All Saints' Eve

Today begins the Christian season of Allhallowstide - the three holy days dedicated to remembering the dead: those who have been "hallowed" or sainted, all Christian souls and, in some churches, souls in Hell.   A series of ancient feasts that can be dated to pre-Christian times they combine folk traditions with the liturgical.  In both pagan and Christian mythology there was a night when the barrier between the real world and the spirit world became blurred.  It was believe that on that night the restless souls of the dead wandered the earth - particularly those who had not achieved bliss or at the least purgatory.  To appease the benevolent ghosts candles were lit and graves decked in flowers; to ward off the malevolent spirits grotesque images were placed in windows and on door steps, and loud noises made  to keep them at bay.

Scabbard 1 | Scabbard 2 | Image Map

A pen and wash drawing of a scabbard was Hans Holbein the younger's first depiction of  the Dance of Death and is believed to date from 1521.  A left click on either of the two sections will take you to large images of this copy of his work by Swiss engraver Christian von Mechel.  Most of Mechel's engravings were based on Holbein's works as seen by Peter Paul Rubens but in this case he owned the original drawing.

In many traditions people donned disguises to fool Death so that should he be stalking the neighbourhood he was unable to identify them and passed them by.   The finality of all manner and stations joining in the final dance to the grave was an ever present image in most communities. 

The last letter of Hans Holbein the younger's
Dance of Death Alphabet - after the message
of Death the Leveler comes the equally
leveling redemption of the Resurrection.

From the 1300s onward the Dance of Death was a popular subject to both edify the general public and, if possible, scare them on to the path of righteousness.  In line with church doctrine it also made the peasant feel equal to the noble - perhaps it would take the King's silk robe longer to rot in the grave than the beggar's rags but eventual all man would "come to dust".  In a time when death came early, war was constant and violent, and plagues - including the Black Death - emptied entire villages it was a subject of frescoes, paintings, tapestries and engravings.  Often the works were by itinerant church painters but just as often the subject was taken on by known artists such as Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Bernt Notke and, perhaps most famously,  Hans Holbein the younger.   The first time he took on the subject around 1521 in a pen and wash drawing  of a scabbard for a dagger.  He was to revisit the subject twice in the next three years with his Great Dance of Death (1522) and his Dance of Death Alphabet (1524).  The original woodblocks were created by Hans Lützelburger and became the source material for books in both Catholic and Protestant countries.  They were also to serve as reference for artists for the next four hundred years.  Countless copies and variations were created using woodblocks, copperplate engraving, ink and oil into our own century.

Wer war der Tor, wer des Weise[r],
Wer der Bettler oder Kaiser?
Ob arm, ob reich, im Tode gleich.

Who was the fool, who the wise 
who the beggar or the Emperor?
Whether rich or poor, all are equal in death

Text from a Totentanz
circa 1460

Back in 2012 I created a video using a 20th century setting of an old English (16th century or earlier) dirge meant to be sung at wakes to accompany the dead on their dance with Death to the gates of Purgatory.   The strange juxtaposition of Buffy Stainte Marie singing Benjamin Britten's setting of the Lyke-Wake Dirge fascinated me when I first bought the album back in 1967 and 47 years later still has the power to give me chills.

'Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world.

Hamlet: Act 3

William Shakespeare

October 31 -1863: The Maori Wars resume as British forces in New Zealand led by General Duncan Cameron begin their Invasion of the Waikato.

Mercoledi Musicale - All Hallows' Eve

And what could be more appropriate for All Hallows' Eve than the Lyke-Wake Dirge as eerily - dare I say creepily? -  sung by Buffy Sainte-Marie in a setting by Benjamin Britten - two names I never thought I'd type in the same sentence.

31 October - 1917: World War I: Battle of Beersheba – "last successful cavalry charge in history".

Happy All Holy Ones Eve!

