The Manic Attack

Meaning behind Halloween

Written for "Welcome To My Reality Forum" 

1. What do you like best about Halloween?

I love the ancient symbolism of Halloween, how it's the night where the veil between the two worlds is the thinnest. It harks back to the ancient pagans all over the world, but the ones I identify with are the Celtics, and Mexicans who celebrate Día de los Muertos, because my grandma is Mexican. I have always seen it as way more than a night where kids wear costumes and go begging for candy at strange people's houses. I think maybe the whole trick-or-treating thing has been a government-sponsored commercialized holiday to take the masses' attention away from the true meaning of the holiday and keep them in apathetic ignorance. However, those in the know, know that All Saints' Day doesn't fall so close after Halloween by coincidence. Samhain is October 31st. It's actually a beautiful holiday. There's nothing evil or scary about death. Like they say, the only things sure in life are death and taxes. If death is such a certainty, why be afraid of it? Why stigmatize it? Why stigmatize getting older and getting wrinkles and gray hair? Man, when I'm an 80-year-old woman I'm gonna rock my gray hair like nobody's business. But yeah, back to Halloween, it's the actual meaning behind the holiday part that I enjoy.