Ah yes, it's that time of the year again. By the time this gets published it will be over but I will still write about it because of Micky's higher buzz Halloween blog reward.
At first I wanted to be positive about this rather than negative. I used to hate Halloween simply because it is quickly being plugged into our Pinoy consciousness due to social media and colonial mentality. With the proliferation of call centers or the BPO industry comes more of the Western culture too. This is why even if we do not have Thanksgiving Filipinos post "Happy Thanksgiving!" on their Facebook walls which is just absurd. Halloween is no different too.
(Photo via Pixabay)
Gone are the days when November 1 and 2 held more solemnity as All Saints Day and All Souls Day. It probably has more value in the rural areas or provinces as opposed to here in Metro Manila. Now it is being overshadowed by Halloween parties or celebrations because it tends to be more fun to dress up.
Hey don't forget, Undas (Todos Los Santos) is fun too. We Filipinos clean up and paint the family graves then gather with family and friends at the cemetery. We then pray, talk, eat and drink, play games or even sing on the videoke and what not. It is fun but we still show our respect for the dead instead of going out and dressing up to "scare" others for treats.
Decades ago, we also had the souling tradition or pangangaluluwa in the Philippines. Nowadays we don't see it that much except in a few remote or rural areas. I don't remember having seen this done in my entire life even if I had lived in the province as a kid. Anyway, because more Pinoy millennials are into Halloween, this blog will focus on what people might not know about this Western cultural practice.
♣ Short History of Halloween ♣
There are many things you can read online about the history and the celebration of Halloween . A lot of videos can be found on YouTube too. Basically from everything I gathered, it all started with the Celtic tradition of Samhain.
To give you a very short overview of Halloween, you can watch this video.
(Video credit: HISTORY via YouTube)
While there are a few people who debunk the link of Samhain to the Halloween we know now, it is still widely believed to be so. What began as a harvest new year also became a celebration of evil practices for some.
The veil of the spirit world is said to become thin around certain times (like October 31st) because millions of people celebrate or commemorate the dead. Many centuries ago, plenty of people took advantage of these times by doing things related to occult, witchcraft and evil practices. When Irish people migrated to America, it eventually changed into something else. From the destructive pranks of early American teens or kids during this supposed scary tradition, they were able to turn it into a fun childhood activity instead.
(Photo via Pixabay)
These days this scary time has become a supposed fun occasion all over the world. It is finally an amalgamation of Celtic culture, Christianity and proliferation of a capitalist American culture. But still even today there are online articles and videos of otherworldly and evil things people do during this time of the year.
♣ The Real Story of Halloween ♣
I have never liked Halloween but these days people are more open to celebrating it. We are so desensitized with seeing scary and wrong things that we enjoy dressing up as evil beings like Sadako or Freddy Krueger. Is it really fun to dress up as monsters or ghouls? What is good in being a vampire, zombie, mummy, ghost or the devil during the Hallows Eve? Would you enjoy scaring people? Are you into channeling evil spirits? Imagine if you knew what this cultural tradition also stood for, I doubt if people would still celebrate it.
Want to know part of the real Halloween deal? Watch the video below.
(Video credit: Edge of Wonder via YouTube)
If you're not satisfied with that, there are plenty of other YouTube videos and articles online that you can watch and read. People even claim this spooky time is when children are abducted and sacrificed or people are bled to death and evil rituals are done.
Now that you know more about this scary celebration, here's something to think about:
Why is Halloween a celebration of evil? It emphasizes violence and death, horror and fear and the occult.
Can we get rid of it? Better replace it by doing something that will glorify God instead. This will allow us to overcome evil with goodness. (Romans 12:21)
Think about it, does Halloween give you a good vibe? Do you like it when "evil spirits" or "creepy creatures" roam around you? Yes we like telling scary stories but do we really need to invite these bad spirits into our lives especially during this time? It is like we are asking the evil entities to join us whenever we celebrate this spooky tradition.
(Photo via Pixabay)
Ah but this is what makes us human eh? We like to dwell on the negative instead of the positive. We like to think bad of others and focus more on the bad situations instead of looking towards the heavens, doing good and repenting.
Actually for me the word repent is so old school. It's better to change and improve ourselves for the better instead of insisting we are only sinful people. We can change ourselves to be good people if we want to. No one is stopping us to pray for our dearly departed loved ones souls more instead of focusing on celebrating something with evil connotations. We all have free will and so I suggest that you treat Halloween as a cosplay event instead of a time to look or be "evil". Save yourself and your family/friends from "worshipping" the devil every last week of October.
(Photo via Pixabay)
Think this is foolish drivel? How many times have you heard of ghost encounters happening around this time of the year? Or are you aware that sets of horror films experience scary and paranormal things while shooting scenes too? What about stories where people were filming something about heaven and they also experience small "miracles" on set? Do you think those are all coincidences? I don't think so.
