick or Treating” is almost certainly related to “Souling,” which was the practice of dressing up and giving and receiving of ‘Soul Cakes” as a part of Allhallowtide and Christmastide celebrations.  Carrying lanterns and singing are also a part of this tradition, so it also seems likely that “caroling” at Christmas time is simply another outgrowth of the same tradition.
 
I suppose that it’s the connection to the idea of spooks, etc. being around at this time of year that makes Halloween supposed to be “scary.”  (It IS true that many of the autumnal traditions are based around the idea of honoring one’s ancestors at this time of year.)  But speaking of truly scary, there’s this picture I ran across of what was labelled as “The Bathroom Floor From Hell.”  What do you think?

I confess, I would NOT want to go into THAT bathroom unprepared.
 
Still, Halloween is the time of year which we associate with witches flying on brooms (or broomsticks) which reminds me of this Wizard of Id comic strip.

For many of us, however, Halloween is a time for “dressing up” in some sort of costume and decorating our home (inside AND outside for many people) with various sorts of monsters, spiders, ghosts, goblins, and other varieties of “scary” stuff.  
 
As I am very fond of the musical, The Little Shop of Horrors, I was highly amused when I saw this “table decoration” in the “Hyde and Eek Boutique”© at our local Target the other day.  It brought back fond memories of at least two productions in Cullowhee, as well as the movie.

For most of us, Halloween is, primarily, an occasion for dressing up, giving candy to cute, costumed children, and going to parties in some sort of costume, usually the more outlandish, the better. 
 
Our daughter, Maggi, is lucky enough to work for a company (Hyatt Hotels Corp.) which allows/ encourages their employees to have some fun at the office where she works by wearing costumes to work around Halloween time.  I’m not sure they really had her in mind when they started this policy, but I understand Maggi was quite a hit with her costume a year ago.  So much so that they had her pose with a display piece from the wall.

Speaking of costumes, by the way, as some of you know, I am quite fond of the Disney/Pixar movie Brave, in spite of the fact that most people seem to want to ignore it because Merida (the heroine) really doesn’t want to just be a “princess” in the tradition of most other Disney Princesses who need a Prince to “complete their lives.”  Anyway, I’m (personally) very fond of Merida who reminds me just a bit of my own two daughters (also red-heads), as well as a few female students I have known who impressed me with their drive, determination, talent and intelligence (not all of whom were red-heads).  In any event, when I saw the movie, I knew that the dress Merida’s mother, Queen Elinor, is shown wearing seemed a bit familiar, but it wasn’t until I found the picture below that I realized from where.

The picture on the right is an 1889 painting by John Singer Sargent of Ellen Terry (the first actress “knighted” as a GBE by the British monarch) in her costume as Lady Macbeth.  I think the similarities are quite obvious.  I’ve always found it interesting that the shiny “spots” on Terry’s dress were actually the wings of beetles sewn onto the fabric.  In any event, I really like this costume and Halloween makes me think of such things.
 
For many folks, however, the most memorable part of Halloween is the costume parties.  Now, I don’t want to discourage people from having a good time, but as I turned 75 this fall, I am reminded that I’m not as young as I used to was.  You’re probably not either, so take it a little easy, or you may end up feeling like the Wizard of Id, who seems to have had a rough night.

Have a good, safe Halloween.
LLAP
Dr. B


P.S.      By the way, I hope you have (had) a Happy St. Crispin’s Day on Oct. 25!  
            If you don’t catch the reference, check out Henry V, Act IV, Scene iii, 18–67.
            RSB