In the midst of our soggy rainy season, it’s good to think of cheerful activities. Fortunately, Halloween, the American autumn festival, will finally arrive on the 31st of October. I’m surprised that the festival, and its celebration of spooky, kooky, and departed souls, hasn’t been taken up more widely in Vietnam.
A popular activity in Western countries and among younger, well-off Vietnamese in big cities, Halloween would be a perfect addition to the Vietnamese festival calendar as a brief, spooky event between the Mid-Autumn Festival and Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year). And this year’s Halloween should be extra spooky given what’s happening around the world.
With the event falling just eight days before the American presidential election, traditional Halloween pumpkins carved into scary demons meant to scare away evil spirits might feature Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump as sinister imps, bound to scare off do-bad ghosts. Certainly the election is shaping up as an equally scary development in U.S. politics.
Most of us, thankfully, won’t care about that as we put on vampire teeth and powder our faces ghostly white to tease our friends. Trouble in the world is not what this other-worldly celebration is about!
Historically, Halloween has been linked to the Celtic (the Celts were the first inhabitants of Britain) festival of Samhain in Ireland, Scotland, and some other parts of the region that celebrates the passing of the year into winter. Later the Christians adopted the festival as part of their rituals.
Halloween also marks the transition into winter, or the darker part of the year – a time when the Celts believed boundaries between the earth and the ghostly world became thinner. During this time, food was often placed outside to keep the spirits happy and protect the people during the cold months. It’s thought that part of donning a scary costume and going from house to house to ‘trick or treat’ was part of keeping the spirits happy. Heck, I’d dress up as a ghost anytime if there was an opportunity for a pizza!
I often think about the similarities in the Vietnamese Mid-Autumn Festival; remembering ancestors, protecting crops, blessing the land, and keeping evil from the door, though witches in Vietnam don’t wear black hats.
Regardless of where we live, our beliefs have so much in common. We’re joined together by common risks from Mother Nature’s power and hazards. If there’s a country where they honestly, altogether, don’t believe in ghosts, then I’ll show you a country populated by people from outer space!
We foreigners sometimes complain about the more bizarre superstitions in Vietnam, but in rural areas where constant threats from floods, landslides, quakes, and man-made disasters are all too common, the notion of spirits making trouble and bad luck and the idea of keeping them happy begin to make some sense.
Yet we are not so advanced either; foreigners pray to gods for good luck, health, and protection from just about anything – Christians even drink a weak red wine in churches that represents the blood of Jesus. Ewww...
One curious thing is that the majority of my students and Vietnamese friends love good horror movies, even if they don’t really get the fun feeling of a Halloween party. The Korean zombie movie, Train to Busan, was very popular here... or maybe it was just a case of teenagers having fun screaming in a crowded cinema!
This year, I can’t make up my mind between dressing up as a scary teacher with a big stick and textbook – Harry Potter style – or a more traditional ‘monkey king’ demon with vampire teeth. It’s a really big problem so I’ll have to ask my teen students for advice! I wanted to be a scary Donald Trump, but I’m too short (and I have better hair...)
I’m sure some of you have thought as you read this, ‘What’s this got to do with Vietnam?’ Well, in these cold, drizzly months maybe we should all help the Vietnamese keep the evil, weird, and unearthly world at bay so we can all enjoy some indoor fun while the water rises outside...
Stay warm, dry, and safe everyone!
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