Title: An Alternate Route

Halloween is a goofy holiday. Basically a week or two (depending on how many parties you go to) dedicated to eating candy and pretending to be something we’re not, and everyone just goes along with it. So weird. But awesome. I love candy corn.

According to Wikipedia and the Library of Congress (and I have to say, I’m so glad the federal government found it worthwhile to publish a paper on “Halloween: The Fantasy and Folklore of All Hallows”), Halloween has its roots in a Celtic festival, Samhain. The festival marked both the beginning of winter, approximately our Nov. 1 and the time of year that the ghosts of the dead walked amongst the living: It was then that the spirits of people who had died during the year journeyed into the great unknown (which means that if you see something that looks like Michael Jackson Saturday night, it might really be him, so run the other way).

Samhain was eventually co-opted by Christian missionaries (those crafty fellows) and evolved into All Saints (or Hallows: to be hallowed means to be sanctified or holy) Day. The night before All Hallows Day, All Hallows Eve is the “time of the most intense activity, both human and supernatural … All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which became Hallowe’en.” I dare you to wish someone a Happy Hallow Evening. I bet they won’t give you any candy.

Apparently we can trace back the tradition of wearing costumes and going door to door for “treats” to the Celtic belief that fairies, witches, demons and the souls of the dead roamed around on Samhain: Food and drinks were left out to appease them, and eventually people started dressing like demons, witches, etc. and would literally go around doing “tricks” for “treats.” (Never in my life have I had to do this, which is good, because I don’t have many talents or “tricks” I could do — I can’t even snap or whistle — but I really like candy.)

There’s more in the article about the origins of traditions like pumpkin carving and about superstitions in general. One of the coolest things, though, I thought some of y’all might like to try Saturday (because I definitely want to): “Halloween, a time of magic, also became a day of divination, with a host of magical beliefs: For instance, if persons hold a mirror on Halloween and walk backwards down the stairs to the basement, the face that appears in the mirror will be their next lover.”

So first, unless you are happily in a relationship (or maybe even if you are), make sure that on Saturday you go to at least one party in a place that has a basement. Second, make sure that when you try this you’re sober enough to be able both to walk backwards down a flight of stairs and also to focus on the mirror you’re holding. It may be best to try this as soon as you find some basement stairs, rather than after you’ve had a few rounds of punch.

There’s also another factor to consider when you attempt this: I’m not sure if a face will just magically appear in the mirror, or if the superstition simply means that whoever happens to be going up the stairs while you’re going down them will be your next lover. I’d be careful who’s around when you try this out, just in case it’s the latter. You don’t want to be stuck with your friend’s ex as your new lover. (Or worse yet, with your friend. But maybe you’re more open to experimentation than I am.)

It’s funny that we take Halloween in stride. No one questions the fact that we decorate our houses with scarecrows, cobwebs and ghosts or that little kids dressed like princesses and superheroes run door to door asking random people for treats. Every other day of the year, kids are told to avoid strangers with candy, but on Halloween they go looking for them.

I don’t think of Halloween as a festival for spirits or dead souls, and I don’t know of anyone else who does: This is kind of odd, because that’s what it began as. But now Halloween is about dressing in silly/slutty/scary costumes and partying with other people who are doing the same. It seems the meanings of things can change over time: The rituals and traditions may remain, but the original purpose does not. Things have the meanings that we as individuals and as a society assign to them. Thankfully, Halloween for us centers around dumb costumes and too much sugar, not the undead walking on earth.

Have a Happy Halloween and a good week. Timing this year was perfect: We can wear orange and black on Saturday and kill two birds with one stone. (Another weird phrase: I bet color-coordinating on Saturday will be considerably easier than literally killing two birds with one stone. Or even killing one bird with a stone.) Until next time.

— Leigh Dickey is a junior in global studies. She can be reached at [email protected].