Halloween has roots in a festival called Samhain started anciently by groups in Ireland. It marks the annual point when summer and winter meet and mix. It was believed that at this volatile time, division between living and dead was weakest, and that spirits of ancestors revisited their communities. They welcomed ancestors home by preparing special foods. They gathered around bonfires. They wore costumes and carved frightening faces into turnips, placing embers inside to light them up, to drive away any threatening spirits. Excess food was shared with people in need.听
One of the things that fascinates me about Halloween today is how it allows us to face threats, fears, death, evil, the inexplicable and the mysterious from a safe distance and in playful, creative ways. One way we do this is through the tradition of watching thriller and horror movies. These stories tend to ask questions about what people most value and most fear. They investigate what happens when our perceptions or surroundings shift in troubling, unexpected ways. Scary films are typically centered on what is morally awry in a family (such as detachment and neglect in听The Haunting of Hill House), a community (such as bullying, infidelity and sexism in the recent series听Stranger Things) or a whole society (such as how听Get Out听explores anti-black racism and the history of slavery in the US). On Halloween, we acknowledge the dark sides of life, which likely helps us meet needs to process the morally complex and sometimes threatening world we live in.
On a different note, many religions and spiritual practices teach the importance of making space for our ancestors as the festival Samhain does. Examples include diverse Indigenous spiritual traditions in North America and in other parts of the world, Catholicism, Confucianism, Shintoism, Taoism, and Hinduism. Personally, growing up I learned to "turn my heart" toward both past and future generations. I learned to research and document my family tree. A few years ago, compiling a book with photos, recipes, and stories from my grandmother's life strengthened me. Whatever our system of beliefs, remembering those who came before may prove to be a supportive spiritual practice, helping us cultivate gratitude and humility, hope, resilience, and a sense of not being alone in the challenges and fears we face.
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