A ritual is the sequence of actions, activities, words, and performances that take place in a predetermined place and carry meaning throughout the enchantment. It may be prescribed by a religious or traditional community and is characterized by traditionalism, variance, formalism, sacral symbolism, rule governance, and performances (Brandt, Chapter 10). Most communities have symbolic actions that have been prescribed as compulsory for the rituals. In the past, rituals were believed to reinforce religious and cultural beliefs, thus breaking away from the ordinary or punctuate days. Halloween is in many ways a ritual of reversal, as it reverses the usual order of the universal moral and legal beliefs (Brandt, Chapter 10). In normal life, parents urge their children not to beg strangers for particulars, especially sweets and candies, as it is disrespectful, dangerous, and candy is considered unhealthy. However, on Halloween, children are permitted to roam the streets at night and knock door to door to ask for the forbidden treats. Moreover, they are allowed to dress up into different personas, as they engage in the taboo behavior. The kids represent different figures, for instance, superheroes, devil, famous musicians, and any other fantasy characters of their choice. It is also the day when the dead are believed to walk among the living and be heard scratching on walls, appearing in dark places, or howling the moon, thus representing the reversal of the natural norm (Carter and Dart, p. 2). During Halloween, one has the freedom to transform themselves into something they are not in real life. Thus, there is a need to elaborate in details Halloween as a ritual of reversal while evaluating its present, past, and future concept.
Halloween was started by the Celts over 2,000 years ago who held the Samhain, a summer festival, on November 1st. During this festival, they believed that boundary between two worlds became transparent, and both good and evil spirits cross the realms with ease. People put on masks to disguise themselves from the evils and avoid ghostly hauntings. Moreover, the modern human beings have continued celebrating this holiday but with a few alterations. In 2013, The Purge film took to the screens followed by The Purge Anarchy and The Purge Election Year to illustrate Halloween ritual of reversal to the extreme (Brandt, Chapter 10). The movies postulated that all crimes, including murder, were legal for twelve hours in the night. It represents a reversal of the usual laws both moral and legal. The Purge was seen to target the minorities and the poor while reinforcing the rich.
Present Day Halloween
Halloween is believed to have originated from a Christian ritual, All Hallows Eve, held on November 1st on the eve of All Saints Day. However, the present-day Halloween ritual still has ties to the supernatural and scary celebrations all over the United States (Carter and Dart, p. 5). Halloween comprises traditions, such as pranks, costume, role-playing, trick- or- treating, and many more activities that involve people of all ages. It shows a reverse of the normal behavior, which was seen in the past, whereby the focus was on the spookiness. The ritual of reversal is also not complete without costumes (Kelly and Riach, p. 3). People reverse their personalities while dressing up according to their fantasies. Some costumes are handmade. However, most of the present-day costumes are purchased from stores that have specialized in creating special appearances. The ritual allows masqueraders to step out of their daily norm and open up to a huge variety of personas. In addition to costumes, masqueraders take up different roles through their costumes, which creates inhabitable representations of the other persona. A large number of current day Halloween rituals have adult participation.
Halloween ritual postulates different significances for various age groups of people. For children, it is an indicator of mastery of fear, as they walk along the streets at night without much of adult supervision, which is not a norm for them. It may appear strange for the kids to dress up in scary monster costumes and walk to houses, but this is how they learn to deal with fear in a controlled and safe situation (Carter and Dart, p. 7). For adolescents, the trick- or- treat ritual is a form of socializing with their fellows. In addition, adolescents have an opportunity to explore their sexuality by regarding themselves as adults. For the adults, the ritual allows them to relieve themselves of the social order and its tensions. The masks cover their true desperations and give a person new hope even if it is just for one night.
Comparison of The Present Halloween Ritual to The Past
To begin with, modern Halloween differs from the one celebrated while ago. At the beginning, the people featured in this ritual were young males who roamed the streets at night to vandalize property, as during that night, they were allowed to do anything without consequences as opposed to the usual society existence (Morton, p. 213). It is no longer the case, as modern ritual concept is characterized by young children as early as six years roaming the streets. In addition, the ritual tricks have almost been eradicated, which is a relief for homeowners. Halloween was a ritual predominantly for harvest period. However, people have become predominantly urban, hence altering many aspects of the ritual.
In the past, Halloween ritual of reversal decorations and costumes was much scarier. The original costumes comprised mostly black tones and devil’s hat. Today, one can choose any costume that would transform him or her to the person of their fantasy. The 1800s brought about a movement whose aim was to make Halloween a friendlier ritual. The people urged the parents to remove any scaring items out of their decorations, which resulted in religious and superstitious beliefs to disappear (Carter and Dart, p. 10). By the 20th century, Halloween had become more of a community centered ritual with parties and parades. The vandalism that characterized the past Halloween celebrations became limited and was replaced by trick- or- treat. The trick- or- treat allowed people to treat the kids to avoid being tricked.
However, there are still many common factors between the past and present Halloween ritual. The celebration still bears the common theme of unity. The past encompassed the Celts coming together to celebrate Samhain (Holland). In a similar way, the present community joins friends to take part in Halloween. Therefore, the central theme of happiness is still present in today’s celebrations. People may not commemorate the dead or come around bonfires, but still, they spend time together and enjoy the ritual.
Halloween in The Future
With the rapid improvement in technology, a ritual of reversal may experience tremendous changes. People are not taking part in extreme law breaking activities such as killing. The concept of reversal may not be paramount in the future, as many may not look into getting into a different character but rather dress differently. Therefore, in the future, it may lose its meaning and just be a ritual where people can wear a fancy costume with no particular meaning. People are forgetting the basics of the ritual that include carving the pumpkins, wearing masks and masquerades, and doing other building blocks of the ritual (Morton, p. 223). Apart from that, for the kids, the meaning of the ritual may be lost. Modern costumes are concentrating more on superheroes, famous musicians, actors, or athletes. The basic Halloween ritual decorations and costumes, such as skeletons, witches in pointy hats, and black cats, might be completely forgotten. Instead of actual celebration, Halloween may become a day where people just watch horror movies at their home.
With the diversity of religious and cultural beliefs, Halloween is at risk of losing its grasp on the United States citizens. With changes in technology, costumes might also change in the future, as 3D printing would improve costume making of any design (Kelly and Riach, p. 5). With the development of virtual reality, people may opt to take this option to tour haunted houses at the comfort of their homes. Parents may also have improvised devices to monitor their kids’ safety as they roam the streets. In addition, people also view Halloween ritual differently from place to place.
Conclusion
Halloween, as a ritual of reversal, is a source of celebration for many Americans and a major way through which people in a community come together. The reversal part conceptualizes a situation where for a night, people are allowed to do whatever they want and be what they fantasize through costumes and role-playing without any consequence. However, Halloween has witnessed evolution over the past periods. Initially, it was characterized by young men vandalizing their neighborhoods. Presently, young children roam around at night in costumes collecting candies and sweets from houses. The adults have also stepped up in that they now hold their own Halloween parties. Halloween costumes have also evolved from being scary to relatively common costumes. The future of Halloween is not promising, as people may lose its original meaning altogether. With changes in technology, people can do so much at the comfort of their homes, including costume making and virtual navigation of haunted houses. However, Halloween ritual may still hold its locus theme of community peace celebration and happiness.
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