When death trembles

"We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us." - Charles Bukowski

That Good Night

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Your glory walks hand-in-hand with your doom!

I was playing with the little one the other day and in our game there were two characters which stood above the rest. One was based on the character of Hector, the other of Wolverine. In this game I decided that the character based on Wolverine would be able to heal as Wolverine could. However, what struck me as interesting was that, as our game progressed, it became clear to me that the Wolverine character could not match the valor of the Hector character. I found this to be very thought provoking as I would not normally compare spirits of such might. Yet as I pondered this phenomena I realized that it was due to the fact that Wolverine could not die. When the two both committed deeds worthy of a legend, Hector's was the greater because in it, he died. He gave his life for what he believed. And while Hector failed in what he was attempting and Wolverine succeeded, Hectors deed was so much more beautiful, so much more inspiring. Death, as Tolkien so truly stated, is one of the greatest gifts to man. Oh, how wonderful it can be! How is it that death makes everything more meaningful? Or perhaps it doesn't. Perhaps it only shows us what something is truly worth. It is only in the prospect of death or in the act of dying that true valor, true courage, true life can be reached. There are things within this world which I want to die for! Yet I know that before I can die for them I must live for them.

You wanna fly...

then lets fly.

Robert Owen Hood has previously stated that Halloween has become a day celebrating consumerism and promiscuity. In this remark we agree completely. Whatever it once was, Halloween has become a day of costumes and candy for children, a day which many people in the United States would say is their favorite holiday. However, underneath this corrupted mindset, under this superficial day, there is something more. As Robin Hood has said, it was a day meant for remembering the dead, who, by all means, should be remembered. Now I know not how peopled viewed death at the birth of this day, but I know that now death is viewed completely wrong. And that wrongness is exemplified in Halloween.

Death is dark, it is a mystery, it does have fear, but it is not evil, it is not "spooky," with ghouls and zombies and the such-- it is a beauty. And in this culture of Halloween that beauty is gone. The day celebrating death should be like the Danse Macabre. It should have that feeling, that aura of mystery and not only darkness but also light. As was said, there are two sides to every coin. The dead should be remembered. We should care, as Enjolras said, about what they died for. They're death meant something, it still means something. And we should honor them. In death the greatest victory, the greatest mystery of all occurred-- Christ died. Death, therefore, should have a day in remembrance of its beauty, and it should forever be remembered as one of the greatest gifts from God to man.

That is why I have a vendetta for Halloween. It has taken one of the most extraordinary things and turned it into nothing. it has taken the evil in this world and made it friendly and childish. I am against the superficial aspects of this day, but that does not mean, as Robin Hood as pointed out, that one must not live. We must throw out the fakeness, so that the beauty may be seen. We must dance the Macabre. It is a two sided coin, yet I make my own luck. Therefore, concerning a challenge I was recently issued, I accept. I will strive not to let the culture ruin the day, and will attempt to be alive. I will remember, and hope to understand.

There are two sides to every coin

I would like to begin by saying that I agree with everything that Aloysha said in his last post. However, I believe that it is only half of the story. As artists employing the chiaroscuro technique know, it takes deep shadows to bring out the light. The powerful and haunting depictions of humanity present in the work of Edgar Allen Poe, among others, is achieved by their continual awareness of the skull beneath the skin. Silas's exhortation to Bod at the end of The Graveyard Book is made more poignant by the fact that the boy had been raised in a graveyard.

What I am saying, of course, is that people can only achieve the zeal for life that Aloysha is advocating if they keep their mortality in mind. This is what Tolkien meant when he said that death is the gift of the One to Men. While it can be a bitter gift, it is death, the knowledge that time is limited, makes each experience touching and meaningful and focuses people on the moment at hand.

This discussion is especially apt at this time of year, with Halloween around the corner. The origins of Halloween are in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which was their New Year celebrated on November 1st. This feast, coming at the end of the harvest was their way of remembering the year past and preparing for winter which so often brought death with it. They further believed that on the eve of the New Year the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred, and so used this night to remember their dead.

The current issues with Halloween then lie not in their original origins but in the modern distortions of the day. It was not until more recent times that Wiccans and others tried to make it a day devoted to the devil. However, I believe it is the much more common practise of ignoring all meaning of the day that is more troubling. It has become a day celebrating consumerism and promiscuity. As said Cady says in Mean Girls, "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it." But I will come back to this idea at a latter point.

So my challenge to all of you, but particularly to Alyosha who has a vendetta against the day, is to enjoy Halloween but to use it as an opportunity to memento mori. That knowledge is a gift that will help you truely live.

P. S. The quote of this week is my response to Enjolras first post.