Halloween in America

Halloween in America. Something about it nags at the back of the mind.

But it's about children, about children innocently asking neighbors for candy. A good way to strengthen neighborhoods. A good way to have fun in dressing up, and make-believe. No harm here.

Then there's the history. The origins being traced to a Celtic/Druid feast day marking the transition from harvest season to winter, honoring the lord of darkness/dead, Samhain, when the veil between the living world and the dead world becomes thinner. As with many pagan traditions, the Catholic Church sought to redeem it, moving the Feast of All Saints to November 1, therefore making October 31 the Eve of All Hallows, All Hallows Even, Hallowe'en. ("Hallow" meaning "holy person".)

Somehow the redemption doesn't seem complete, or maybe has lost ground. Alongside the cute kids in princess and superhero costumes, there are witches, ghosts, vampires, and devils. Images, words, and behaviors meet with less than the normal resistance. Halloween seems to be an opportunity for the darker element to manifest. Acts of meanness are practiced, not to mention occultic and satanic rituals.

The dark side asserts a prominence. Maybe it's the fact that the light side seems to stay tucked away under a bushel, as if the day belonged to the dark. A contradiction in words. Maybe it's that contradiction that nags at the back of the mind.