October 31st: A Halloween Memoir

September through December is my absolute favorite time of year. It's one magickal celebration after the next for a vast variety of faiths, religions, cultures, and belief systems. It's the time of year when we hold our loved ones close, honor the ones we've lost, reflect, give thanks, and prepare for the new year to come.

My favorite among these holidays is Halloween/Samhain, and it has been since childhood. I always loved to dress up, but the best thing was that it didn't take much money to participate in the festivities. No fancy dinner to shop and prepare for; no gifts to purchase; and low cost, no cost costumes that can be put together with a little bit of creativity. Come as you are or anything your heart desired. The possibilities were limitless. If all else failed, we'd simply go in our pajamas and say we were "sleepy" or "tired" lol. 

And who could forget about all the goodies? It's the only time of year when you can go to homes, businesses, rec-centers, etc. and get candy, treats, small toys, and sometimes MONEY from complete strangers for FREE! For a child living in poverty, this was sometimes if not most times, better than Christmas. For we were not limited to the financial capabilities of our own families, but that of our own imagination and how far we were willing to travel.

Sometimes we took our trick-or-treating very serious. We'd map out all the places we wanted to go beforehand. We had set times for everyone to be ready to go. We knew which houses had the "good" candy, meaning full size candy bars, treat bags, and money. We knew which businesses also gave out candy. Sometimes the local Dunkin Donuts would give free donuts. I remember when we were really young, one of my parents would drive us to a more affluent neighborhood to ensure we'd get a better haul than in our own neighborhood. We'd have candy for weeks.

 

When we got into our teen years, we moved to an apartment building in Manhattan. There, we were faced with the fact that not only are we getting too old for trick-or-treating, but people don't really trick-or-treat in apartments. Also, at this point in life, we didn't have a family car so the effort it would of taken to get to the nearest suburbs was not appealing to my teenage self. Thus, Halloween festivities were reduced to sitting on the couch with my sister and watching horror movies while eating our homemade snacks and store-bought candy. Occasionally friends would join us.

My young adult years is where the celebration of Halloween really picked up again. I regularly frequented house parties, nightclubs, and bar crawls. I remember drinking games, smoking hookah, and dancing the night away. I don't know if this what would be considered woman or pretty privilege by today's standards, but I do remember getting into places for cheap or free, and also leaving drunker than the bartender not on my own dime. I was absolutely broke in my early adult years, but that was also the time I had the most fun.

Now that I am an adult approaching middle-age and have since become more spiritually enlightened and open-minded, I look for more wholesome, traditional, and meaningful ways to celebrate my favorite holiday. But first a little background about the holiday itself.

A Brief History

Halloween's origins can be traced back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was celebrated around November 1st. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the dark, cold winter. It was believed that on the night of October 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred, and spirits could return to Earth. People would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off these malevolent spirits.

In the 7th century, the Christian Church attempted to replace or "Christianize" pagan festivals, including Samhain. Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as All Saints' Day (or All Hallows' Day), and the evening before became known as All Hallows' Eve, which eventually evolved into Halloween.

Modern pagans, often practicing various forms of contemporary Paganism, still celebrate Samhain as a significant festival within their religious and spiritual traditions. Many pagans use this time to honor and remember their deceased loved ones through rituals, altars, or other ceremonies. Celebration practices also include storytelling, nature walks, bonfires, and divination. 

Today, I'm the house in the suburbs with the "good candy" handing out treat bags, while also lighting candles for deceased loved ones and practicing divination. As I stand in my doorway watching the children scurry from house to house, I look forward to the day I'll have little monsters of my own to create Halloween memories with. Until then, happy Samhain,

Happy Halloween