Who would have thought that people in Jamaica would be acknowledging and celebrating Halloween, a day associated with ghouls and ghosts? I am so protective of my mortal soul that I don't venture near church crusade tents when evangelists are in attendance. When they cast demons out of people, those demons must be looking for a new rental and it surely won't be my sinful carcass.

 I was in Half-Way-Tree and I saw stores offering specials on costumes and candy and many clubs and promoters are having events all catering to those who indulge. Halloween, as far as I'm concerned, was primarily a USA tradition, but upon further investigation I found that it was tied to Catholicism.

For those readers wondering what this is all about, it is Halloween, the eve or vigil of All Hallows Day or All Saints' Day, an important Catholic feast. It will be celebrated this year on Monday, October 31. Halloween has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival known as Samhain (pronounced 'sah-win'). The festival of Samhain is a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. Samhain was a time used by the ancient pagans to take stock of supplies and prepare for winter.

The ancient Gaels believed that on October 31, the boundaries between the worlds of the living and the dead overlapped and the deceased would come back to life and wreak havoc such as sickness or damaged crops. The festival would frequently involve bonfires. It is believed that the fires attracted insects to the area which attracted bats to the area. These are additional attributes of the history of Halloween. Masks and constumes were worn in an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or appease them.

Trick-or-treating, is an activity for children on or around Halloween in which they proceed from house to house in costumes, asking for treats with the question, "Trick or treat?" The trick part of trick or treat is a threat to play a trick on the homeowner or his property if no treat is given. Trick-or-treating is one of the main traditions of Halloween. It has become socially expected that if one lives in a neighbourhood with children one should purchase treats in preparation for trick-or-treaters.

Some of my more enlightened, exposed or 'frighten'(as I like to refer to them) friends plan in advance what costumes they will be wearing and put up images bearing jack-o-lanterns on the doors of their homes. Well, from I born, these things always make me laugh. Good good pumpkin a carve up fi mek lantern and soup pot nuh scarce. Ain't nothing wrong with adopting an idea from another culture, but if we are going to honour spirits as a Jamaican people, what happen to our traditional costumes? Why choose to wear a famous comic superhero over our well- feared black-heart man, rolling calf, three-card man or local politician? I'm pretty sure the costume would be easier to make, twice as scary and readily understood, but heck, that's just me.

For those of you open-minded enough to send your children door to door, please monitor their candy consumption and the grown 'kids' who want to don masks and get 'wotliss' and careless at parties held in pitch black venues, please do so responsibly, because eventually the masks will have to come off. I will be wearing my birthday suit costume which in itself is pretty spooky, curled up in bed watching cartoons. Happy Halloween, everyone.