69 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 43 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
Exclusive to OpEd News:
Life Arts   

Halloween- Still Defying The World Order

By       (Page 1 of 2 pages)   No comments
Message Joey Piscitelli
Become a Fan
  (13 fans)


(Image by Unknown Owner)   Details   DMCA

photo-english site

Halloween -- Still Defying The World-Order

For centuries, the celebration of "Hallowe'en" has withstood the opposition of disapproving entities such as religious hierarchy, government officials, and superstitious populace. Currently, the ancient celebration - aka - "All Hallows Eve", is drawing vehement criticism from fundamentalists.

The accuracy of the historic roots of the famed harvest festival are still argued by scholars worldwide; however the origin of the festival is believed by most to have evolved from pagan tradition. The influence of the ancient Celtic pagan festival known as "Samhain" has been widely accepted as the predecessor to the modern day version of the haunting holiday. Early tradition included the belief that departed souls would visit the living on Hallowe'en night; Christian observance would follow on November 1st - "All Saints Day".

Eerily feeding the mortals fascination of breaching the boundary between life and death, Halloween has been glorified by novels, tales, media and cinema. The obsession with the dark festival has manifested its continuous resurrection - despite numerous global adversaries.

The transformation of Halloween from harvest festival, to honoring the deceased, to costume eccentricity has defied controlled order; the festival has now evolved into a commercial holiday rivaling Christmas. Celebrated October 31st, the holiday continues to evolve and spread worldwide -- in further defiance of the increasing pressures from many religious organizations. News stories concerning the Vaticans condemnation of Halloween on October 31, 2009, were later countered by damage control experts deflecting the articles -- arguably to prevent alienating youth from church membership.

While the anticipation and exuberance of "trick-or-treating" in costume remains the attraction to millions of children around the globe, the role playing innuendo allows adults to stray from conservatism undaunted. Halloween has surreptitiously regained its pagan fertility; merging fantasy and costumery with sexuality -- while honoring the mysterious dark side -- feeding on the human instinct.

Although adults have conveniently masqueraded sexuality in an excusable, yet acceptable atmosphere on Halloween, the transformation to erotic Halloween costumary has inundated the teen market as well. Not only have the boundaries between the living and the dead been crossed on Halloween -- the religious right has proclaimed that the boundaries for costume guidelines have been crossed even more.

Merging gothic influence, paganism, vampirism, sexuality and occultism together, Hallowe'en may very well have succeeded in pleasing the heathen ghosts from centuries ago -- much to the disapproval of conservatives universally.

Halloweens advantage over its adversaries is also bolstered by its ability to reinforce the economy -- 1.6 billion dollars was spent on Halloween candy last year in the US. According to the National Retailers Association, approximately 2 billion dollars was spent on costumes. In addition, 1.7 Billion dollars will be spent on Halloween decorations in the US this year. Adding alcohol, food, party supplies, rentals and events to the list - the total estimated flow of US Halloween Dollars is a staggering 9 Billion dollars.

As millions more people become infected with Hallowe'en fever around the globe each year, and the spending increases economic movement, opponents of the pagan holiday lose influence. The souls of the departed have repeatedly emerged to haunt and defy the conservative world order -- and the ghosts of Hallowe'en continue to win.

Next Page  1  |  2

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Joey Piscitelli Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Joey Piscitelli is a 56 year old writer and child abuse victims advocate in the S.F. Bay Area. Joey is also a pagan witch, and a member of Mensa. Joey wrote the non-fiction book "A Witch Wins Justice" concerning his unprecedented jury court victory (more...)
 
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Happy 75th - Golden Gate Bridge -A Bittersweet History

Bishop Salvatore Cordileone - Will He Admit He's Gay?

Sexual Abuse in Catholic Church- A Decadence of Crime- 1002-2012

Repressed Memory Case Tramples Sex Abuser Priest

Christmas and Jesus? Debunking, Paganism, & Conflicts Continue

Meth -- A New Flu Cure? -- The Confounding History Continues

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend