All Hallows Eve, 10-27-09

How many of you have costumes already for Halloween? Did your kids change their minds about 100 times before deciding on the costume they originally wanted and can you find it in time? Are you dressing up and taking them out for a round of trick-or-treating? All these questions are flashing through the minds of millions of Americans the closer we get to Halloween. But does anybody really wonder where we got the holiday in the first place?

The Gaelic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in) is the holiday that Halloween first received its inspiration from. The Gaels believed that during this night, the barrier between the real world and the spirit world became thin and ghosts could wander around as they pleased. Families took the time to honor their dead at this time of year and it was often thought of as the Gaelic New Year, when the next year would begin.

So why do our children dress up and run around like princesses and monsters? Not all the spirits who could pass between the worlds were harmless family ancestors. Some of the spirits were evil and costumes were a way of warding them off. If a person disguised themselves as a harmful spirit, they believed the actual harmful spirits would leave them alone! The entire idea behind trick-or-treating is that the children are dressed as the harmful spirits and the candy works as a balm to keep them pacified and to prevent them from playing tricks on you or on your house. Don’t ask me how dressing up like a harmful spirit translates into princess costumes. I haven’t figured that one out yet.

And the pumpkins? Why do millions of people every year spend hours digging out the squishy guts of gourds and trying to make them look scary? Well, it’s better than an enemy’s head, isn’t it? The Celts believed that the wisdom and the spirit resided in the head of their enemies and, since they were headhunters, they would hang those heads on their door lintels, to keep the wisdom near their house. They would also carve faces into turnips and rutabagas to make lanterns to keep evil spirits away. In the new world, pumpkins were readily available, not to mention larger and easier to carve, so the pumpkin got the job of being a lantern for the protection of the home.

Halloween is not necessarily an evil holiday, or really terribly scary, but Hollywood and literature have certainly made it into one. New horror films typically come out in October, we’ve got haunted houses and witches, black cats and vampires, all of which are not traditionally associated with the original holiday itself. Of course, now that we consider them part of the season, they will never be easily parted. Besides, there’s something about watching a scary movie on Halloween that really appeals to most people and I, personally, think it’s too bad we haven’t got a haunted house in Pipestone.

So I’ll probably see you on Halloween night, trick-or-treating. My children will be Tigger and the Little Mermaid and I will be dressed as, well, a mom. Come on, did you really think I’d say something more exciting?

Stop by Meinders Library for a party on October 31st, from 2-4 PM. We will have goody bags for the kids, mini pumpkins and gourds to paint, and bookmarks to color and stamp. Stories will be read every fifteen minutes and the activities will be self-directed. We hope to see you there!!

If you have any questions, or have a book to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 507-825-6714. The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday, from 10 AM to 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM.