My latest essay for The Los Angeles Times
Plus a few thoughts on why it might be time to put the "hallow" back in Halloween.
Dear friends,
I recently had a neighbor tell me that she thinks of Halloween as “the last American holiday.” Certainly, the very premise of the day is quintessentially American — that you can be whoever you want to be — as is the singular and somewhat gruesome way Americans celebrate it. For weeks, I have been haunted by the idea, so much so that I felt compelled to write an essay, which was published today in The Los Angeles Times.
Since the ninth century, Halloween has been set aside as a day in the Christian calendar to honor and remember the saints. In the Celtic tradition, it is has long been celebrated as “Samhain,” from which many of our modern traditions and conceptions of the day emanate. Marking the final harvest of the year and the beginning of winter, Samhain (pronounced sah-win) is situated halfway between the fall solstice and the winter equinox. After the leaves have changed color but before the year’s first snow, it allows us to inhabit a sacred “in-between,” inviting loved ones we have lost to visit us much like Mexico’s Día de los Muertos.
Today, we have lost much of this ancient reverence for Halloween. Hooked on sunlight, denial, and “manifesting,” we push through the in-between, turning death into a joke with our temporary disguises and decorative one-upmanship. Perhaps it is because it feels like American politics have become like a never-ending Halloween, by which the monsters of our imagination are now somehow easier to face than the monsters at the polls.
In her book, Slow Seasons, writer Rosie Steer of
offers the Celtic Wheel as a blueprint for welcoming nature’s ebbs and flows instead of fighting against them. “Autumn ticks by, and the days are slowly creeping shorter,” she writes. “Gradually at first, then suddenly all at once…the Celtic Wheel turns, [and] we find ourselves embraced by the darkness.” At this time of year, there is darkness and fear as we are forced to reflect on the transience of beauty and the passage of time. Yet there is also clarity, belonging, and wonder — what Steer calls the “pure, unadulterated magic of transforming trees, first frosts, fairytale mushrooms, bare branches, and berries.” Swept up in the joy of orange and yellow leaves, candlelit rooms, chunky sweaters, fairy lights, and apple desserts, we may hear a familiar voice or feel a gentle breeze, beckoning us toward the truest thing of all.
Thank you so much for reading my essay. Please let me know what you think…and of course, happy Halloween!
Your friend and fellow traveler,
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Cornelia – I loved your essay. I particularly. enjoyed the theme questioning why people embrace the symbols of death turned into a joke, the connection to what is happening in politics today, and the connection to being a parent raising a young child in this world.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Another great one. Ready for my first trick-or-treaters and remembering how much I loved it as a kid and still love. Thus the “fire” crackling on the tv. Trying to elicit cozy in 80 degrees!