We survived Halloween! It’s a different world today…we’re not locking ourselves in our homes and putting food offerings on our doorstep, spending the night praying to our ancestors or saints to ward away disembodied spirits looking to take over a body…oh no…our world today is much scarier than that (just turn on the news).
But oh yes, we survived Halloween. I have some great memories as a child at Halloween, but two things I did not like were being tricked and scared. Yes, I got over it quickly, realizing it was just pretend…and I understand that being sacred is perhaps fun for some people, but not for me. One of the first costumes I remember wearing was an owl costume. I also recall being a cheetah and Cyndi Lauper multiple years. I had fun times gathering with my friends and of course eating candy. The scary costumes and going door to door, not knowing who might be hiding in the bush or behind the door for that next startle to occur was not my cup of tea. There was one time in college I succumbed to peer pressure and dressed up for a party with my roommate as a corpse, complete with fake blood. I had a hard time just looking at myself in the mirror with all the disturbing make-up. Even though I knew it was not real, it didn’t sit well with me. As an adult with a child, it still doesn’t sit well with me…the world is scary enough…why make it more so, even if it is just pretend.
“It can be fun to be scared, as many of us will recall from Halloween past. But if we think back, we’ll probably agree there were two things that made it possible for that scariness to be fun. First, that we knew we were safe because someone we loved was nearby. Second, we knew that whatever was scaring us was only pretend.” – Fred Rogers
My son Noah absolutely adores his grandparents. My Mom came to our house a few weeks ago and brought Noah, what I think was a mildly scary witch decoration. She explained it was pretend and he seemed okay with it. We hung it in the dining room. And then later, when we went to bed, Noah says to me, “You know Mom, I really love when Grandma visits, but I really don’t like that witcher (referring to the witch decoration she brought). Can you ask dad to please put it outside in the trash, like right now? I don’t think I can sleep with that witcher in the house.” It was so sweet and we of course got rid of “the witcher.” A few days ago my Dad came by wearing a pretty scary ghost mask. He walked into the house with it on and Noah was frozen. My Dad took it off, showed him it was pretend and how to look through the eye holes. He asked Noah is he wanted to put it on…Noah wanted nothing to do with it. My Dad proceeded to lift up the mask and put it back on and Noah said, “Grandpa, can you please just not do that, just don’t.” And Grandpa put the mask away.
Noah, though young, does a good job of expressing his feelings. This isn’t the case for all children. While some may enjoy the thrill, I think it’s important to remember that it is not for everyone…even if they are not directly communicating it.
I am able get into the idea of dressing up as something that scares you, such as a snake, a bat, a spider, or even a corpse as a way to let go of fear, perhaps a fear of death. But dressing up as a serial killer, a murdered corpse, or a masked human with a weapon to harm…what kind of message are we putting out there by doing this?
So, what did our Halloween look like? Noah dressed up in three different costumes throughout the day…a pig, an explorer, and a bat. We had dinner with some friends and we walked a few doors down to Christy and Elena’s house for what I’m thinking to call next year “treat or treat.” No tricks and no scaring. Anyway, Christy had organic vegan treats from dark chocolate peanut butter cups to red fish. She asked the kids different questions and each time a question was answered, they received a piece of candy. One of the questions was, “what do you do with pumpkins on Halloween?” The answer the kids gave warmed my heart…they said, “plant seeds.” That day at Noah’s school they carved pumpkins and talked about how the seeds may be baked in the oven for eating or used planting more pumpkins. We had a lovely evening. The kids had fun. No one was frightened. And, once again, I was inspired by my son and the potential of our children to create a kinder world—one where more of us are planting pumpkin seeds.
Happy Halloween, Happy All Saints’ Day and Happy World Vegan Day!
Anna Ferguson is the co-creator of World Peace Yoga, a style of yoga that inspires peace in action, developing intuition, deepening empathy, and expanding compassion. You may connect with Anna via Instagram @annafergusonpeace or via Facebook
