Isn't this a potent time of year? Look around and enjoy the spring ecstasy of frothing fecundity, sap-rising vitality, the electric lime green of new leaves, endearing bundles of duckling fluff, the leisure of having longer evenings and the tantalising promises of balmy warmth.
My point? It's not Halloween time folks.When are we going to acknowledge that the Southern Hemisphere has completely different seasons to the North, which means the eight seasonal festivals need celebrating at the appropriate time? The point of having celebrations other than religious ones is to acknowledge the natural world, the rhythms of nature, and our place in the scheme of things. We need to remember that even though agriculture is now big business, food won't grow without earth, water and photosynthesis.
So is it simply ignorance, crass commercialism, or a fundamental urban arrogance that makes us import Halloween at this time of year? Just because America revels in this festival as a time for practising the commercial imperative of demanding largess with threats, do we need to let ourselves be colonised in this way?
The point of Halloween is to mark the approach of winter, darkness, food running out - the veils between worlds are thinning, presences lurk in the gathering shadows, we imagine creatures of other realms and need to celebrate community to get through this dangerous time.
Halloween is based on the pagan festival of Samhain, making it centuries old. Seeing it so completely displaced into a commercial context - note the shops and businesses promoting it now - makes it obvious there is a consumption drive to be harnessed. So whose interests are being served by marking Halloween at a time of maximum incongruence?
Can we at least have Halloween when it is right seasonally - April 30; mark it in your calendars now! Let's develop our festivities to make sense of this land and its seasons - like we do with Matariki.
* Helen Palmer is a Herald reader from Hillsborough.
* Do you want to get something off your chest? Send us a 400-word comment, including your name and phone number. Pieces written with humour and insight are preferred. * Email the Herald News Desk
