October/November 2014 www.thegreengazette.ca Page 11

TheGreenGazette

I grew up celebrating Halloween,

and, like many other children,

never understanding the meaning

of the day. All I knew was I was

getting candy, and if I had the stamina to

walk for blocks in the cold, it could very

well mean lots of candy. �ow in those

days, we kept things rather simple: with

an old, white sheet we could be a ghost or

a mummy… with old tattered clothes we

could be a hobo… a cardboard box and

we could be a walking TV. We would

carve a pumpkin and stick a candle in it,

and use an old pillow case to collect our

loot. Simple. Profitable. And lots of fun.

But as I grew older, Halloween began

to change and so did my views on it. I did-n’t understand the concept, or the worship

of evil dead things, and I thought perhaps

the whole affair was some type of devilish

trick to entice innocent children into wick-

edness. In addition, the whole commercial-

ism of the festivity seemed to be intensify-

ing. I just could not justify spending large

amounts of hard-earned dollars on plastic

horrors… plastic spiders, plastic headless

dead things, plastic skeletons, plastic

tombstones, plastic masks, plastic cos-tumes, and the worst—plastic pumpkins—

all of which, I could probably guess were

made in China. My green personality

cringed at the thought of someone cram-

ming all that plastic into an attic every

year. And the vision of the dead plastic

beings squeezed up against a plastic

Christmas tree, a plastic baby Jesus, and a

plastic Virgin Mary sent chills down my

spine. Now that was scary. And, of course,

ironic.

In walks Hollywood, promoting horror flicks prior and during Halloween observa-

tions, with countless of slasher films and

monster mania. The most successful of the

movies to promote Halloween terror is the

American horror franchise, Halloween,

consisting of 10 slasher films, and novels

and comic books. The fictional character of

Michael Myers stalks and kills people dur-

ing the Halloween holiday. With the abun-

dance of receiving treats and the overtone

of slashers, devils, and monsters, how could the coming generation see Hallow-

een as anything other than a time of want

and fear?

Now don’t get me wrong: I was not

about to deprive my children of the Hal-

loween experience. They enjoyed the cele-

bration in the same manner I did as a child,

with home made costumes and a real

pumpkin. Begrudgingly, I went along with

it, cursing my own self for part taking in

the paganistic ritual, until I learned the true meaning of why Halloween is celebrated.

The word Halloween means “Holy

Evening.” It comes from the Scottish term,

All Hallows’ Eve. Halloween falls on the

evening before the Christian holy days of

All Saints (Nov. 1) and All Souls’ Day

(Nov. 2). These three days are collectively

referred to as Hallowtide. It was a time

meant for honoring the saints and praying

for recently departed souls. By the end of

the 12th century the church began new

traditions. The town criers would set afoot empty streets, dressed in black and ringing

bells to call upon Christians to remember

the deceased. It was also folklore that the

souls of the departed would wander the

earth during Hallowtide for one last chance

to gain vengeance on their enemies before

moving to the afterworld. However, this was not instituted until around 750 AD, in

Europe. Before then, Halloween came

from a pre-Christian Celtic festival known

as Samhain. The pagan rite was dedicated

to the harvest. It was said during Samhain

banshees and witches were known to steal

children and destroy crops, bringing terror

to the population.

And yet, it wasn’t until the 1940s that

the practice of “trick or treating” came to

North America. The tradition already ex-

isted in Scotland, Great Britain, and Ire-land during Hallows’ Eve in the form of

“souling” where children and the poor

would sing for the dead in return for

sweets or coins. The celebration in the

west, morphed into a “trick or treat”—give

me a treat or I will play a trick on you—

sacrament that brought with it a taste of

paganistic terror.

Immigration to North America may

have brought these trick or treat traditions

with them. However it is not to say that the practice of honoring the dead did not exist

prior to these settlements in the continent.

In fact, Dia de los Muertos (the Day of

the Dead), is a common holiday celebrated

in many countries across the globe that

existed in North America before European

immigration. It is similar to All Hallows’

Eve; however, it is more of a happy cele-

bration than a sad mourning. Mexico, for

instance, joyously celebrates the holiday

by remembering friends and family mem-

bers who have passed on. It is believed that the deceased loved ones are given back to

families and friends during this time—they

are sometimes even set a place at the din-

ner table and parties are thrown with a

great feast, drinking, and dancing. It is

traditional for people to build private altars

in their homes honouring the deceased.

These may include photos of the dead,

sugar skulls or similar treats, flowers, fa-

vorite foods, of the deceased, crafts, and

more. And yet, even in Mexico, Dia de los

Muertos has become a melting pot of tradi-

tional rite. Before the Spanish invasion of

1519, the Aztecs held a festival for at least

3,000 years celebrating the death of their

ancestors. They honoured the goddess of

the underworld, Mictecacihuatl, and would

celebrate for 20 days during the corn har-

vests for the entire ninth month of the Az-

tec calendar, which begins at the end of

July. The Spanish conquerors, wishing to eradicate any and all of the rituals of the

Aztec people, failed at wiping out the festi-

val all together. They succeeded, however,

in shortening the length of the celebration

and adjusted the time of celebration to

align with their own Catholic holidays of

All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

So, apart from the “scare the wits out of

people” ritual we see today in Canada and

the US, history shows the holiday is deeply

rooted in the celebration of the past lives of

our loved ones, and how we celebrate the time is a personal one. I, for one, will be

celebrating the lives of family members

that have passed, with perhaps a bowl of

candy and chocolate.

Teena Clipston is a published writer, with

100’s of articles on the internet, in news

Halloween vs The Day of the Dead

papers, and in magazines. Clipston ob-

tained her journalism diploma in 1995,

and has worked in publishing and as a

journalist for over 20 years.

By Teena ClipstonBy Teena ClipstonBy Teena ClipstonBy Teena Clipston

Canadian house ready for trick or treat—decorated with a witch,

black cat, and spiders. Photo: Sameer Vasta

Traditional Mexican ‘Day of the Dead’ altar for family member,

Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Photo: Laura Winfree