I used to be religious, this isn’t going to be much about it. Just, I remember one of the things that drove me off is how so many holidays are dedicated to new life, rebirth, etc etc toxic positivity essentially.
But all hollows eve is special. I like to think it was a token nod to the occult religions assimilated when the Catholics swept through Europe. Occult attitudes towards death are more nuanced. Just had the thought that Catholicism is the Borg of religions, taking in just enough to make it attractive to others. Always seeking perfection, never reaching it.
Anyway, on this special evening the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is said to be thinner, and usually the whole fuss is made about being closer to those who have already passed…
But I’ve been thinking about it as it approached. That thinning goes both ways. Those of us who are almost dead, perhaps we can feel closer to completion?
a sacred space, a sacred time for those aware they are dying, even if it is in slow motion.
It doesn’t hurt that I have a deep emotional connection with horror as a genre.
so that’s whats so special about tonight, I’ve been trying to find things to appreciate, not in a toxic positive way, but redeeming value in humanity. This is the apex of the part of humanity I like, the dance with death, dans macabre, momento mori and all those lovely allusions to the black death.
Death denial, overfocus on new life is everything wrong with the world today. Care of the dying, that’s what we need more of.
So this is my Christmas, or Easter, or whatever people who like life enjoy as a holiday. A day for indulgence and an admission of mortality. The promise of oncoming death, not just for me, but for everyone, because all humans must die.
Happy Halloween.