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What's the meaning behind all the Halloween festivities?
Pop culture icons and Hollywood are having a big impact on Halloween costumes this year. Duh. No Hallo-scream there!
True Blood and Twilight will have us dressed in the “Vamp Vixen” costume, while Michael Jackson fans will pay tribute to their king with “Beat It” and “Billy Jean” costumes. Not to be outdone, Zombieland fashionistas will be sporting the “Complete Zombie Costume.”
Illegal Alien, Fat Jessica Simpson, Swine Flu, Michael Vick and Dog, Laid Off Banker, Balloon Boy, Mackenzie and John Phillips and even Rhianna and Chris Brown costumes, among the more controversial, will also be found roaming the streets of San Diego on Halloween.
From Pumpkins at the Park at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, to Halloween in the Village of Del Mar, Halloween @ 4th & B’s Heaven and Hell bash, The Rocky Horror Picture Show at La Paloma theatre, Trick or Treat on India Street, Halloween on the Black Pearl, Halloween at the W, Fangtasia at the W, Dos Equis XX Monster Bash in the Gaslamp, Halloween Ball 2009 at the Prado — and dozens of other Halloween events around town, San Diegans will enjoy one ghoulish weekend of fright and merriment.
But what in the world are these festivities really all about? There are so many myths and legends associated with Halloween, it’s no wonder that we’re still amazed when listening to old stories in terror, always looking behind our shoulder in fear.
Here are five myths worth noting:
The jack-o-lantern
Originally carved out from turnip, now pumpkins, these mythical icons were thought to be lanterns. The myth is borrowed from an old Irish legend, which says that once there was an old farmer called Stingy Jack. He was greedy, a gambler and had a very bad temper. He tricked the devil into climbing a tree and then trapped him there by carving a cross into the tree trunk. The devil was infuriated and to get revenge, he cursed Jack into forever wandering the earth, because he was barred from both heaven and hell. He was allowed only to carry his lantern.
Black cats
Black cats are usually connected with witches, who covered the skies on brooms looking for small children. Today kids enjoy dressing up like witches, ghosts and zombies to honor this old myth.
Bobbing for apples
Bobbing for apples is associated with an ancient Halloween myth of honoring Pomona, the ancient Roman goddess of the fruits, trees and gardens. Of course, there are those who say that the practice of bobbing for apples originated in the British Isles (Ireland and Scotland in particular), originally having something to do with fortune telling.
Foretelling the future
Halloween was thought to be one of the nights in the whole year where your future can be foretold. Because of the magic building up around the last day of the season, it was believed that through various little simple rituals you could find out what lies in your future. Now of course nobody believes in cracking nuts, pulling kale or eating an apple in front of the mirror — those are all Halloween myths.
Trick-or-treat
Trick-or-treat serves as one of the rituals where children are allowed to let their imagination run wild, to dress up in the scariest costumes and frighten their neighbors. This is connected with the myth to turn “your strangers into your friends,” by winning them over to give you some treats.
Candy, masks and spooky decorations. That’s what Halloween has become. In other words, eat, drink and be scary. In San Diego this year, there’ll be lots of opportunities to do just that. Just be safe and watch out for Stingy Jack. And in the words of Lindsay Lohan, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”
For more than 30 years, Dr. Mantell has successfully been bringing upbeat, friendly and helpful psychological insights to individuals, families and businesses in San Diego as a clinical and corporate psychologist in private practice. He's been a regular on Good Morning America, KFMB-TV News 8, has appeared on Oprah, Larry King Live, the Today show, authored two best-selling books and speaks regularly for audiences throughout the country. He can be found on Facebook and Twitter.
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Reader Comments:
Boo Humbug is right! Halloween is another holiday that's certainly come a long way from where it began. Costumes, trick or treat, pumpkins, and friendly ghosts are fun but certainly not what Halloween was all originally all about. Probably better to leave it be, like you suggest, and just enjoy the fun of it. Thanks for another enlightening edition of Dr. San Diego.
Halloween is a fun occassion. We can all do things we like:
Pretend to be a character we are fond of, or one that will scare someone!!
Give away candy to little kids all dressed up in their little fave character.
And it all ends with the last piece of candy!!