It's now October and everywhere you see the signs of the season...Halloween.
A few years ago the children at our church school were allowed to wear their Halloween costumes on a designated day just before October 31 and "trick or treat" by going by the staff offices where we gave them pre-approved treats. Not too much sugar!
Gradually pressure from parents and a more subtle pressure from the many fundamentalist Christians in our area caused the school to restrict the type of costumes the children could wear. No more witches, wizards, devils, ghosts, or vampires were allowed. Apparently this did not satisfy those who fretted about what children wore on the holiday. Next the children were told they could not wear costumes of a superhero (Superman, Spiderman, Ninja Turtles, Supergirl, Batman etc) either. I assume Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings characters would be persona non grata as well.
Enforcement of these decrees being difficult, the school tried another tack. Instead of Halloween characters, the children may come to school dressed as "Community Helpers." That means you can come as a policeman, fireman, doctor, nurse, or teacher. And no--Superman and Spiderman are not "community helpers."
I loved Halloween. We always decorated extensively for it and kept the decorations up all of October when Portia and Babs were little. We told ghost stories and sang little Halloween songs about witches and made cookies and talked endlessly about what they would be for Halloween. Portia was usually some sort of witch. Babs was usually some sort of princess. I made their costumes and had a ball doing it. We got sick on candy corn and Halloween colored M&M's. Portia and Babs hoarded and traded their treats for at least a month afterwards.
The kids in our neighborhood still dress up like witches, warlocks, Harry Potter, vampires, ghosts and (of course!) princesses when they come around to trick-or-treat. They don't come to ring my doorbell wearing "Community Helpers" outfits. The real appeal of Halloween is that the children get to pretend they are powerful and in charge. They enjoy the fantasy--and they know it is a fantasy.
My ancestors, in the famous quip of Disraeli, were painting themselves blue and howling at the moon in the ancient forests of Scotland and Germany in the time of Christ. Maybe that's why I always loved Halloween. Is it some kind of ancestral urge that I have to dress up in my long black cape and dress to hand out the Halloween treats?
And by the way, at my house the treats are not dried fruit, nuts, or other nutritional alternatives. No, no, no--Portia and Babs would never allow that. Our treats are always chocolate. Another reason I love Halloween.
Gradually pressure from parents and a more subtle pressure from the many fundamentalist Christians in our area caused the school to restrict the type of costumes the children could wear. No more witches, wizards, devils, ghosts, or vampires were allowed. Apparently this did not satisfy those who fretted about what children wore on the holiday. Next the children were told they could not wear costumes of a superhero (Superman, Spiderman, Ninja Turtles, Supergirl, Batman etc) either. I assume Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings characters would be persona non grata as well.
Enforcement of these decrees being difficult, the school tried another tack. Instead of Halloween characters, the children may come to school dressed as "Community Helpers." That means you can come as a policeman, fireman, doctor, nurse, or teacher. And no--Superman and Spiderman are not "community helpers."
The old Halloween carnivals of my youth and my children's childhood are now called "Fall Festivals". We're having one thousand pumpkins delivered to the school grounds in a couple of weeks for a Pumpkin Patch--which is a fundraiser. Will we have to promise if we buy them we won't make jack-o-lanterns out of them since jack-o-lanterns are supposed to scare off the ghosts, demons and other scary figures of Halloween?
I loved Halloween. We always decorated extensively for it and kept the decorations up all of October when Portia and Babs were little. We told ghost stories and sang little Halloween songs about witches and made cookies and talked endlessly about what they would be for Halloween. Portia was usually some sort of witch. Babs was usually some sort of princess. I made their costumes and had a ball doing it. We got sick on candy corn and Halloween colored M&M's. Portia and Babs hoarded and traded their treats for at least a month afterwards.
The kids in our neighborhood still dress up like witches, warlocks, Harry Potter, vampires, ghosts and (of course!) princesses when they come around to trick-or-treat. They don't come to ring my doorbell wearing "Community Helpers" outfits. The real appeal of Halloween is that the children get to pretend they are powerful and in charge. They enjoy the fantasy--and they know it is a fantasy.
My ancestors, in the famous quip of Disraeli, were painting themselves blue and howling at the moon in the ancient forests of Scotland and Germany in the time of Christ. Maybe that's why I always loved Halloween. Is it some kind of ancestral urge that I have to dress up in my long black cape and dress to hand out the Halloween treats?
And by the way, at my house the treats are not dried fruit, nuts, or other nutritional alternatives. No, no, no--Portia and Babs would never allow that. Our treats are always chocolate. Another reason I love Halloween.
