tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762674434623075554.post8341345697657467188..comments2024-03-28T16:32:33.300-04:00Comments on Royal Musings: HAPPY HALLOWEENMarlene Eilers Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984860671065161997noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8762674434623075554.post-51264406822746983402009-11-01T20:11:04.224-05:002009-11-01T20:11:04.224-05:00Greetings, Marlene, from a fellow Halloweener!
Ha...Greetings, Marlene, from a fellow Halloweener!<br /><br />Halloween is truly an American occasion, and I too love it, though I prefer the cheerful pumpkin/sun faces to the macabre motifs. I have little jack o'lanterns and some pretty witches and ghosts everywhere. Where I live, it is time to get them out when the leaves turn bright colors, and time to put them away when the leaves fall. And yes, then the Thanksgiving turkeys and pilgrims come to the tabletops.<br /><br />Halloween is of course a descendent of an ancient European fall festival called Samhain, meaning in Celtic languages end of summer. I'm sure the Hispanic Day of the Dead and the Germanic St. Maarten's Eve are distant cousins, since the symbols are similar. They include skulls (Mexico) and sun lanterns (Germany). Our masks and carved vegetables and costumes were part of the old Samhain celebration, which also involved large bonfires. Guy Fawkes Night has taken over that part of the fall observance in England.<br /><br />All Saints Day is a far later invention than Samhain, and no doubt sought to supplant some of the rowdiness. And yet, it too celebrates the dead. The theme of change runs through all these celebrations. Seasonal change, life to death to life to come, light to dark to light to come - Halloween is a more important festival than we sometimes realize.<br /><br />Regards, jinjaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com