Friday, November 2, 2007 at 2:02am
Halloween 'Down Under'
Column: Outing the Goddess Within
I don't "get" the news here in Australia. The morning headlines on Oct. 31 were all about "the Americans celebrating Halloween today." And, of course, as it was still Oct. 30 in the United States when it was Oct. 31 here, the footage we got was from previous years. I know this because they showed Heidi Klum selecting a pumpkin and she had only one kid in tow. They were also showing an abundance of orange pumpkins - and everyone knows orange was so last season.
"Yeah, but the Aussies are celebrating Beltane!" I wanted to scream at the TV. Of course, I didn't scream, though. That would have been undignified. Instead, I took my clothes off and shook my wobbly bits around an October-pole (the Southern Hemisphere's answer to the May-pole) while singing songs about summer and free love.
Sadly, the Australian culture is being slowly overtaken with the Hallmark version of Halloween. Our kids are dressing up and door-knocking for treats without any true understanding of the what/when/and why of this sacred festival.
As I describe in one of my articles on Witchvox, Halloween is also known as Samhain, and is the most significant sabbat (sacred day) in the wheel of the year. It is the traditional start of the "New Year" for pagans and, as such, is the perfect time for looking backward, looking forward and looking within.
Forget that the Aussie try-hards are six months too early (or late, depending on whether you're an optimist, pessimist or Republican). I mean, it's spring, but they're celebrating an autumn tradition of commemorating souls returning from the dead? Oh, puh-lease. It's obvious that Aussie kids are only seeing the corny, crass and commercial side of Halloween. They are proving this by dressing up in spring and wreaking havoc on the Gold Coast.
Halloween traditionally falls at the end of summer and the harvest, which is in April/May in Australia. At this time of the seasonal cycle, ghoulies, ghosties and long-legged beasties symbolize the beginning of a cold, dark winter, the season associated with death.
It's this "death" aspect that I find annoying while I'm preparing to burst into spring — the time to celebrate "new life." I mean, I've just endured winter. I deserve to enjoy the fresh energy of spring and summer without being harassed by kids at my door pushing the benefits of death, right? Autumn is the time the Aussie kids should be dressing up and behaving down. Not now, not in October.
Of course, I could always deal with the poor misguided door-knockers the same way as one man in England did — by answering the door naked. "Ha ha, the trick's on you!" I'd say (and no doubt they'd agree). But as I prefer to keep any skyclad celebrations confined to my October-pole, I instead posted a sign in my front window warning any potential trick-or-treaters against ringing my bell (and I mean that in the nicest possible way ... ).
In the mischievous nature of a Halloween trick, it read:
If you're here to wish me Happy Beltane,
By all means knock, and I'll wish you the same.
But if you're here to treat or trick,
Back off now before I flip.
Come back in April for the real Halloween,
And I promise then, I won't be so mean.
Sigh ... either the sign worked or the doorbell was conveniently unplugged, because I didn't get one single trick-or-treater. Or perhaps the lack of activity was simply because I'd forgotten to close my curtains before resuming my dance around the October-pole. ...
— — —
Anita Revel is the creatrix of Goddess.com.au, a content-rich website aimed at helping you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable, sacred and authentic self. You can read more of her columns here. © Copyright 2007 by Anita Revel.
"Yeah, but the Aussies are celebrating Beltane!" I wanted to scream at the TV. Of course, I didn't scream, though. That would have been undignified. Instead, I took my clothes off and shook my wobbly bits around an October-pole (the Southern Hemisphere's answer to the May-pole) while singing songs about summer and free love.
Sadly, the Australian culture is being slowly overtaken with the Hallmark version of Halloween. Our kids are dressing up and door-knocking for treats without any true understanding of the what/when/and why of this sacred festival.
As I describe in one of my articles on Witchvox, Halloween is also known as Samhain, and is the most significant sabbat (sacred day) in the wheel of the year. It is the traditional start of the "New Year" for pagans and, as such, is the perfect time for looking backward, looking forward and looking within.
Forget that the Aussie try-hards are six months too early (or late, depending on whether you're an optimist, pessimist or Republican). I mean, it's spring, but they're celebrating an autumn tradition of commemorating souls returning from the dead? Oh, puh-lease. It's obvious that Aussie kids are only seeing the corny, crass and commercial side of Halloween. They are proving this by dressing up in spring and wreaking havoc on the Gold Coast.
Halloween traditionally falls at the end of summer and the harvest, which is in April/May in Australia. At this time of the seasonal cycle, ghoulies, ghosties and long-legged beasties symbolize the beginning of a cold, dark winter, the season associated with death.
It's this "death" aspect that I find annoying while I'm preparing to burst into spring — the time to celebrate "new life." I mean, I've just endured winter. I deserve to enjoy the fresh energy of spring and summer without being harassed by kids at my door pushing the benefits of death, right? Autumn is the time the Aussie kids should be dressing up and behaving down. Not now, not in October.
Of course, I could always deal with the poor misguided door-knockers the same way as one man in England did — by answering the door naked. "Ha ha, the trick's on you!" I'd say (and no doubt they'd agree). But as I prefer to keep any skyclad celebrations confined to my October-pole, I instead posted a sign in my front window warning any potential trick-or-treaters against ringing my bell (and I mean that in the nicest possible way ... ).
In the mischievous nature of a Halloween trick, it read:
If you're here to wish me Happy Beltane,
By all means knock, and I'll wish you the same.
But if you're here to treat or trick,
Back off now before I flip.
Come back in April for the real Halloween,
And I promise then, I won't be so mean.
Sigh ... either the sign worked or the doorbell was conveniently unplugged, because I didn't get one single trick-or-treater. Or perhaps the lack of activity was simply because I'd forgotten to close my curtains before resuming my dance around the October-pole. ...
— — —
Anita Revel is the creatrix of Goddess.com.au, a content-rich website aimed at helping you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable, sacred and authentic self. You can read more of her columns here. © Copyright 2007 by Anita Revel.