Halloween: a Celebration of Mortality
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Issue 92 October 2012 A NEWSLETTER OF THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY Halloween: A Celebration of Mortality C HRISTINA P YRGAKI I love Halloween, more so than any other sures. Carnival, which takes place during ers’ sugar, decorated with Jordan almonds holiday, and this is rather curious since Hal- the four weeks preceding the Easter Lent, and shaped to resemble a freshly-filled loween is not celebrated in Greece, my home faithful to the celebration of life’s pleasures, grave. The tradition of offerings to appease country. It was in 1993 when Tim Burton re- connects individuals with the playful side the dead originates in ancient Greece, but leased The Nightmare Before Christmas that of their personalities and allows them to the Church, just as with Carnival, after fail- I first heard about Halloween and I fell in break away from social conventions and ap- ing to eradicate the pagan tradition of of- love with it! I have always loved scary sto- propriate behavior. Both the Catholic and ferings to the departed, embraced it in its ries, movies, and books, but Tim Burton’s the Greek Orthodox Church, after failing own tradition. Koliva is blessed by the priest classic first introduced me to a holiday that to eradicate the pagan rituals of Carnival, during the evening Mass and distributed to celebrated darkness in a unique manner, resolved to embody Carnival in their tradi- the Mass attendees in memory of the fam- and the fourteen-year-old me was enchant- tions—a common church practice when it ily’s departed, while part of the mixture is ed forever. came to pagan traditions resilient through- spread on the graves of the ancestors. I still I moved to Denver, Colorado just days out human history. remember walking among the graves at dusk before the Halloween of 2002, and I could Halloween is the polar opposite of Car- with my grandmother as a very young child. hardly wait to experience Halloween in this nival. The former has its origins in Samhain, We would make a stop, first at her parent’s country. October in Denver is a month of a pagan festival that marks the beginning grave to scatter Koliva on the tombstones, spectacular colors and nature sets a beau- of winter, and the death of nature before its and then at my grandfather’s parents’ graves tiful scene for the holiday. Red and yellow spring rebirth. Necessary as this death was to do the same. I was too young to under- leaves barely hang from the trees, waiting for rebirth to happen, winter was scary—es- stand the meaning and significance of what for a slight breath of chilly air to swirl them pecially in an era of limited resources and my grandmother was doing, and too busy around until they softly land on the side- shelter, when a long winter could literally trying to wrap my head around the fact that walks and the decorated yards. Front yards cost lives. So, the Celts made this day a cel- my grandmother had parents and what it often become fake cemeteries with Styro- ebration of death in an effort to ostracize the meant that they were dead! I was not able foam tombstones and crosses, with the oc- fear of death. According to the Celtic tradi- to make the connection between Psychosa- casional radius and a set of phalanges com- tion, on the night of October 31, the souls vata and Halloween until very recently since ing out of the ground. White sheets hang of those that have passed away during the Psychosavata does not involve any of the from the trees, giving a ghostly welcome to year wander the earth before they pass on to graphic images of death that one encounters visitors and guests. I could barely contain the world that awaits them. The living wore in Halloween, e.g. skulls and skeletons, and my excitement walking around, taking in ghoulish costumes to fit in with the unearth- there is no mention of ghosts or ghouls. The both the beauty of nature and the omnipres- ly visitors and to disguise themselves among dead are referred to as the “sleeping ones” ent spirit of Halloween! My first Halloween them. Treats were left at the doorsteps of and their souls are thought to visit our world party in the usa, however, left me slightly houses to appease the spirits—this practice in the form of moths. I am not sure whether disappointed. I walked into the party ex- evolved into “Trick or Treat.” the lack of graphic images of death in Psy- pecting ghouls and goblins, witches and un- As I already mentioned, in Greek Or- chosavata is due to excessive squeamishness dead creatures, but instead I got sexy nurses, thodox tradition, there is nothing similar of the Greek people towards the