If stores can put up Christmas decorations in September, I feel justified writing about Halloween during Thanksgiving week.
Halloween is one of our few national communal celebrations — most others are celebrated within families or smaller pockets of the community. But on Halloween, we disguise ourselves with costumes and take to the streets … to get candy.
I’ve vented before about the over abundance of candy at Easter, but I feel strongly enough about our standard Halloween traditions to warrant a variation on the same topic.
I’ve chosen to handle this holiday’s sugar overload by copying an idea from a parenting forum. I let my kiddo go trick-or-treating, eat a few candy pieces that evening, pick a handful to save, and leave the rest for the Candy Witch to take away that night. The Candy Witch leaves a toy or book in exchange.
My daughter loves this tradition, but handling this holiday remains tricky. Complications arise when attending multiple public events throughout the week, all of which involve children receiving quantities of candy.
Many of these events involve not only the dreaded candy, but also tiny plastic toy prizes for participation in games.
I don’t think candy or plastic toys are necessarily terrible things, but I would like the option of my family consuming these things in moderation, while still participating in community events.
I feel we are coming to a turning point in our consumption habits as a society. It’s so easy to buy loads of unneeded stuff without giving it much thought (and I’m guilty of this, too), but many people are reconsidering and it’s become trendy to downsize and buy less.
Let’s roll this into all of our holiday celebrations. Let’s consider how we celebrate and why. Most of our holidays date back to pagan times and we have retained bits and pieces of customs that started long ago.
Take jack-o’-lanterns, which date back to an ancient Celtic tradition. The Celts carved demon faces into large turnips, potatoes or beets, to scare away spirits at the end of summer, when they believed the veil between the physical and spirit worlds was thinnest. Pumpkins gained popularity when immigrants came to North America and found them an easier vegetable to carve.
Scaring away spooks was also the impetus for dressing up in scary costumes.
Other customs included putting food out for the spirits of deceased, picnics in cemeteries to share with lost loved ones, making bonfires and bobbing for apples (part of a Roman celebration).
I wish for Halloween and other holidays, as a community we would consider how we want to celebrate. We celebrate Halloween for fun, and I think we could make it even more fun.
I would love to see a costume parade, fall/Halloween festivals with games without “prizes” (my kiddo loves playing games for the fun of them; her experience would not have diminished if they hadn’t concluded with a plastic spider ring, rubbery sticky hand, or other trinkets we’ve both already discarded and forgotten), bonfires and other social interactions.
I’d never propose doing away with trick-or-treating, but I would suggest we hold back on handing out candy until Halloween night (or other night the community designates for the event).
Cheap toys, trinkets and candy are so easily available in our society, that they are hardly a special treat. These things have permeated our holidays, causing unnecessary expense and waste, a superfluity of unhealthy sugar, and bringing little joy. Perhaps we would find holidays more rewarding if we step back and reconsider how and why we celebrate.
ALDONA BIRD is a journalist, previously writing for The Dominion Post. She explores possibilities of local productivity and sustainable living in Preston County.
