The Brussels Post, 1974-10-30, Page 2xi
October 31st—Hallowe'en, the fun-feast which
children enjoy more than any other, perhaps with the
exception of Christmas. Yet our very distant
ancestors, the Anglo-Saxons of the Bronze Age,
called it the Feast of the Dead, and dedicated it to
them by setting forth a special long table in their
Great Halls, near the door, so that the Dead, who
were believed to be walking the Earth that night,
-night come in and feast upon the special food set out
or them. The finest of silver dishes were used,
oaded with the best of food and drink -- the
trongest of mead, the whitest of bread, the choicest
meats, the sweetest of honey.
It was a very solemn -- not, a mirthful occasion as
is today, and the fades of the living folk gathered in
;le Great Hall were tense, and although games were
Iayed and minstrels sang their loudest, and the
ounger folk bobbed for apples, even as some do
'.oday, all ears were attuned to the moaning voices of
the Dead they seemed to hear in the bleak fall' wind
which whistled outside.
That is why the Feast was celebrated in the fall,
..vith the onset of winter very n ear -- at a time which
,narked the end of the fruitful life which came to the
earth in the spring and which flourished in the sun of
summer. The forces of evil were believed to bE
abroad at this time, and so arose all the
superstititions of witches riding their broomsticks --
of black cats stealthily prowling in the darkness.
These beliefs were so strong, over many years
before the dawn of history, that the Christian Church
found it difficult to eradicate them. And so it adapted
itself to them -- changing them to Christian concepts
and substituting Christian feasts for the pagan ones.
Thus the Feast of the Dead became "All Saints'
Eve" or Hallowe'en, which is followed on November
1st by All Saints' Day.
And the former dread Feast of the Dead
eventually became a time of frolic, which still ret ains
some of the customs of that earlier feast. Children
today dress up in weird costumes, which are actually
an inheritance from the "mummers" who later, in
mediaeval times, went from door to door collecting
gifts to purchase an animal for sacrifice. And the
lighter-hearted celebration1of this feast still involves
a choice of ancient spells most of them having to do
with hazel nuts and apples which were sacred in
' pagan rites of the druids.
Despite these changes, Hallowe'en has
probably retained more of its ancient character of
mystery and fantasy than any other of our modern
festivals.
---
• 'Wow coHE You Bey' .46--ss AND LEss
PRoagAms ErrwEEN 61,A4HERcbiths c"
Snake rail fence ,
North Easthope Township,
Perth County
Sugar and Spice
By Bill Smiley
Brussels Post
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1974.
BRUSSELS
ONTARIO
Serving Brussels and the surrounding community.
Published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario
by Mclean Bros.Publishers, Limited.
Evelyn,Kzmnedy Editor Toni Haley - Advertising
Member Canadian Community Newspaper Association and
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association.
Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $6.00 a year, Others
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7114ir
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Hallowe'en mystery
verthRifo
CIRCULATION
4
f.
It's a fine', nay, a beautiful October day,
arid I have a fine, nay, a beautiful feeling
inside me. I've just spent a weekend with
my grandbabby. The experience was
..nough to make me feel that the daily
wind, which seems to get grindier and
.4rindier, might be worthwhile after all.
The Jews have a saying, in one of their
hooks, that killing .a man is terrible
,ping, because you are not only killing'him,
hut .the sons he might have and the sons.
lhey might have and so on and on. I think
his is a fine thought. ,
This would apply equally to killing a
woman, though the Old Testatment Jews
were not exactly sold on Women's Lib.
If 1 had been killed in the war, and there
was a good chance I would be, that
:.;randbab would not exist, and the whole
world would be poorer. I'm not kidding.
The existence of so much delight and
charm and laughter and love, all wrapped
up in one perfectly formed nine-month old
creation, restores'my faith, which at times
in
Gccoz.es a little tattered around the edges,
Man alone, with all his gifts, could never
devise the shine in that child's eyes, the
mischievous two-tooth gr,in, the sinuosity
of muscle, the incredible endurance.
The urchin is living proof to me that
humans have a soul, a will, a spirit;
Technology can put together a computer,
but it can't begin to create, or even imitate,
the glory that is a baby.
I can imagine Man devising a machine
which could reproduce the sonorous lines
'of Milton, the fantastic fancy of
Shakespeare, but there would always be
something missing.
Computer's are clean things. They don't
Have to go to the bathroom: They don't
have under-arm problems. No corns or
constipation, arthritis or acne, 'piles or
pimples: gut something is missing.Soul?
Maybe,
I'm not trying to foist upon you the idea
that my grandson is perfect, 'or genius,
even though he is. I'm merely 'trying to
remind you , if you, have grandchildren, of
what a. joy they are, and if you now have
only rotten kids, you have a precious
experience in store for your nether years.
My graridbab is not the most beautiful
child in the World: He'd probably wine in
Second, or even third, in an international
Beautiful Baby contest:
And hes not the mildest. I distovered
this last suminer, at the beaCh., He'd sit
there ; stark naked, flick up a handful Of
sand; and pour it over his left Car. Never
his right. It was a lot of trouble, getting
that sand out of his ear. And he liked to eat
sand, was delighted if he got a handful
a stone in it, for chewing.
But he's got his grandfather's genes,
which make him intelligent, charming,
lovable, and pretty well all-round perfect,
as I point out to my wife.
Unfortunately, he has his mother's
genes, as well. Which make him bad-
tempered when crossed, make him knock
over anything t hat 's over-knockable. But
also give him eyes like two huge dark
grapes, a sense of humor, and a smile like
a Christmas tree when the lights have just
been plugged in.
I have no trouble coping with him, when
lie spends a visit. All I do is make sure I've
had twelve hours sleep for the three nights
before he arrives, do extensive calisthenics
and some jogging for three days before he
arrives. Then I'm ready for Super-Babe.
His pdrents are no problem. His mother
is satisfied with a hug, a kiss, and a
cheque. His father is satisfied with a full
refrigerator, which he opens and starts
rubbing his stomach one minute after
we've shake hands.
Then they disappear. and I have the kid
on my lap. For about Sight seconds, Then
he gives a luirch, a twist, and he's downs
crawling at about forty miles an hour
straight into the fireplace.
Luckily, I'm 'prepared. The andirons are
all locked away, except the broom, which
he uses to comb his hair and bang his
forehead: Everything breakable, reachable
or fragile is locked in the vestibule.
I tpoisesksa
up
‘c a hessrosoek,
crawls
t on the Terrific. He
table, so carefully waxed and polished, and
proceeds to scrawl graffiti on its shining
surface, My wife looks on in horror. "What ,,
offer:
thehell. You can't take it with you,
his wet
wdoeta dloiat poef rotalnier wrong things, I take off
ltll the Indian rug, ltacibhdhaelrweet libhi
im c
.nrglaewsrlsi It
d tite
hh
bbpjuaorloIr da:h.kel-tr:taothi7sinsongs that woudl curdle
ht
a c tAi onnd,
finall y
l u pt horn6 Pri tik
of
rnse e , listurtlailgan
original lullaby which goes -Doe- dee- don.
dee-doo=dee-doO," arid he goes to sleek'
Of Atsdieehei:0,sohtte' he's ntdh ewa utt e rh,. No hocyepitolc.i.G:dyiine;
lying; no violence; no evil It's beatitifol.
Even though Via so stiff I can't get out of
my chair, three hours later when his parents
get home from the Movies.