Hallows' Eve
reframing Halloween - a lesson on calling in not out
Growing up in Jamaica, no one celebrated Halloween. Once, when I was around eight, I did try to mount a minor trick-or-treating campaign, but there were no takers. My neighborhood friends (Simone- I’m looking at you), like 99.9% of Jamaicans, dismissed the idea as some American made up thing and it was met with skepticism as to why anyone would celebrate ghosts, vampires, and goblins. Fast forward, some two score plus years later, and I now find myself zealously decorating our home with skeletons, cob webs, crows, and spiders, and dressing up as either a witch or cat. This embrace of Halloween is not because of having kids, but because of a small conversation I had years ago, during which it occurred to me that Halloween is the one day of the year where we honor the imperfect, the ugly, and the shadow side of life. I think that in and of itself is cause for celebration.
The origins of Halloween are said to date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1, and they celebrated Samhain on the night before the new year because they believed that on this night, the veil between the worlds of the living and dead wore thin. Ooh…I can feel the shivers. They would light bonfires and disguise themselves to ward off ghosts. As you can imagine the church was skeptical about all this talk of ghosts and blurring boundaries between living and the dead, so at some point in the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a day to honor all saints (drumroll, All Saints Day). Over time, Halloween celebrations have evolved from bonfires and costumes to ward off ghosts, to include other practices, such as carving jack-o-lanterns and trick-or-treating.
Well, what does all of this mean for us today?
Why is it important to acknowledge the ugly, the imperfect, the underside, and shadow side of life?
I am still working through the answer, but I am reminded by something my kids say (albeit sometimes mockingly)
“Call in not out” - a simple phrase for reminding ourselves about including over othering.
I would even go so far as to say that this entire week - Halloween (Oct 31)/ All Souls Day (Nov 1)/ Diwali (Nov 1)/ Day of the Dead (Nov 2)/ U.S. Election Day (Nov 5) - is fertile ground for calling in not out. For embracing light and dark. For inclusion over othering.
Fear of the unknown and lack of understanding pepper our discourse today. To wit, the statement by he who shall not be named, about childless cat ladies. I wonder if he knows that today is also National Cat Day? It is! :)
For me, Halloween is a small is in the large. To celebrate it is to honor the multitude of ways that life manifests. Sometimes in the beautiful and sublime, and sometimes in the gory and unsavory. The trick perhaps is to acknowledge it all.
And so, as we look towards Hallows’ Eve this Thursday, and election day, next Tuesday, I leave you with these carved jack o’ lanterns:
Here’s to calling in and not out, and here’s to hoping this week will bring less tricks and more treats.
Happy Hallows’ Eve.
Wishing you all things good,
Tamara