The last three months of each year are a busy blur for many. October finishes off with Halloween, November hosts Thanksgiving and December has most folks cozied up with Christmas, but which of these is the crème de la crème? For me, Halloween takes the cake time and time again.
While the other two holidays typically have people tied up in various family affairs, Halloween is one of the few times a year that youthful joy is embraced and celebrated, and when it is by means of candy and costumes, then who can really complain? Even as I have approached my early adulthood, I still take personal joy in dressing up to the nines, walking the streets in the crisp October air and hanging out with my friends.
The focus of most holidays is family and connection, but Halloween is one of the few that is not. It is about thinning veils, spirits and mortality and warding off evil. It provides a chance for people to express their interests and let go of social expectations, especially if they cannot do so otherwise. I would even go as far as to say that letting go of social expectations and “acting out” for a night is therapeutic for some, myself included.
A lot of people generalize Halloween as a children’s holiday, but I would not say it is exclusive to only children. People of all ages dress up whether it is to trick-or-treat, to party, to go to work or even just to pass out candy to those who come knocking that night. I would not even say trick-or-treating is only for children; I fondly recall going alone in my senior year of high school and being greeted enthusiastically by people giving out candy in my neighborhood.
Some people classify Halloween as “demonic,” but I would say that is far from the truth. It originated as a day in Celtic history called Samhain, and they believed the lines of life and death were blurred between the transition between the end of harvest season and the beginning of winter. Samhain was then designated as a night to ward off the mischievous spirits that would damage their crops, and creating sacred bonfires to sacrifice crops and livestock while dressed in costumes was their way of doing so. The Celtics also believed that in doing so it would improve their priests’ (called Druids) ability to prophesize the future, which helped them prepare for the coming months.
I would not call the act of protecting oneself from mischievous spirits “demonic”… I would actually say it is quite the opposite. In current times, we may not be trying to keep our crops safe from returning spirits, but we still celebrate in different ways. I would easily say Halloween has something for everyone; bakers can partake in making seasonal pumpkin sweets, movie buffs have no shortage of films to choose from, artists of all sorts have what seems like an infinite amount of prompts and inspiration and who does not enjoy a good Halloween event?
Most holidays have something fun to offer, and honestly, to each their own. If you are asking me, though, the best of the big three will always be the one with ghouls, costumes and candy.
Nicholas Ackley can be contacted at
nackley@kscequinox.com
