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| image from morguefile.com |
Halloween is when we celebrate spooky things, which is really kind of strange when you think about it. In most cultures, spooky things are meant to be simply feared or appeased. And yet, here we are laughing about Uncle Harold being the perfect zombie and little Emily's dripping fangs looking oh-so-fabulous. What gives?
Though Halloween has roots in pagan practices, its edge has been somewhat lost because of newer Christian practices that sprung up around it--specifically All Saints Day (Nov 1) and All Souls Day (Nov 2) rituals that channeled all the previous death and spook obsession into celebrations of past heroes of the faith and lost loved ones. Though we're entering a post-Christian era, the sense that we can laugh at spooky things rather than cower is very much rooted in a faith that offers light in dark places and a leader who went through death and came back from it, triumphant. Evil didn't have the final word, and that's something worth celebrating.
How's everyone doing after Hurricane Sandy? What do you think of the "laughing at spooky things" aspect of Halloween?
Chance to win! (and other Ramble News)
Margo Berendsen is hosting an ebook giveaway of Never Gone that runs all week. Don't miss out, enter today! I also wrote a guest post for her about what's unique to a teen's grief experience and my particular take on it, as well as how cross-cultural family dynamics come into play in Never Gone.I also got to be the special "Sit Down Sunday" guest on Ramblings of a Book Junkie. I talked a bit about how visual people experience grief, my style and all kinds of favorite things beyond raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.
I love laughing at spooky things! Hope you get your electricity back on tomorrow. Happy Halloween!!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to laugh rather than tremble too. Hope you had a great Halloween!
DeleteI hope your power is back on soon. (Good to hear that your in-laws are nearby and can help.)
ReplyDeleteWe were without power for about a week when the tornadoes came through--not fun.
It has been good to be taken care of. You don't realize how much you rely on modern conveniences until you don't have them. And we're not equipped to revert to 19th century non-electric technology. Our furnace needs electricity. We don't have a fireplace or oil lamps or kerosene lanterns.
DeleteHope your power comes back on soon!
ReplyDeleteSo do I! It's been rather limiting to be a refugee.
DeletePraying for you! Hope you see that power today! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Karen. Got it back around 5 pm, six hours before predicted. Good to sleep in my own bed after camping on in-laws' couch two nights.
DeleteGlad you're okay, and hope your power returns sooner than expected!
ReplyDeleteWe were dark for more than a day, and the internet was out even longer, but we're replugged now.
In 12 years at this house, the longest outage before now was one hour. After 3 days, I'm super thankful to be out of the dark!
DeleteI hope you've got your power back!
ReplyDeleteMy poor kids were complaining that it didn't feel like Halloween because we didn't decorate this year. With everything packed in the garage we just didn't know where everything was. So, yesterday at 5pm we ran to the Dollar Tree and bought some cheap stuff to hang in the trees. It sure helped them.
Glad you were able to throw together something last minute. Holidays are so important to kids.
DeleteWe'd planned to have a trick-or-treating party with 7 kids that had to be cancelled. That was very rough! Many tears shed. One of the guests was willing to have my daughter and another of the girls over to her place. We managed a smaller substitute celebration that was still plenty fun.