And by way of an All Holy Ones (All Hallows - Halloween) Eve posting I thought I'd share a photograph that my friend Larry posted today. He's a teacher - and a remarkable one - at the Ambrit International School in Roma.  Every year to celebrate Halloween - not a holiday greatly known in Italy - the school does the traditional "guising", trick or treating and pumpkin carving contest.  This year's winner though original may be taking the commercialization of the old holiday a bit far but you have to admit that its original.

This is the first year Laurent and I haven't carved our own pumpkins in a long time.  Back in the day we always got to work with special tools, stencils and sometimes just our imaginations and created, often as many as ten,  pumpkins.  All to guard the various places we lived in on the evening when "ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night" menaced our household.

And for many years we had the assistance of our own two "short-legged beasties" Bundnie and Reesie.  They were more than willing to lend if not a paw at least their own critique of the creations.  Here they are back in October of 1994 helping out in the backyard as the jack o'lanterns were being carved.

Ever the critic Reese turns up his nose at my hard work!

At least Bundnie shows some interest - probably because she thinks there may be food!

When your beautiful and blend in with the autumn colours you can afford
to be bored by it all!

And just as a reminder that the celebration of All Hallow's Eve is not only about children - as many of our friends  not always only for children I thought I'd include this wonderful painting by Daniel Maclise.  It captures a party that the Irish artist attended in  Blarney on October 31, 1832 where the traditional music, dances and games of the feast were played.

In the original exhibition catalogue the caption for the painting read:

There Peggy was dancing with Dan
While Maureen the lead was melting,
To prove how their fortunes ran
With the Cards could Nancy dealt in;
There was Kate, and her sweet-heart Will,
In nuts their true-love burning,
And poor Norah, though smiling still
She'd missed the snap-apple turning.

The reference to lead melting, cards and nuts (walnuts) are old ways of divination which probably date back to the pagan origins of the Feast.  And snap-apple is better known to us as bobbing for apples.

And just as I was finishing off this post I received an e-mail from a good friend who moved away from Ottawa a few years ago but always keeps me au courant with what the lads are sporting for trick and treating.  Now here are two super heroes if there ever were super heroes!

Trick or treat, everyone! 

31 ottobre/october - All Holy Ones Eve

Lunedi Lunacy

All Hollow's eve is a very Anglo holiday and though it is slowly making inroads here in Italy there are still few trick or treaters and if children are going to wear fancy dress it is normally for Carnival in February or March. Having said that it does not stop the pastry shops and toy stores from pushing the North American concept of goblins and ghosties and things that go bump in the night.

My friend Jenn has two little goblins to dress up this year and I'm not sure what evil thoughts she had in mind but she had a rather disturbing link on Facebook last week. Probably the only thing worse than people who dress up their defenceless pets for Halloween are people who dress up their even more defenceless babies.

One thing you will never find on a restaurant menu here is Spaghetti and Meatballs - I mean why would you mix your primi and your secondi???? But this kid's parents had obviously been brought up on cans of Chef Boyardee. Well at least they didn't cover him in tomato sauce.


Just click on the photo for 49 more of the Creepiest Baby Halloween Costumes. For my money #35 and #34 are pretty creepy but #13 takes the cake.

18 ottobre - San Luca evangelista

All Hallow's Eve

These next three days have always been amongst my favorite in the church calender:
October 31 - All Hallow's Eve
November 1 - All Saints' Day
November 2 - All Soul's Day

Its a triumvirate that has all the bases covered - Hell, Heaven and what ever is in between. The tradition of All Hallows as a celebration of goblins and ghosties and long legged beasties is an old one going back to the Celts. My Irish ancestors celebrated Samhain around this time of year. As with many pagan festivals it was appropriated by the Christian church in the 8th century and then by global marketing in the 20th.

In the Christian church it was originally a night of fasting and preparation for the Feast of All Saints (All Hallows - All Holy Ones - ergo All Hallows' Eve = Halloween) but the old traditions also said it was the night when spirits and demons roamed the earth freely. The only way to avoid them was to disguise yourself as one of them or to frighten them with something as terrible as themselves. Thus pumpkins (turnips and rutabagas in England?????) were carved with horrible frightening faces.

