Show X Night of the Dead H Represents Hallowed Eve It Graveyard Lorraine Del t Amor t l f AS part of a documentary entitled Death the Trip of a Lifetime aired recently on PBS the root t. t 4 of Halloween was reported that All Hallows Eve i began with the Celtics a time when people tried to frighten off the dead It was believed then that the I spirits of unhappy dead ones were those who were i i playing tricks on the living Since one could not frighten death from ones one's door by being more frightening than death itself the next best approach approach approach ap ap- was to treat the enemy kindly and make makepeace makepeace peace with the dead ones The Night of the Dead on each October 31 still is recognized in Mexico as a holy night when l the living prepare to meet with their dead ances- ances ances- ances rd r W g tors The spirits ar are are invited to pull up a chair have I d i r Jv- Jv a drink eat and be merry To the people of Mexico I there is no trick to it because it is a treat to make makepeace makepeace r peace WI with th th the e dead K Hall Halloween is the only ritual that the American culture celebrates which confronts the aspects of J i death Except now in America Halloween like i t other hallowed holy holidays has been turned into r F a commercialized form of entertainment People t express themselves in disguises which have nothing noth- noth tf t ing to do with any treating of or making peace with death or dead ancestors I f For weeks in preparation for the night of f Halloween Halloween Halloween Hal- Hal loween cardboard skeletons with grinning teeth F dance in our windows white ghostly sheets hang r f from naked tree branches Fearful and fearless l faces haunt and stalk shoppers from retail shelves The most frightening part of American merican Halloween i is the prices demanded for masquerade costumes tf f V that parents gladly pay to keep their little witches and vampires vampires' happy t On Halloween night in the United States illusive il illusive il- il misrepresentations of the dead and the deadly walk the streets These images drag plastic bags door to door to collect lifes life's sugar coated pacifiers The true symbolism of Halloween is unknown unknown unknown un un- un- un known by the majority of those who celebrate it Beginning as children there is no sense of what is taking place Once a year to better understand death this monstrous terrible thing is decorated in black and orange crepe paper used clothing plastic paint and rubber said Greg Palmer narrator of the PBS documentary When death takes the form of something something something some some- thing that can be understood then it is not to be feared A ch child frightened by a masked monster is quickly calmed when the truth behind the illusion is revealed The monsters in life can definitely be accepted when the child is appeased with a piece of candy To keep from frightening children or having to explain the truth behind an illusion it is much easier to dress up like a vegetable or a bunny rabbit Death or the eminent fear of it is not frightening when it can be controlled Not just on Halloween night is death depicted as a controllable image For centuries man has chosen to take control of death through expressed images of art forms Death images can frighten terrify enlighten inspire and even amuse us All AIl these images put death in human terms As mortals mortals mortals mor mor- we allow the picture of death to frighten us but our minds keep telling us that this is only a picture Upon recognition of the illusion we can make makepeace makepeace makepeace peace with the pictured image and ignore its it's reality Lulled and entertained this culture has forgotten forgotten forgotten for for- gotten th that t the ritual of the holy night of Halloween Halloween Hal Hal- loween and All Saints Day which continues on November 1 was originally intended to make makepeace makepeace makepeace ih dead l- l peace wi with the l f N 1 5 i |