Shari Della Penna
  • Home
  • About
    • My family
    • My work
    • My favorites
    • FAQ's
  • Contact
  • Blog

"Small acts of kindness can change and humanise our world."
   Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks 1948-2020
   ​Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, 1991-2020
                         Author, Advocate, Advisor

Halloween, Then and Now

10/29/2019

0 Comments

 
     “You’re going to miss all the fun. Just like last year.”
   “Don’t talk like that,” Linus cries. “The Great Pumpkin will come because I am in the most sincere pumpkin patch.”
     “Oh, good grief,” Lucy exclaims.
                        from: It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown    
                         written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz
                                                    Random House, 1980

    It’s almost Halloween.
    On our way to Florida a couple of weeks ago, we passed a billboard that informed us Halloween is a 6,000 year old holiday. I doubted that, and made a note to look it up later, when we stopped for the night. 
    Everything I found confirmed Halloween had probably evolved from the Celtic harvest holiday, Samhain. The Gaelic word is usually translated as Summer’s End. The holiday, celebrated about 2,000 years ago, was a period of mystical intensity, described in myths as a time when the boundary between the physical and the spiritual world became fluid. Spirits, faeries, and elves walked among mortals. People hollowed out gourds, and carried them, lit, throughout the streets and left gifts along the way to appease the spirits.
    The word “hallow” (not hollow) means to set apart as holy, or consecrate. To the English, trying to reconcile their beliefs with those of the Celts, November 1, became “Feasts of All Saints and Souls,” and the day before became “All Hallow’s Eve.” Similarities between the old Celtic celebration and the “modern” included honoring the dead with food and using candle-lit gourds, carved to allow the light to escape.
    The foods of choice for these early Brits were “soul cakes,” small, pastries baked with expensive ingredients and precious spices. Soul cakes were distributed to beggars who in turn handed them out to wealthier people. The beggars promised to pray for the departed souls of loved ones in exchange for food.
    The ancient Aztecs celebrated Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) around this time, too. Delicious food was part of what amounted to a wonderful family reunion with relatives who had passed into the spirit world, a joyful time for people to celebrate the memories of their ancestors. Candle-lit displays honored the ancestors and allowed them to find their families. 
    When the Spanish arrived in Mexico during the 1500s, they combined elements of Day of the Dead with their own All Souls Day. Dia de los Muertos is still celebrated in many Hispanic communities in Central America and the United States with elaborate displays and delicious food.
    It’s not such a great leap from then to now. We still celebrate with food. We still light pumpkins. We still remember the dead. 
    In 1950s America, when the Great Depression was becoming a foggy memory and WWII was finally over, a new prosperity spilled into growing suburbs. People were looking for ways to meet their neighbors and entertain their children. Pop-corn balls, caramel apples, and seasonal nuts were distributed to kids who joined their neighbors in an evening of fun.
    When I was growing up, we made our own costumes. One year I went as Miss Halloween. I had a tin-foil crown and a sash my mom made from some fabric scraps that I wore over my regular school clothes. Store-bought characters like Superheroes and Disney princesses were not even a twinkle in the eyes of entrepreneurs and merchandizers. Ghosts and skeletons were about as scary as anyone dared to be. Blood and gore were not part of the repertoire. Cats, babies, and storybook characters were popular.
    Candy companies already had Easter and Christmas. Valentine’s Day was also a big money-making holiday. But how about something in the Fall? Of course, Halloween. Candy is big business.     
    Today, Americans spend an estimated $2.6 billion on Halloween candy, according to the National Retail Federation. The day, itself, has become the nation’s second-largest commercial holiday with store-bought costumes and decorations figured into the total. 
    Now, even the littlest kids dress up in really scary and sometimes bloody-looking costumes. Yuck! And I still don’t get the whole idea of asking for candy from strangers. Because who even knows their neighbors anymore? 
    Of course, I’m not Scrooge. We don’t have very many kids in our neighborhood, but I’ll turn on my light and get a roll of quarters from the bank, just in case. 
    Maybe Linus had the best idea. Maybe the Great Pumpkin is still looking for the most sincere pumpkin patch, whatever that really means!

                                            -—stay curious! (and celebrate!)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

         I'm a children's writer and poet intent on observing the world and nurturing those I find in my small space .

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly