Better to light a candle

... One day a tortoise will learn how to fly

Everyday life is saturated by traditions that most people perform without thought. Removing one's hat upon entering a building, placing flowers on a grave or candles on a birthday cake, even putting the fork on the left when setting a table--these are customs that people observe on a daily basis, usually without giving their actions any thought. Just, however, because people do not think about the rituals they perform or the traditions to which they subscribe does not mean that those traditions should be abolished. Each of these has a meaning and purpose which they do not loose just because people no longer think about them. In his book "The Thing--Why I am Catholic" Chesterton tells a parable of a gate approached by two reformers, the first of whom looks at it and says "I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away." The second, whom Chesterton calls the more intelligent reformer, replies "If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it."

The same can be said about the traditions surrounding Halloween. Carving jack-o-lanterns, distributing candy, dressing in costume, there was a meaning behind the establishment of each of these and they should not be abolished until that meaning is remembered and understood. Because a knowledge of the origin of these things is not reflected in peoples current practise of them is not a reason to stop, nor, as Aloysha claims, does it turn them into nothing. Whether giving out candy on Halloween originated from grave offerings for the dead, from the tradition of providing strangers with hospitality or from something else entirely, the original meaning is honored whether people do so intentionally or not. And, perhaps more importantly in this day and age, there is something to be said about people performing rituals and practicing tradition whether they realise what they are doing or not. For, whether you bow or courtesy to the queen, genuflect before a tabernacle, watch fireworks on the 4th of July, or merely hold a door for a stranger, the point of rituals is to pay respect to something outside oneself and to put oneself in perspective of system larger than themselves--something modernity, with its emphasis on individuality and conflation of liberty and a complete lack of rules, tends to forget.

So the beauty of the day is in the traditions. The mystery of the Danse Macabre is that it was not a one time thing but rather happened regularly allowing everyone to participate. So, if Aloysha wants to attempt to be alive this Halloween he will attempt to carry out the traditions, but with the proper reflection about what those traditions mean and proper reverence to those they honor.