Halloween, then Christmas

By Atty. Eduardo T. Reyes III

Although widely believed and practiced as a time for “trick or treat” where children garbed in ghastly costumes would be sighted in people’s doorsteps, Halloween is said to have originated from Ireland as a tradition of lighting a bonfire and people wearing scary clothes to ward off evil spirits. Halloween falls on October 31.

Then for some reason, Halloween found its way to the Catholic celebration of All Saint’s Day which falls on November 1.

Today, Halloween confounds the October 31 tradition of warding off evil spirits and the Catholic Feast of All Saint’s Day.

The mix-up is further muddled in the malls where stores display Halloween costumes and other trappings around late October together with Christmas trees and other decorations already in anticipation of Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, save for a few religions, the celebration has been embraced by most religions, not just Christianity.

So now, just over a month apart from one another, we have Halloween and then Christmas.

Both celebrations have been suffused with commercialism. Malls, as already mentioned, litter their walls and stalls with products of Halloween and Christmas on each side, or just alongside one another. Which is ironic, by the way. This is because Halloween falls on the morbid side where death is the theme; while Christmas, is, of course, about the beginning of life on earth as symbolized by the bundle of joy in the manger who would become Jesus Christ.

But Filipinos are mostly thankful for both Halloween and Christmas. For one, these are times when family members could be together. Even if it’s just for the purpose of mingling with one another, being together, and remembering the ones who have gone ahead, the two celebrations become filled with meaning.  It could also be a time for catching up with special people whom you have not seen for a while and said hello in your dream.

For Halloween, “trick or treat” is the mantra; while for Christmas, “Merry Christmas.” Yet both have something in common: you are in for a surprise! In “trick or treat,” a household must be ready with a “treat” lest the children visiting them would leave them with a “trick” or something mischievous. As for Christmas, just about everybody thinks of everyone by buying them presents to be opened, for magical reasons, on Christmas eve.

Perhaps, to the reader, you have already noticed that this article is more about, well, illusions; or a deviation from reality?

You are exactly right.

Halloween, and then Christmas, are all about not thinking too much of work so that we can all be with our family and loved ones. These are occasions when magic and even fantasy can be allowed to set in, so that we can all feel lighter. About work. And about life. Detaching from reality could be good for our mental sanity and wellness.

Trick or treat? For now. Then after a month, Merry Christmas!

                (The author is the senior partner of ET Reyes III & Associates (ETRIIILaw)– a law firm based in Iloilo City. He is a litigation attorney, a law professor, MCLE lecturer, bar reviewer and a book author. His website is etriiilaw.com).