The Art of Halloween

Here I am ready for a favorite holiday, Halloween. I love this time of year, the fall, and the excitement and fun of seeing how others invent themselves for this most ancient of occasions.                                                                This is not a new holiday. Some say it really hearkens back to the ancient Celtic harvest festival of Samhain. Carried forward to the he Christian observance  of All Hollowtide,which  starts on October 31st, with a three day observance dedicated to remembering the dead. This includes the saints, or hallows, martyrs, and the faithfully departed. In the 16th century, there was the custom of   going house to house in costume. The crved pumpkin would represent the souls of the dead This was brought to the new world by the Irish and Scottish immigrants.                                                                            I love the style of the Mexican observance, Dia de Muertas. I have been in Mexico at this time before and  found it to be very ancient in feeling. Everyone goes out to the graveyards in a  processions led by the priest. There was a even a really awful band . I remember in one very small pueblo, I was next the a grave and saw some bones sticking out. Death is not so very far away.                                                                My face is my canvas this year. First came the white face paint; then the black; then the color.  I am grateful for Adrienne's help in show me the path in this new media. I took this experience back  and was able to draw on my friend's face for the evening .As I looked around the room, I felt my canvas was one of the better, and I was immortalized by wandering photographers. But they never knew who I was, did they? Masks hide all.                                 

The Art of Halloween

It is Halloween time, and here I am in my costume. Who am I? Well,  some nice  man at a dance called me " lovely gypsy woman", as I held my translucent cloth up to cover my face.  I thought I was simply a woman in the lovely sari my friend brought me from  far away.Since  I was hanging out with my swami that night,  I felt I fit my  role just perfectly. 
Halloween is such an ancient revelry.  How can we not honor the art it evokes in so many ways and customs?
It comes from the contraction of "All Hallows Eve", a Christian holiday designated by a pope way back in the 8th century, to honor the saints and martyrs.  Its roots are older, it is said. Going  back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, with bonfires and costumes to scare off the ghosts.  
It is all over the world in some form. Years ago, I was in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. There the celebration is called the "Dia de Los Muertos", or the Day  of the Dead. Officially on November 2nd, it starts on October 31st with celebrations  honoring those who have passed with candles and incense. I was far out in a small village sitting in  the graveyard, watching the priest lead the procession complete with a life sized Jesus and a three piece band. Did I say we four were the only gringos, and blond at that? 
I was sitting near a grave. I  notices some bones sticking up from the shallow earth covering.  Something new for this American, where we make sure they are at least " six feet under". I was strangely touched.
Later, the Irish immigrants in America popularized the customs from their Celtic heritage,  wearing masks to hide from the ghosts. Eventually another custom, the "Trick or Treat" became a part of our vernacular.
What a great art form, to transform yourself into someone entirely different for just one night.