Halloween
-- Still Defying The World-Order
For
centuries, the celebration of "Hallowe'en" has withstood the opposition
of disapproving entities such as religious hierarchy, government
officials, and superstitious populace. Currently, the ancient
celebration - aka - "All Hallows Eve", is drawing vehement criticism
from
fundamentalists.
The
accuracy of the historic roots of the famed harvest festival are
still argued by scholars worldwide; however the origin of the
festival is believed by most to have evolved from pagan tradition.
The influence of the ancient Celtic pagan festival known as "Samhain"
has been widely accepted as the predecessor to the modern day version
of the haunting holiday. Early tradition included the belief that
departed souls would visit the living on Hallowe'en night;
Christian
observance would follow on November 1
st - "All Saints
Day".
Eerily
feeding the mortals fascination of breaching the boundary between
life and death, Halloween has been glorified by novels, tales, media
and cinema. The obsession with the dark festival has manifested its
continuous resurrection - despite numerous global adversaries.
The
transformation of Halloween from harvest festival, to honoring the
deceased, to costume eccentricity has defied controlled order; the
festival has now evolved into a commercial holiday rivaling
Christmas. Celebrated October 31
st, the holiday continues
to evolve and spread worldwide -- in further defiance of the
increasing pressures from many religious organizations. News stories
concerning the Vaticans condemnation of Halloween on October 31,
2009, were later countered by damage control experts deflecting the
articles -- arguably to prevent alienating youth from church
membership.
While
the anticipation and exuberance of "trick-or-treating" in costume
remains the attraction to millions of children around the globe, the
role playing innuendo allows adults to stray from conservatism
undaunted. Halloween has surreptitiously regained its pagan
fertility; merging fantasy and costumery with sexuality -- while
honoring the mysterious dark side -- feeding on the human instinct.
Although
adults have conveniently masqueraded sexuality in an excusable, yet
acceptable atmosphere on Halloween, the transformation to erotic
Halloween costumary has inundated the teen market as well. Not only
have the boundaries between the living and the dead been crossed on
Halloween -- the religious right has proclaimed that the boundaries
for costume guidelines have been crossed even more.
Merging
gothic influence, paganism, vampirism, sexuality and occultism
together, Hallowe'en may very well have succeeded in pleasing the
heathen ghosts from centuries ago -- much to the disapproval of
conservatives universally.
Halloweens
advantage over its adversaries is also bolstered by its ability to
reinforce the economy -- 1.6 billion dollars was spent on Halloween candy last
year in the US. According to the National Retailers Association,
approximately 2 billion dollars was spent on costumes. In addition,
1.7 Billion dollars will be spent on Halloween decorations in the US
this year. Adding
alcohol, food, party supplies, rentals and events
to the list - the total estimated flow of US Halloween Dollars is a
staggering 9 Billion dollars.
As
millions more people become infected with Hallowe'en fever around the
globe each year, and the spending increases economic movement,
opponents of the pagan holiday lose influence. The souls of the
departed have repeatedly emerged to haunt and defy the conservative world order -- and
the ghosts of Hallowe'en continue to
win.