Listening to the slamming Alex Jordan Show. The question of Halloween came up this morning. Salt queries Halloween’s relevance to Barbados. What’s it all about? Alex wonders though, what’s wrong with harmless fun. I am with Salt on this one. As Alex would say, “No, but seriously”.
Rituals are shared cross-culturally and much of what we celebrate, say, Christmas (my most favourite time of the year), carnival, Easter, Divali are imports. But then we, Caribbean people, for the most part are imports and so are many things that follow from that culturally.
It is one thing to be born into a received culture, another to go actively looking to import someone else’s. Yes, our culture should be dynamic, open to influences, from inside and outside. Cultural expressions ought not to be stuck in time, but reimagined, kept alive because they symbolise our idiosyncracies. And I would rather too that these rituals have meaning. And I do not mean only serious, political meaning. But fun meanings too.
There is nothing, nothing remotely organic about halloween in the Caribbean. Christmas is connected to people’s beliefs about Jesus Christ. Divali and pagwa connect to Hinduism. But halloween is not related to anything, other than what people see on TV. And for that, halloween in the Caribbean is, in the most literal sense of the word, pretentious.
According to Wikipedia, hallowe’en is linked to the celtic festival of Samhain, (translated as ‘summer’s end) a celebration of the end of the “lighter half” of the year and beginning of the “darker half”. The name comes from All Hallows day, 1 November, the beginning of that period in temperate northern countries, that is.
We have the benefit of no darker half of a year, living in sweet, glorious sunlight and breezes. If anything, November to March is absolutely the best period of the year- our lighter end. Think of the quality of the light, the luminescence of the sky, the cool, wafting winds.
We can try to authenticate or indigenise the halloween experience with costumes of soucouyant, la diablesse, lagahoo, steel donkey or duen… whatever. But we have carnival for costuming already. Ain’t?
I totally agree with Roberta and Jacqui. Honestly, I think it’s another indication of how much we are brainwashed by American media.
Let me admit upfront that I hardly watch CBC-TV except for the news or a major local event like the PM’s funeral. And the majority of the TV I do watch is from the US – so yeah, Halloween, dressing up etc. comes across loud and clear.
But it’s just an excuse.
Even if you said Guy Fawkes Day – courtesy of the former British Empire, I could kinda see.. But witches and ghosts and stuff? Nah. Too many American movies and TV shows.
I have to agree with Roberta that cultural dynamism and openness to new perspectives, requires standards of what makes sense and what does not, as well as some organic link. I continue to be confounded by our willingness to be culturally recolonized.
I particularly agree with Lynette that the connection to blood and gore and evil is exactly what our children do not need at this juncture.
When we lived in North America it was impractical to say to a child that we should not participate, because the advertisement and hype were so great. We, however discussed the ideology that dominated halloween. We decided to go against the steam and my daughter and I agreed that she would go out as an angel. Even then one had to accompany the children and examine the candy because some crazies were putting blades etc in the candy.
In addition I had to put up some and throw away some of the worst candy, because it was just too much to handle even spread over months. The candy business thrived, but the children were in danger of an extended sugar high which was not helpful.
We have enough amazing festivals in the Caribbean into which we can induct our children. We do not need to grasp at an import which glorifies gore and candy.
Halloween as an American celebration has no significance for us. I agree with you Roberta, when our Caribbean cultures mix, it makes sense, but not this. I do know however, that halloween has significance on the catholic calender. As you pointed out Halloween is Hallow’s Eve (the even of All Saints Day November 1st)
There’s just so absolutely nothing to recommend this Halloween in the Caribbean to my mind, that I too am at a loss as to why make the effort.
Even in America, parents are fighting their own discomfort with the dangerous offshoots of this particular form of celebration, and their children’s natural desire to dress up and get candy. (It is one thing to talk about the meaninglessness and superficiality that have taken over some celebrations, but this one has morphed into a multitude of opportunities for physical harm).
Parents have to accompany their kids out at night in their own neighbourhoods, because this is an essential form of the celebration – trick or treating. The blood and the gore and the knives and the death symbols lead some teens to engage in behaviours, some meant to be harmless, that end up being very harmful. It also creates the opportunity for others with evil intent to do so under cover of the celebration.
I know of parents who try to lighten the costuming especially for younger kids because they are uncomfortable with symbols; they go the way of fairies, princesses, pirates, and batman, superman etc. There is a definite increasing discomfort though with a lot of the symbols and activities of this form of celebration. I guess because in life itself, in this modern time, there is too much halloweenish stuff going on.
We need to keep more of the babies and less of the bath water, and Halloween is definitely so much bath water.
Of course predating Halloween we have had All Saints and All Souls Days celebrated by a predominantly Catholic faithful when celebrants congregate in cemeteries to light candles on the graves of the departed.
From Wikipedia:
All Saints’ Day (in the Roman Catholic Church officially the Solemnity of All Saints and also called All Hallows or Hallowmas[1]), often shortened to All Saints, is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November in Western Christianity, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Christianity, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown.
In terms of Western Christian theology, the day commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in Heaven. It is a national holiday in many historically Catholic countries. In the Roman Catholic Church, the next day, All Souls’ Day, specifically commemorates the departed faithful who have not yet been purified and reached heaven.
Christian denominations celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints’ Day and the Feast of All Souls’ Day because of the fundamental belief that there is a prayerful spiritual communion between those in the state of grace who have died and are either being purified in purgatory or are in heaven (the ‘church penitent’ and the ‘church triumphant’, respectively), and the ‘church militant’ who are the living. Different Christian traditions define, remember and respond to the saints in very different ways.
More at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Souls%27_Day
I was just talking last night about Divali, which is one of my favourite festivals … though of course it’s not actually connected to my religious beliefs (of which I have none anyway). If I was in Trinidad, I would certainly be lighting my deyas. As for Halloween, I think it’s a pretty harmless cultural import as such things go. I should probably fess up to being one of those (not just) ex-patriots who had parties for a small group of kids (in the mid-80s) that eventually spread to trick or treating in the neighbourhood, but I seem to remember they were already dressing up at school too.
Well if we got summer…I guess we got Halloween… I have noticed that it started amongst a more affluent, ex-patriot population in Trinidad. It would have most-likely started with themed parties, much like summer parties, and now the tricking or treating is going down in the gated communities.
I think it’s all an entertainment and media hype… and we have so much american TV, it’s become real.
But, seriously, Roberta, I know enquiring minds never sleep, but is UNIFEM working you hard enough?
“Christmas is connected … Divali and pagwa connect … But halloween is not related to anything,” Not true. It is connected to our deepest desire to achieve development, which we have been led to think will bring us the access we deserve to all the fine things in life. Yes, we see it on tv, and it is clearly what the successful North American/Western European world has designated as one of the marks of success. So why shouldn’t we have it? True, it’s taking us a lot longer to assimilate than we did with Valentine’s Day (connected to what? Love?) – perhaps because that ghosts, goblins, sort of little imps and devils thing might jar with some of our more fundamentalist christian beliefs. But we will get there in good time. So just leave us alone to enjoy all that good stuff we deserve.
And I’m not certain just how far in my cheek my tongue is!