IN PRAISE OF HALLOWEEN

God bless Halloween, the Gothic Christmas. It is my absolute, bar none, no-holds-barred favorite holiday of the year. Black and Orange everything. Nighttime becomes sacred (for everyone else, finally), ghosts and spooks and the Old Ways, whatever those mean to you, become new again.

Traditions. Halloween has traditions just as solid as any Christmas or Thanksgiving. Sure, it doesn't have its own soundtrack per se (unless you count 101 Scary Sound Effects), nor are shopping malls slavishly devoted to a complete and total make-over in its honour; no. Halloween's traditions are mostly oral. Passed down by word-of-mouth, that is.

What North American family doesn't have some kind of Halloween tradition? (Even if that tradition is avoiding Halloween by going to a church Family Event?

Baking pumpkin pie, roasting pumpkin seeds, candy apples, CARAMEL apples, handing out candy, dressing up, trick-or-treating...it's like an entire evening devoted to sheer fun, like Mardi Gras except everywhere and not just New Orleans.

In Pagan circles, it's Samhain-- (Prounounced SOW-ain, or SAV-een) the New Year. It's when the Male aspect-- the God counterpart to the female Goddess-- completes his journey to the Underworld and becomes its King, until he is born again on the Winter Solstice. (And no, he's not the Devil! Think of it as "spending time in the womb" before being born, you nay-saying nay-sayers!) And it's also the time when the walls between this world and the next are thinnest.

Tonight's the night to honor the dead! To celebrate the ancestors that came before us. Treats? They used to be cakes and drinks left at the crossroads as a feast for the honored dead. Tricks? That's what would happen to you if you snubbed great-grandpa on his special day.

I haven't researched how any of that evolved into what we now have as present-day Halloween-- but wow. Quite the tradition.

How am I celebrating MY tradition tonight? Since my child is too young to know (or care) about any of the weirdness, I'm handing out candy, then going over to Agent ACK's for bevvies and games. Hey, so long as I'm CELEBRATING the day, I'm keeping my Pagan hand in. :)

I got a cocktail kit for my birthday-- all shiny silver-- so every holiday I think of different drinks to make! Huzzah!

Tonight's featured bevvies will be:

Toxic Waste
 
1 oz. Midori
2 oz. gin or vodka
Mountain Dew
Pour the first two ingredients in a highball (tall glass), preferably frosted, over ice. Top off with the Mountain Dew.  Added bonus: the gin makes this cocktail glow under blacklight. You can substitute vodka if you like, but alas, no eerie glow.  

Voodoo Daiquiri
It'll put a spell on you!

2 oz.  Bourbon
1 oz. Everclear or Vodka
4 oz.  Grape Juice
1 cup Crushed ice

Combine Bourbon, Vodka, grape juice and ice into a blender and blend at a medium speed until smooth (15 to 25 seconds). Pour into a chilled hi-ball or Collins glass. Should be served in a plastic cup while in the French Quarter.

Courtesy of Jean Lafitte's Olde BlacksmithShop:
Bourbon Street, New Orleans

Buffy's Vampire Juice

1 1/4 cup cranberry juice
2/5 cup apple juice
1 2/3 tbsp grenadine syrup
2/5 cup vodka (optional)
x ice cubes
x orange slices for garnishing

Put grenadine syrup in a pitcher. Add ice cubes, then pour in the vodka (optional), then the apple and cranberry juice. Pour into cocktail glasses and garnish with a slice of orange.

To all and everyone: Enjoy Halloween. Take part in the Night. Celebrate! Enjoy! And hey-- why not light a candle for the Dearly Departed?

Posted by Agent M at October 31, 2003 11:41 AM