It’s Halloween! Time to mingle with witches and goblins, wear masks, black capes and ghost outfits. So turn off the lights and turn up the spooky music. Listen for the sound of creaky stairs, squeaky doors, and “things that go bump in the night.”
In our neighborhood, bats and skeletons hang from trees and gateposts are draped in spider spit. Someone’s yard is a cemetery. Witches’ brooms are ready for flight.
Halloween was never my favorite holiday. I always thought it was a silly event. First you frighten little kids to death, then you give them candy. And when the world got sick and crazy and I had to inspect every piece of candy for blades or needles, it became a tedious and depressing chore.
I don’t remember doing Halloween when I was a little girl. I have no recollection of getting dressed in a weird costume or trick or treating. I do remember, however, that there was a time of the year when, as teenagers, we gathered late at night to tell ghost stories. It was all in fun, and also a good way for the older ones to get cozy.
A little boy picking out his Avengers costume recently asked me, “Who are your superheroes?” I quickly replied, “My Dad and my Mom.” He insisted, “No, I mean real superheroes!” I told him, “Aside from my parents, José Rizal. Claro M. Recto. The President. Dedicated teachers, compassionate doctors, honest policemen and let’s not forget our OFWs!”
He gave me a strange look, as if wanting to say, “This woman knows nothing! No powers, no muscles, and earthbound? Superheroes? No way!”
True, not today!
Disembodied spirits
The history of Halloween starts in Ireland and Scotland, where the Celts celebrated the end of summer on October 31.
It was the night disembodied spirits came back to take residence in living bodies, hoping to find the afterlife. The living made their homes cold and ugly. They dressed up like ghosts and ran around making noise to frighten the spirits away.
Trick or treating was once known as “souling,” when early Christians went door to door begging for soul cakes (bread with currants). The more cakes you got, the more prayers were promised for the donors’ family.
It was believed that the souls of the dead were in limbo, and that prayers even from strangers could speed up their ascent to heaven.
Did you know that the original Jack-O-Lantern was a turnip? Isn’t that our singkamas?
There’s a legend about Jack, a drunkard and scam artist, who tricked the devil into climbing a tree, carved a cross on the trunk and trapped him there. When Jack died he was refused entry into heaven. Hell didn’t want him either.
Instead he was given a single ember to light his way as he wandered the darkness of eternity. Jack carved out a turnip and kept the lit ember there. This became tradition, but when the Irish settled in America they used pumpkins instead.
Like with all things American, in the Philippines we have taken to Halloween with gusto. By the way, it’s not just the little children who come out in full costume. Wait till you see oversized vampires and werewolves at your door.
Traffic on Halloween is a preview of the Christmas season. Supermarkets run out of candy. I remember having to recycle the goodies my children brought home. Their loot went out of one bag and into another, but only after I had weeded out every mini Nestlé Crunch for myself.
In keeping with Halloween and Araw ng Patay, the networks will again offer a surfeit of ghost movies and scary interviews about the paranormal, but not necessarily spiritual experiences of celebrities.
All I can say is that with the countless fans of “Walang Hanggan,” I will miss Marco, Emily, Daniel, Katerina and Lola Genia. No thriller will make up for their absence.
Many moons ago, when I was a young bride, we visited the in-laws in Guinayangan, Quezon, on the eve of Undas. We were exhausted from the long train and bus rides and slept early. At dawn the next morning, we were startled out
of bed by the rousing beat of Souza’s “Stars and Stripes Forever” playing full blast to call the townspeople to church.
It was a sad parish priest who later told us that the bells in the campanario had been destroyed during the war. Many years later the silent bells were replaced by the same young man who was so rudely awakened that one November morning.
Trick or treat
That night I experienced my first pangangaluluwa, where people in white shrouds came to the front door and sang sad songs in exchange for food or money. In 1953, that was my first ever trick or treat, Guinayangan-style.
Whether or not one likes Halloween and all its eerie trappings, I get this little surge of excitement at the sight of a hollowed-out pumpkin and mountains of candy. That’s when I know that the real holidays will soon be upon us.
First on my agenda is to find a big enough turkey (or maybe two) for Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing else matters until that is accomplished.
As I carefully try to tick off items on my Christmas list, I know for sure that I will still get that sudden familiar panic attack that asks me if I am forgetting someone’s gift. And so it is that a few days before Christmas, and sometimes almost in a photo finish with Santa himself, I find myself falling in line with the rest of humanity for a last-minute purchase.
How about you? Have you made your list? What is your budget? Prices have soared. But remember, there are some things that all the money on earth cannot buy.
Here are some Christmas gift suggestions.
To your enemy, forgiveness;
To your opponent, tolerance;
To a friend, your heart;
To a customer, service;
To all, charity;
To every child, a good example;
To yourself, respect.
(Oren Arnold, author)