14 comments:
NO SUperheros either??????
SOmetimes I think people ned to take a deep breath and repeat "it is not real, they are fictional characters" before tehy talk. The follow-up would be "fantasy is not evil, fantasy is not evil, imagination is good, imagination is good"
The Princess will be dressed as Hermione Granger. We were very excited to get her Gryffindor robe in the mail the other day, along with a tie and her wand. We are total pagans when it comes to Halloween.
There's something about confronting the things that scare us that seems psychologically important to me, I don't know... it takes away their power. And I'm still scratching my head over the prohibition against superheroes. Again, it would seem that in childhood when you're so at the mercy of people bigger and stronger and older, it is important fantasy play to imagine yourself powerful.
Not to mention, just plain fun.
Anyway, I totally agree with you in every respect. Especially on the chocolate.
Oh so damned true. I remember we would be allowed to trick or treat all over town and would have a ball. My Church does trunk or treat. There is just something sad about that too.
Grace,
I LOVE Halloween! I can't think of any nice way to say this - these anti-Halloween people need to get a hobby!
My home congregation always has a party - last year I went as a witch with turquoise hair (Tonks?) and my husband went as Harry Potter.
My internship parish REALLY gets into Halloween. They do a haunted hayride and a lockin each year. They also do a lot for Memorial for All Souls/All Saints Day and try to show the kids how it's all connected. Apparently last year on Halloween "Gandalf" appeared and took all of the Sunday school kids through their labyrinth by candlelight. How cool. Can't wait to see what they do this year.
Sometimes I just want to shake people. What happened to the spirit of Carnival, of the world turned upside down?
I work with people who will have "Reformation Day" rather than Halloween. Kids will get to dress up as their favorite Bible hero. I can just imagine--whee, let's get wild and crazy about the Reformation! Sigh.
I grew up reciting:
Five little pumpkins sitting by the gate
The first one said, Oh my it's getting late!
The second one said, "There are witches in the air . . ."
Now, the same folks who rail against inclusive language and political correctness have dictated that the third line of the poem must go: The second one said, "There are bats in the air!"
I guess it's okay to tinker with the classics if it's promoting YOUR agenda.
For what it's worth--I'm not a big supporter of Church sponsored spook-fests. We can get that elsewhere if we're into that--but no one but us Christians are going to do All Saints Day, so that's where we should put our efforts.
I've seen this fundie stuff here for years. A nursery school teacher gave me a "get saved" tract when I gave her a teacher gift of Halloween pumpkin earrings when LS was toddling.
It is as though evil will get worse if lil kids dress up as scary things. If we ban Halloween can we then assume that evil has been handled and we no longer fear the Big Bad Evil. Sounds nuts to me. I choose as my text, Bruno Biettleheim's THE USES OF ENCHANTMENT, for how children process their sense of powerlessness with scary stories.
When my lovely WG was in preschool, they had a no "superheroes/Power Rangers" rule. So, on the designated day, she shows up in her costume and the teacher in a not-so-subtle, sing-songy way says to me, "Oh, somebody lost the letter about no Power Rangers." Before I could open my mouth, WG says, "I'm not a Power Ranger. They're dumb. I'm Captain Katherine Jane Wright, Commander of the Starship Enterprise."
Teacher couldn't argue with that.
Is it any wonder she's my Wonder Girl?
WG just reminded me that the correct name was "Captain Katherine Janeway, Commander of the Starship Enterprise." Oops!
Wonder Girl is really a wonder. What a snappy retort. Good for her!
The post and the comments are why I don't like Halloween anymore. Adults have taken the fun out of it. It has gone from a fun thing to a high pressure thing, another battle in suburban warfare with the conservative evangelicals on one side and overspending super moms on the other (Does your 6 month old really need that $250 costume or to have her own candy bag? I think not.)
Signed, the Halloween Party Pooper (just ask my husband who has informed me our 9 month old will be wearing a pumpkin costume - at least it's hand-me-down)
I'm curious .... there's so much emphasis put on the non-religious/anti-religious aspects of Halloween that we can't have Halloween .... how come the same emphasis isn't put on RETURNING the religious element to Christmas? Shouldn't that be a higher priority?
"No, you can't dress up as a Power Ranger for Halloween. But, sure thing, get some Power Ranger ornaments for the Christmas tree!"
I used to live in a small town in southeast Kansas that felt that Halloween was too much of something bad (this was before fundamentalist and others started working on the day). To fight against Halloween, they created Neewollah and made it the official town holiday. When I left, this new holiday was as big and commercial as Halloween ever was. I am not sure if anything was gained.
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