My take on whether or not to dress your kids up like scary little goblins and tell ghost stories at Halloween. Some thoughts from
The Solace of Fierce Landscapes, by Belden C. Lane:
Christianity has long been fascinated with the grotesque in art and literature. The accounts of Jesus' suffering and death, followed so closely by the ludicrous joy of Easter, occasioned a vivid coincidence of opposites in the early Christian imagination. This emerged as a pattern in Christian spirituality, flouting with levity the terrors of death.
As early as the second century it could be seen in Polycarp of Smyrna's almost comic martyrdom. Threatening him with lions, unsuccessfully burning him at the stake, finally stabbing him with a dagger, the Romans found him practically impossible to kill. His story was retold with zest and grisly detail by persecuted Christians everywhere. They knew that horror is accompanied by laughter in a resurrection faith.
Why are we drawn to the grotesque, to those freakish ambiguities that set our lives on edge?
(According to German art critic Wolfgang Kayser): The grotesque is born...out of the dislocation that people feel in an estranged world. In periods of personal or cultural crisis, human beings experience a loss of control in a universe that's no longer reliable. The grotesque mirrors their fear of the incomprehensible; it recalls to mind an ominousness they cannot name.
But the grotesque is also a daring exercise in summoning the absurd, making fun of what is feared. It's goal is to defeat, at least in the space of a brief moment's laughter, the powers of darkness.
As the Apostle Paul said, each should be convinced in his own mind, and whatever is not of faith is sin, so I'm not trying to talk anyone into anything one way or the other. As for me though, I think Halloween is a hoot. Here's a look at my little hobgoblins in years past, laughing at the powers of darkness:
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| I don't know why this scanned in black and white. Looks scarier, doesn't it? |
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| Yes, I used to sew Halloween costumes for my kids, Before my eyes got middle-aged and I couldn't see to thread a needle. |
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| Raggedy Andy WOULD NOT wear his wig. WOULD NOT. He also had issues with face painting. |
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| This one was put to use by younger cousins during several subsequent election cycles. |
Happy Halloween, friends! Now stay out of your kids' candy.
Linking up with Patty @ Finding Serendipity.
7 comments:
These costumes are ADORABLE!
I so wish that I could sew.
Sob.
Happy Halloween baby!
adorable! i used to sew costumes, too, until i realized they cost on average $45 each, took 2 months to complete and were worn for a full 15 mins before being ripped off or ripped up for comfort's sake... hm!
thanks for linking up!
Oh my gosh, Raggedy Andy's expression is priceless. Thanks for sharing.
ahahahahaha O's face as Andy! He looks so bewildered and disturbed :-D
Love the part about the grotesque as well.
That's an interesting analysis. I am repulsed not so much by the scary costumes, but by the provocative ones. I some trick or treaters last night that were pretty scantily clad. Yikes!
look at those costumes! okay... you can sew! :O)
i am sure your kiddos had a "hoot" wearing them too!
not big on the gore that you see at halloween but...
we too love the fun of it.
the silly laughs and yummy treats!
popped over from pattys!
oh. this is priceless.
and the hours I used to devote to the few hours of frantic.
It's considerably easier now.
but as these things ironically go... somehow less of a real occasion. sigh.
it was incredibly cold but the doorbell still rang non stop .
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