I think most Americans not only know what to do on holidays such as Christmas, New Year, and birthdays but we also know WHY we are celebrating them (the birth of Christ, the turning of the Roman calendar, making it through another 365 days).
But why Halloween? Many of my comrades might claim "Acknowledging the harvest". What? The harvest of pumpkins and Indian corn? Or the harvest of cider and candy bars?
Others might pull from our friend south of the boarder and claim All Saints Day. But Halloween has nothing to do with feeding our dead ancestors and everything to do with frightening our friends and neighbors! Ha!
If I had to explain this holiday and its traditions to someone of western culture who is familiar with the use of the English language I could get through it pretty well I think, by going into detail about the history of certain customs particular to the USA, such as dressing up as the dead come back to life. But I am not explaining Halloween to an English speaking westerner! I'm trying to explain it to the Sherpa people of the tiny hillside village of Cchulemu in northern Nepal where there are no televisions, no newspapers, and we are two days walk to the nearest road.
So I try to walk the villagers through a typical Halloween celebration with the aid of a white board and colorful markers. I can tell that they are just humoring me. Many of the children, even the older ones look very concerned and frightened at the thought of ghosts so I change focus to all the free candy! We make masks of cats, witches and pumpkins and I pass out toys and treats. After class we all walk home together in the dark just like every night. But tonight the cow's gentle moo does not sound sweet like it does mid day. In the middle of the night, when the bovine is disturbed by leaches or frightened by a scurrying rat, that same beast eerily takes on the moan of the walking dead! Trust me, its creepy on Halloween!
No comments:
Post a Comment