Halloween is one of those festivals that it always feels odd celebrating in New Zealand, given its very close association with the northern hemisphere’s seasonal cycles. Even the nature of contemporary celebration—dressing up in scary costumes, jack o’ lanterns, trick-or-treating—are all activities that make more sense in the gathering dark of autumn evenings, rather than the long, light, early evening of late spring\/early summer in the southern hemisphere.<\/p>\n
The modern, secular festival of Halloween derives originally from the Celtic festival of Samhain, which was associated with harvest end and the passing of the year from summer into the dark and cold of winter. From what I have read, it also had elements of a “day of the dead,” when what more eastern traditions would describe as “the hungry ghosts” had to be placated with offerings of food. Once Christianity became the dominant religion, the 31 October\/1 November date for Samhain became the religious festival of All Hallows’ Eve, or All Saints’ Day, which formally commemorates all the Christain saints. The day after All Saints is All Souls, which remembers those who have died in the faith, but without achieving sainthood. (There are definite overlaps to the earlier Celtic\u00a0 tradition here. Even the bonfires of Guy Fawkes, a few days later, echo the bonfire tradition of Samhain …)<\/p>\n
But whether a harvest festival or a feast of the dead, it is hard to get into the spirit of Halloween on a clear spring evening with lilac, wisteria and the first poppies all blooming, and fresh green growth everywhere. Perhaps not surprisingly, therefore, I have always turned to story to get the Halloween experience, and because I don’t really<\/em> care for horror movies, that pretty much means books. (OK, there’s Buffy<\/strong><\/em>, as well …)<\/p>\n One of my all-time favorite Halloween stories is the Scottish tale of Tam Lin<\/a>,<\/strong><\/em> <\/em><\/strong>and my favourite retelling is found in Rosemary Sutcliff’s The Armourer’s House<\/em><\/strong> (Oxford Children’s Library, 1951), in the Chapter titled “A Tale for Hallowe’en.”<\/em> Here’s a small sample to give you a feel for why, even though it’s very much a kids’ retelling, I think it’s well worth a read.<\/p>\n <\/em><\/p>\n
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