I don't think this pumpkin that I carved for yesterday's Halloween Breakfast was going to frighten anyone. Not quite the message you want to send to demons and ghosts!

My friend and colleague Chris and I worked up this witch who had more scare value than that pumpkin. Its a wonder what you can do with a few garbage bags, some coloured file folders and someone with Chris's creativity. She's a bit of a genius!

And though Halloween is not celebrated much here in Italy - though it is making inroads with blanket marketing at the moment - Laurent thought we'd keep up the tradition of having a pumpkin to ward off evil tonight, just in case some goblins or ghosts were hanging around our place. It seems to have work - haven't seen one all night!

31 ottobre - La Vigilia d'Ognissanti

Hallowmas Eve

Tonight is the Eve of the Feast of All Hallows - Halloween. It still isn't a big thing in Italy, unlike the British Isles and North America it is simply what the name originally meant: the Night before the Feast of All Saints. Tomorrow will be the big day - Ognissanti is the day for families to come together and remember loved ones who have died and to make a special trip to the cemetery.

I've noticed that pastry shop windows are starting to go all the way with pumpkins, witches, skeletons but candy for Halloween isn't all that popular - a torta di cioccolata, well that's another story. As for pumpkin carving that probably strikes most Italians as the waste of a good filling for ravioli. But the young students at the school where my friend Larry teaches carved jack o'lanterns for a good cause. Larry mentioned on Amoroma last week that for €10 a family could take a pumpkin and participate in a pumpkin carving contest. The proceeds went to the the Haiti Cherie fund to feed street children in Port-au-Prince. There are some really fine and frightening examples of the pumpkin carvers art on display - I particularly love Carmen Miranda.

Trick or treating isn't a big thing and given that most people live in apartments probably not all that practical. And children here don costumes more for Carnivale in March than for Halloween. Which brings me to the pictures accompanying this post. Those would be of my friend Marc B. and members of his wild trick or treating crew. Every year the family go out - en masse, if 4 can be considered a masse - to trick or treat in their neighbourhood. I recall a Star Wars theme one year and it appears that this year has taken on a decided Tim Burton tone. That would be Marc as the Mayor of Halloweentown, Justin as Jack Skellington, Erika as Sally and out of camera range putting the finishing touches on Erika's costume Christiane who I understand will be a witch for the festivities.

Now I may be wrong but it seemed to me that during the last few years I was handing out treats at the door the costuming became more and more mundane and at times minimalist - come on kid a red ball on your nose doesn't mean your disguised as a clown! In fact I recall some older kids just showing up in their pseudo-ghetto drag with a pillowcase and mumbling "trek er tret." So its nice to see the famille B. entering into the full spirit of it all. I hope those candy sacks are overflowing by the time you get home guys.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

31 ottobre - San Quintino

All Hallow's Eve

Halloween is not a tradition here in Italy but you wouldn't know it from the window displays in confectioneries, bars and pastry shops. Pumpkins, witches, ghosts and skeletons abound! The next two days will be the important one's - All Saint's tomorrow and All Soul's on Friday. In my acolyte days (not sure if I ever mentioned that I was an acolyte in the Anglican church for one period there) those were two of my favorite Feast Days. The glorious music and ritual of celebrating the Saints and commemorating the Souls of the Faithful Departed, at least in my parish, were theatre of the highest degree.



And speaking of theatre - take that for a link William Zinsser! - Gallery Met and The New Yorker have joined forces and mounted an exhibition of work by New Yorker artists based on Humperdink's Hansel und Gretal. The online slide show highlights some of the work on display - William Wegman's contribution is a hoot and Gahan Wilson's take on the H&G saga is, as always, wonderfully macabre. And Roz Chast gives the tale her own particular twist.

And speaking of opera - zap again Zinsser! - I'll have a post up about Oberto in Bussetto (sounds like a title for a Greek tragedy) shortly.


31 ottobre - Santa Lucilla