Trick or treat

I heard a conversation on the radio yesterday about a proposal to relocate the observance of Hallowe'en permanently to the last Saturday of October and also make that weekend, rather than the first weekend of November, the time for the time change.  The main reason seemed to be to allow kids to go trick-or-treating not on a school night, and to give them even more time to sleep off their sugar rush on a Sunday morning.

Really brought home the secularization of our holy-days.  Also made me imagine somewhat fancifully the delight among the vast array of dark spirits -- once believed to be afoot and seeking openings into our world on the Eve of All Hallow's, at such secular naivete, and how it leaves us so foolishly vulnerable.

Traditionally (in Celtic regions, at least) the night of Oct 31 to Nov 1 has been regarded as the time of transition from summer to winter -- the beginning of the "dark half" of the year.  As any time of transition, this is by nature a "thin time" when spirits pass more easily than usual between this world and the other.  And given the time of year, it's dark spirits and the malevolent -- or even just mischievous, souls of the dead that especially seek entry into our world, our homes and our lives. 

And how to protect one's self and one's home and family?  By appeasing the dark spirits (or people dressed up to represent them) with treats, and/or by warding them off with your own representation of an evil spirit or a soul of someone dead (think jack-o-lantern).

But of course we don't believe in any of that kind of stuff anymore, do we? 

And if Hallowe'en is really just about candy and how much of it can be bought and collected, why not shift it to Saturday night and let the kids sleep in the next day?

Of course, it isn't just about that.  It's also about community, and about grumpy people like me having our hearts enlarged as we happily hand out candy to total strangers, try to guess at their costumes, and savour their happy voices.

And that could be done just as well on a Saturday.

But I wonder ... do we lose something when we schedule holy-days and once-spiritual activities according to our convenience? 

I wonder if our desire to rationalize everything that has spiritual roots is perhaps a sign that there truly is something dark and sinister in the world around us, that we have unwittingly allowed to take over our house and our lives?