All Hallows Eve - NOWThis is my first post and I am stymied by what to say to a nameless readership that may or may not know me.
This pumpkin is symbolic to me. It was carved by guests of Bridget and Talha's Turkish Feast to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Perhaps celebrate isn't the right word. In case you are unfamiliar with this Muslim holiday, it is a month long fast that begins each day with the rising of the sun and ends each day when the sun has set. This fast includes everything you could bring into your body as nourishment, including water. I can only imagine how it would feel to finally end that level of self disciplined denial. I respect the Muslim's for their self discipline.
So, this pumpkin reminds me of the friends that I ate with that night. We have been in each other's company over the course of years. I had drifted away. Now I feel like I'm coming home.
I grew up living with religious parents. They weren't at all conventional people, but they believe in God and taught me to fear him. At my mom's house we were taught that Halloween is a pagan holiday. Good Christians, like us, didn't celebrate it.
Each Halloween I spent at Mom's house meant one thing: another trip 'round the neighborhood wearing the angel costume I wore in the Christmas pageant in 1st grade. As you can imagine, within a couple of years I looked ridiculous...not an angel, but a poor sad Christian child struggling to enjoy what everyone else seemed to take for granted - Halloween candy.
In later years Halloween was my favorite holiday. I love pumpkins - probably stemming from their prohibited status while I was growing up. I love to eat them as pies and cookies and scones and ice cream. I love to roast pumpkin seeds. I love to see the aspiring jack-o-lanterns on display in the grocery stores. I love the creativity that people put into them. Pumpkins are food that we are encouraged to play with. They are divine.
- and pagan -
ha ha
maybe i am too.
This pumpkin is symbolic to me. It was carved by guests of Bridget and Talha's Turkish Feast to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Perhaps celebrate isn't the right word. In case you are unfamiliar with this Muslim holiday, it is a month long fast that begins each day with the rising of the sun and ends each day when the sun has set. This fast includes everything you could bring into your body as nourishment, including water. I can only imagine how it would feel to finally end that level of self disciplined denial. I respect the Muslim's for their self discipline.
So, this pumpkin reminds me of the friends that I ate with that night. We have been in each other's company over the course of years. I had drifted away. Now I feel like I'm coming home.
Halloween - THEN
I grew up living with religious parents. They weren't at all conventional people, but they believe in God and taught me to fear him. At my mom's house we were taught that Halloween is a pagan holiday. Good Christians, like us, didn't celebrate it.
Each Halloween I spent at Mom's house meant one thing: another trip 'round the neighborhood wearing the angel costume I wore in the Christmas pageant in 1st grade. As you can imagine, within a couple of years I looked ridiculous...not an angel, but a poor sad Christian child struggling to enjoy what everyone else seemed to take for granted - Halloween candy.
In later years Halloween was my favorite holiday. I love pumpkins - probably stemming from their prohibited status while I was growing up. I love to eat them as pies and cookies and scones and ice cream. I love to roast pumpkin seeds. I love to see the aspiring jack-o-lanterns on display in the grocery stores. I love the creativity that people put into them. Pumpkins are food that we are encouraged to play with. They are divine.
- and pagan -
ha ha
maybe i am too.
