This is Halloween!

As a child, I was prohibited from participating in any 'real' Halloween celebration. My family was very conservative and Christian, and Halloween is widely known for being a pagan holiday and thus something very evil and generally avoided by uptight Christians.

But, like most holidays, Halloween does not really serve the same purpose as it used to. America has a very special way of taking a historical tradition or celebration and turning it into an entertaining hullabaloo. Example? I have a couple. Easter is all about egg-shaped candy and a bunny that hides presents instead of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ; Christmas is all about Santa Claus, getting presents, and plastering every surface with outrageous decorations and not so much the birth of Jesus Christ; and Valentine's Day is all about flowers and chocolates and hearts instead of .... what's his name? Saint Valentine? See, that one is so far removed from it's original meaning that I have no idea where it originated from!

And then my main topic of interest for today.... Halloween.

Once upon a time, Halloween, or "All Hallow's Eve" or "All Saint's Day" was the one day a year, on October 31st, that the borders between the dead the living melted away and the Celtic Pagans of Ireland (also some in Scotland) held a giant festival where everyone got together to stockpile food for the winter. The children went from house to house, gathering fruits and berries to eat at the festival, and dress up like creatures you might find in the underworld. The people were quite superstitious and had many techniques of dealing with the presence of the dead being present in their territory. It is pretty common knowledge that the jack-o-lantern was a popular way of warding off evil spirits during this time.

I kind of enjoy the Americanized version of Halloween. These days, we don't really stick to the rules of dressing like only creatures of the underworld, or carving our pumpkins only to look terrifying like a demon. I wonder how many Americans actually participate in Halloween because they believe in what it stands for. They must stockpile their food for the winter and survive through a day of hosting the dead. I am sure there must be a few..

Growing up, my parents would take my sister and I to the church's alternative to Halloween: "Fall Festival". Like Atheists insist on calling Christmas "X-mas", the Christians insist on calling Halloween "The Fall Festival". I find that a little funny. It was fun, though. It was a building full of all sorts of games and candy and stuff.

This year, I participated in Halloween probably more than I ever have in my life. I dressed up and went out to downtown Bellingham with a couple friends of mine. I have never seen such a sight in my life! A couple thousand costumed people crowded the streets Holly and Railroad. It was like living in Hollywood for a night. So many different awesome costumes. I am rather fond of the Americanized Halloween that is all about crazy props and costumes that are never limited to only creatures of the underworld. Along with hundreds and hundreds of others, I watched a large group of zombies do a brilliant job of dancing out the choreography to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in the middle of the road, stopping traffic for more than five minutes, I'm sure.

The little hippie folk town of Bellingham was absolutely shredded by the Halloween night life. And I was amongst it all, contributing to the chaos. It was fun!

....Plus, I met the Mad Hatter, and he bought me a drink or two. And I totally stole his tea cup and saucer and we had a very happy un-birthday at Boundary Bay. How cool is that?