If we cannot avoid celebrating Halloween, I suggest to not dress up your kids as little witches, devils, vampires, and evil entities. There's nothing wrong with wearing costumes but I advise you to be mindful of what you let the children wear. Young ones are more sensitive to unseen forces and dressing them up as bad beings may attract those we do not want.
Otherwise if we really must wear costumes of malevolent characters, make sure everyone's intention is to have good, clean fun and not do bad or naughty things to others. This may reduce the negative entities that get attracted to us. Or think of it this way: Some people say there is no right or wrong and that it is the intent of the action that makes it right or wrong. Should you find yourself in a costume situation you don't want to walk away from then be mindful of your intent when you wear it. Otherwise it might have a negative effect on the subconscious mind without us even realizing it. 
(Photo via Pixabay)
♣ Psychology of Wearing Evil Costumes ♣
But of course, I admit I also dressed up as something scary in the past because it was part of an ongoing contest at work. At the first BPO company I worked for, we always had fun dressing up and decorating during any holiday. From Valentines Day, Summer, Santacruzan until Halloween, Christmas and New Year, you name it we had fun with it. We decorated our bays and cubicles depending on the occasion.
(Photo via Pixabay)
In 2010, the company management decided to have a horror movies theme for October. We drew lots and our team got The Ring. Wooooh. Who knew I would be playing Sadako back then?
During those days I was game in joining any office contest. They even turned me into a muse during Santacruzan too and oh I'm veering away from the topic. Haha. Suffice it to say the reason why Halloween is popular these days is because of the fun and challenge of dressing up. Plus, we also eat all the sweets we can get.
Yes I know this goes against what I was saying above but our intention then was to win the prize money. Lol. I wouldn't have agreed to doing it if it weren't for that. At the time I was sort of nursing a broken heart too so it was a welcome distraction. Good thing there were no ghosts or "Jun-jun" sightings before, during and after the contest.
Wanna see me in a scary costume? Are you ready to see Sadako? *drum roll pls* Get ready! Here she is coming out of the made up well. Lol.
This is a photo of me before the contest performance. I don't remember who took this and the photo below so I'll just say "credit to the owner". (I think the one below was taken by our then Operations Manager but I'm not sure anymore.) Lol.
When performance time came everybody was taking pictures and videos of me! I started by crawling out of the cardboard well and then out the cardboard TV. I had watched videos of Sadako crawling out just to give justice to my performance! Imagine that! Nobody knew how I was going to do it because I didn't practice the crawl in front of anyone. Haha. I'm not sure if they got scared of me but I did my best to be scary until the end.
The fact that our team effort won us the first place for the contest makes me proud of being Sadako until now. Imagine, I still enjoy posting pictures of me as Sadako! At the time I didn't think much of it because this "evil" celebration wasn't prevalent in our country then. Channeling a malevolent spirit can be empowering sometimes but of course I know better.
Okay I must admit I'm being too serious again, warning you of not wearing demons, witches, ghosts costume, etc. The reason I do so is because being the embodiment of an evil creature/person has some psychological effects. It does not only affect actors, like the late Heath Ledger, it can also affect the mind of anyone playing the part. If a person is weak in spirit and/or have no faith in God, imagine what can happen.
On the other hand, choosing your own costume says a lot about your personality. If you enjoy wearing bad characters during Halloween, what do you think that says about you?
As for me, I would never have chosen to be Sadako if I was given a chance to pick my own outfit. Back then all I wanted to cosplay were anime characters because I enjoyed watching a lot of anime. I never got the chance to do so though.
The only other time I wore a costume for this occasion was at the ad agency I worked for. That was three years before I became a call center agent. I wore a white nurse uniform because my cousins were nurses. Not much effort there eh? Haha.
Anyway, I know we all deserve to go to heaven and bring others with us instead of going the opposite way. Do yourselves a favor and pray for the souls of the departed more than focusing on a deceitful celebration. 
(Photo via Pixabay)
♣ Suggestions to Halloween Celebrators ♣
Well I've said everything I can say about the topic but if you can't avoid Halloween here's a few things you can do. Let me repeat some of the things I said and add a few more. I'll break it down into bullets for easy reading.
- Make it a fun and positive event and invoke God in everything that you do.
- Be mindful of your intent when choosing a Halloween costume.
- For added protection, pray before you wear evil costumes or go to Halloween parties.
- Do not force other people to celebrate something that can possibly harm them.
- Choose to wear good character outfits instead of the bad guys.
- And lastly, don't eat too much candy and chocolates for good health's sake. Lol.
And that's it for my blog entry. What do you think about the things I mentioned? Do share below. :)
(Photo via Pixabay)
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For my other insightful or related blogs, click below:
- Good Behavior: The Show About Someone Trying To Be Good Even Though She's Bad
- The Shadow & The Brand New Testament
- What Happens When We Keep Doing Good
- 5 Things We Can Do to End the Cycle of Hating and/or Hurting Other People (2 of 3)
- Along With The Gods: The Two Worlds - A Movie for Spiritual Renewal
- Lent is a Season of Reflection
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