Halloween By Del Abe Jones

More than two thousand years ago A Celebration for the Dead, Returning The Night before the Celtic New Year With Costumes and Sacrificial Burning. With a Celebration of the Harvest And to Honour one's Dead Ancestry It spread across all of Europe In the Seventh Century. All Hallows Eve, Night Of The Dead All Souls Day, for the Christians Nobody really knows for sure Where each of those Beliefs begins. The first lighted fruit was gourds and turnips With Scary Faces carved, embers inside To ward off all of the Evil Spirits Who roamed the streets and countryside.

The Irish brought America this Tradition Of carving turnips and even potatoes But quickly learned Pumpkins were better Being bigger, wherein the garden it grows. Bobbing for apples once was popular Dating back to ancient Roman days To honor Pomona, Goddess of fruits As just one of their many Holidays. Trick Or Treat was for the Spirits To leave them a Treat outside your door If not they would play Tricks on you With all kinds of Evil held in store. All Cats were thought of as Spiritual But the Black Cat was the very worst Some thought them Incarnated Humans And many felt that they were Cursed.

Beeswax candles were coloured Orange And Black draped Caskets were the way Colors for those Masses for the Dead Back there in that Ancient day. Fires where Druids Sacrificed life Burned to the skeletal bone Formed what we now call bonfires A new word we thought we've always known. Worshipers danced 'round those fires Wearing disguises on head and skin And throughout the years Halloween Has become steeped in Paganism. And today we spend fourteen billion And most people don't even know, Why? Except for all those Ghosts and Goblins And fake Witches flying 'cross the Sky.

Copyright ©  Del Abe Jones 2005

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