Happy Pay-through-the-nose-oween
Joy! It's the day before All Saints Day (or All Hallows' Day, and hence the eve of All Hallows, or as it is best known to us, Hallowe'en.) It seems strange that in current times more attention is paid to the day before the Day, than to the festival itself. But then that's modern times for you. For some people it is to all intents and purposes Happy Pagan Day, although frankly most modern pagans only seem to exist as a deliberate antithesis to the Christian church, rather than as something they can point to as a specific philosophy. Ask 10 different pagans what it means to them and you'll get 10 different answers, mostly revolving around rants against the church. They'll come out with common principles such as "while it hurt none, do what thou whilst", but that basic philosphy can be found all over the place (not least in Jesus's "do as you would be done by"). I have nothing against pagans - indeed my own girlfriend is one - but paganism itself seems to be somewhat nebulous and ill-defined.
Of course, that's not too surprising if there are those who want to proclaim Hallowe'en. The church learnt the lesson of its forbear, the Roman Empire, that a people are more easily subjugated if their culture and lifestyle are assimilated rather than oppressed. So they gave the Celtic and Saxon people the pastorally sanctoned feast of All Saints, in replacement for their traditions of Samhain and the Festival of the Dead. After gently explaining that all this communing with the dead was no less than conjuring with dark forces and fraternising with the servants of Satan himself. It was nothing of the sort, in Celtic and Saxon tradition, but they were handed them the Saints to pray to as an alternative, nevertheless. "It's alright", they said, "you can carry on feasting and making merry, just as long as you do it in the name of Christianity." Now the wheel is turning full circle, and whilst the church's traditional power is waning in this modern day the day it decried is being hailed once more, almost in mockery.
It is, of course, the Christian idea that Hallowe'en is bedevilled (literally) by mischievous and vexatious imps and demons that directly gives rise to the American tradition of Trick or Treat. For anyone who doesn't know, the principle behind the tradition is that a caller in seasonal disguise (originally as one of Satans minions, but these days pretty much anything which passes as fancy dress), and therefore nominally afforded the protection of anonimity, calls at the door claiming goodies. Should the caller be refused the householder is at peril of some malicious prank (egging the front door; rubbish bins overturned; that sort of thing) in emulation of the wicked spirits. In truth it is nothing short of demanding goods with menaces, but somehow this gets overlooked. It's little wonder that this tradition should have arisen in America where, it seems from the outside, the general social philosophy is "everyone for themself and grab what you can".
Seeing the notice I have up on my front door warning Trick or Treaters this not being America, my neighbour asked "where's your holiday spirit?" She has, of course, missed the point. It is a sad comment on British society that the practice has become commonly accepted here in the last 10 years or so. I remember going to Hallowe'en parties, when I was a child, where the indulgence was in fun social games and pastimes of our own making. We had our own traditional Hallowe'en foods and decorations. Now it seems that the retail industry has cottoned onto this blooming market and, not content with already having commercialised Christmas almost beyond recognition of its roots, is busily pushing the acceptance of the more material Hallowe'en ways of our Atlantic cousins. Black and orange streamers and decorations are a must. Completely inedible Indian corn hangings, imported thousands of miles purely for show, are quite normal. And of course barrels and barrels of sweets to hand to the pint-size blackmailers calling at the front door. It seems Hallowe'en these days is almost as important as Christmas in the stores, with aisles and aisles of stock just for this so-called "holiday". (That's another Americanism - to them it marks the beginning of the "holiday season" because they have in fairly quick succession Hallowe'en, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Of course in literal terms Hallowe'en isn't a holiday - holy day - but quite the opposite. It's the day following which is holy - at least according to the church.)