supernatu- Futurama characters, and even then Presi- to Halloween, but recently I realized that ral or the influence of the Church, but I do dent G.W. Bush. Halloween was not the dark there is something that could be thought know that one of the reasons I like Hallow- celebration I expected; rather, it had become of as equivalent to Halloween: the four last een is because it comes with an abundance a kind of cultural Frankenstein, combining Saturdays of the Easter Lent which are called of such images. They serve as a reminder of elements of Carnival and the ancient Celtic Psychosavata, spelled ψυχοσάββατα, [psee- mortality and darkness, and although I real- festival of Samhain—two very different cel- ho-sa-va-ta] and translated to “Saturdays ize ghouls and ghosts do not exist, what they ebrations. of the souls.” During these days, the pious symbolize helps me keep things in perspec- Carnival has its origins in the ancient churchgoers, mainly the women in the fam- tive. Much like the ancient Celts, I like to face Roman Festival of Saturnalia and ancient ily, cook Koliva as a humble offering to the the darkness (the one that accompanies the Greek Dionysian Festival. Both these fes- dead. Koliva is a mixture of boiled kernels winter, the one residing in the souls of hu- tivals celebrated the rebirth of nature that of whole grain, ground walnuts, sugar, finely mans, including my very own), make friends comes with spring, fertility, and life’s plea- chopped parsley, covered with confection- with it, and try to overcome it as best I can. 1 So, this Halloween, once more I will temporarily defeat it by living life to the full- make peace with the idea of the upcoming est and that is what my Halloween is about. Editorial Board winter; I will remember my beloved grand- Have a great Halloween everyone! ◉ EDITORIAL BOARD mother, who I know would agree that Hal- References: Lauren Brenner loween is more fun than Psychosavata, and David Skall, Death Makes a Holiday: A Carly Gelfond think about mortality as a fact of life. After- Cultural History of Halloween, (New York: Melina Herman ward, I will put on my witch’s hat, grab my Bloomsbury, 2002) Jim Keller broom, go out with friends who make me Nicholas Rogers, Halloween: From Pagan Aileen Marshall laugh, and celebrate my mortal heart off! Ritual to Party Night, (New York: Oxford Nobody can avoid mortality, but one can University Press, 2002) Engin Ozertugrul Christina Pyrgaki Tobias Reichenbach CULTURE DESK: Exhibition Review: Susan Russo selections.rockefeller.edu “Chinese Gardens: Pavilions, Studios, Retreats” [email protected] At The Metropolitan Museum of Art through January 6, 2013 B ERNIE L ANGS The great art historian, Lord Kenneth Clark, entitled two of his best event; one has to pace oneself so as not to become overwhelmed by the essays, What is a Masterpiece? and Moments of middle and run out of steam by the end. I found Vision. If you would like to experience moments that reading the descriptions detracted from of greatly enhanced visual experience while gaz- my energy. But if this style of art is new to you, ing upon a trove of fabulous art, which boasts sev- I highly recommend reading at least some of the eral masterpieces, head over to the Metropolitan posted notes. Museum of Art to view “Chinese Gardens: Pavil- Certain works in the exhibition just grab you ions, Studios, Retreats.” This exhibition features with their serenity, such as the calm majesty of more than sixty paintings as well as ceramics, “Returning Home Through the Snow” by Dai Jin. carved bamboo, lacquerware, metalwork, and a Others, such as Yuan Jiang’s masterpiece, “The handful of contemporary photographs, all drawn Palace of Nine Perfections,” brings one to a new from the museum’s permanent collections. The level of understanding of how art can teach one Met notes that the exhibit “explores the rich in- unique ways of perceiving physical and spiritual teractions between pictorial and garden arts in dimensions—simultaneously. A rare feat, indeed. China across more than one thousand years. In In the 1990s, I read a lot of Chinese philosophy the densely populated urban centers of China, and though I can’t call back all that I learned from enclosed gardens have long been an integral part a school such as the Confucian, or from a system of residential and palace architecture, such as the Tao Te Ching, or an serving as an extension of the living Above: Qian Xuan, Chinese, ca. 1235–before 1307. Wang Xizhi Watching explanation of the experience of quarters.” If you want to learn about Geese. China, Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), ca. 1295. Handscroll; ink, color, reality such as The Eight Levels of and gold on paper.