Transmogrification

What do a purple sweatshirt, a scissors, googly eyes and a couple yards of polka dot fabric have in common? My Halloween costume!

Transmogrification -- the altering of appearance into something extremely scary or funny; the donning of a Halloween costume.

Thanks to Squashland Produce
for these amazing pumpkins!

This is the very first year that I have made a Halloween costume. I should qualify that one year in college I did dress up by attaching our dorm clock to a string of beads and stealing a crown from the theatre department closet (I went as Flava Flav), but this is my very first costume involving sewing. And I’m very thankful to my Mom for helping me.

Growing up, we were forbidden from celebrating Halloween as it was a day to celebrate the Devil and as good Lutherans, such as thing would surely lead to apostasy. Instead, my parents gave us bags of “Reformation Candy,” so that we didn’t feel left out.

I never felt left out. I felt superior to the other Christian children running around like heathens, dabbling in the occult. I remember one girl in jr. high who was particularly appalled that I had never gone trick-or-treating and planned on forbidding my children from doing the same. I was equally appalled that a good Lutheran girl would think so nonchalantly of a day dedicated to witches and demons.

Since then, my view of Halloween has changed. The meaning of any day can change over time just as it can through how it is celebrated. Just as Christmas began as a pagan festival of winter, just as Cinco de Mayo today has little to do with the battle of Puebla, just as St. Patrick’s day has more to do with green beer than to do with driving snakes from Ireland, Halloween has changed from its origins.

Some might say that Halloween is worse today than long ago, because bad people use the day to do bad things like slip razor blades into apples, and poison into candy bars. Others say that Halloween is better because it promotes community togetherness: neighbors get together and meet each other over the premise of children seeking candy.

I’m in neither camp. A day is a day. It can be used for good or ill. For me, it is a time of year when the trees lose their beautiful façade and reveal a twisted nature beneath while mankind dons twisted masks to hide souls barer than the branches.

And the next day, All Saints Day, serves to remind me that there is nothing to fear.

Want to see my costume? I’ll be posting pics of my transmogrification on twitter later in the week!