Halloweeeeeeen is coming!
About two thousand five hundred years ago (a little before my time), on the last day of October, all the disembodied spirits of the dead would rise up from the afterlife and seek out living bodies that they could possess. Of course, the Celtic people from the UK soon got wise to the annual event. They decided that the best way to protect themselves was to dress up in scary and ghoulish costumes, wait behind the tombstones, and jump out when the spirits came, scaring the living daylights (or should that be dying nightlights) out of them. The ceremony has continued to this day.
Traditionally, we have children roaming the streets in ghostly attire, yelling “trick or treat” at anyone who they could find. If not happily satisfied with the odd coin or handful of sweets there was certainly a trick in store, but it was all in good fun. Farmers danced happily danced in their fields as the sale of pumpkins soared, even though most of them were to be transformed into scary orange heads, with flickering candles bringing them to life, and placed in the window to scare the “treaters” away. Even the cooking for the day was made to resemble the kind of food that ghouls would feast upon, and houses transformed into afterlife caves.
Of course, the fun bit when one was older came last thing on that night, just before the clock struck twelve. I would slip into bed beside my partner and roll towards her, only to find myself confronted with a scary mask (at least I think it was a mask!).
Alas, although the custom continues here, the pleasure has been somewhat dimmed for children of today, because of the dangers that young children face in this modern world. Why can’t the world allow children the freedom of childhood to enjoy these adventures the way we did Grit?
The Brit
About two thousand five hundred years ago (a little before my time), on the last day of October, all the disembodied spirits of the dead would rise up from the afterlife and seek out living bodies that they could possess. Of course, the Celtic people from the UK soon got wise to the annual event. They decided that the best way to protect themselves was to dress up in scary and ghoulish costumes, wait behind the tombstones, and jump out when the spirits came, scaring the living daylights (or should that be dying nightlights) out of them. The ceremony has continued to this day.
Traditionally, we have children roaming the streets in ghostly attire, yelling “trick or treat” at anyone who they could find. If not happily satisfied with the odd coin or handful of sweets there was certainly a trick in store, but it was all in good fun. Farmers danced happily danced in their fields as the sale of pumpkins soared, even though most of them were to be transformed into scary orange heads, with flickering candles bringing them to life, and placed in the window to scare the “treaters” away. Even the cooking for the day was made to resemble the kind of food that ghouls would feast upon, and houses transformed into afterlife caves.
Of course, the fun bit when one was older came last thing on that night, just before the clock struck twelve. I would slip into bed beside my partner and roll towards her, only to find myself confronted with a scary mask (at least I think it was a mask!).
Alas, although the custom continues here, the pleasure has been somewhat dimmed for children of today, because of the dangers that young children face in this modern world. Why can’t the world allow children the freedom of childhood to enjoy these adventures the way we did Grit?
The Brit
posted by Brit & Grit at 8:10 AM
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