Walt's greeting to all who celebrate Hallowe'en

One picture is worth 1000 words, they say. So I don't need to spell this out, do I? Walt dislikes Hallowe'en intensely.

I speak of "modern Hallowe'en", as it is celebrated in English-speaking North America in the year of Our Lord [and don't you forget it! Ed.] 2013. In some parts of our land, more money is spent on decorations and costumes and parties for Hallowe'en than is spent on celebrating Christmas. Just another sign of our sick society's abandonment of Christian values and adoption of paganism. Because that's what Hallowe'en is -- a pagan festival!

In medieval times ignorant people believed strongly in the devil and all his works -- witchcraft, vampires and zombies, ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties and things that go bump in the night. As so beautifully illustrated in the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence in Disney's Fantasia, they thought that on the eve of All Hallows Day (= All Saints Day), the poor sould suffering for their sins in Purgatory rose from their graves for a night of revelry, after which they would return to the netherworld for another year. That is the origin of our modern Hallowe'en and the idea of dressing up as ghosties, etc etc.

But aren't we carrying it a bit far, these days? Why the sudden fascination with zombies, the "living dead", who tonight will be seen in their numbers stumbling along our streets? Zombies are the flavour of the month -- or year. Last year vampires, this year zombies. Go figure.

But vampires and zombies are not creatures to be admired or envied. They are the undead! In olden times, it was considered wise to drive a stake through the heart of a vampire or other evil creature, to prevent them from rising on Hallowe'en or any other night. Today we have "zombie runs" through the streets of our cities. Go figure.

Walt notes that the make-believe monsters infesting our public places are mostly teens and "young adults". Only a generation ago, Hallowe'en was for children, not juvenile delinquents. And the kids dresed up as fairies (the Tinkerbell kind), ladybugs and cute cartoon characters. All that has changed. Now it's a competition to see who can be the bloodiest and scariest. Some fun, eh, kids?

And we don't seem to have as many children calling at our cabin in the woods, because little kids are no longer allowed to be out after dark without parental supervision and "security". (That's one reason why Daylight Savings Time now ends on the first weekend of November.)

When Walt was a kid [before the earth's crust cooled. Ed.] we used to go out, by ourselves, in groups of three or four, and we roamed all over town -- OK, it was a small town -- in quest of tooth-rotting Hallowe'en kisses and other sugary goodies. Now our society is so sick that people feel the need to accompany their children, lest some pervert lure them into his lair or put something harmful -- like a razor blade concealed in an apple -- into their Gucci loot bags. And of course they only call on the houses of close neighbours, because the children must learn never to talk to strangers.

One last thought. Tomorrow is All Saints Day, and November 2nd is All Souls Day. (In countries such as Mexico and the Philippines, where Catholic tradition is still strong, All Souls Day is known as "The Day of the Dead".) At one time these were Holy Days of Obligation in the Church, and Catholics who strive to keep the Faith of our fathers should still hear Mass and pray for the souls of the faithful departed, RIP+.

Right on point (and on cue!): "Hallowe'en: when did it become so gory?", on the CBC News website.