Halloween or "Samhain" in Celtic lore, according to Mike Nichols, is a night that exists outside of time and , hence, it may be used to view any point in time. At no other holiday is a tarot card reading, crystal reading, or tea leaf reading so likely to succeed. What about the novels all of us are about to create?
Is it coincidence, then, that NaNoWriMo Eve is also the same night as All Hallows Eve?
Meditation leads me to believe not.
Bobbing for apples may well represent the remnants of a Pagan "baptism" night call seining. The water-filled tub is a latter day Cauldron of Regeneration into which the novice's head is immersed. The fact that the participant in the folk game was usually blindfolded with hands tied behind his back also puts one in mind of a traditional Craft initiation ceremony. Also according to Mike Nichol's research.
What better initiation into the craft of novel writing then having it occur on All Hallows Eve? And don't we go into it with our eyes blindfolded? Without prior preparation? Not knowing in what direction we may be headed? We fiction writers are symbolically baptized into our own Cauldron of Regeneration, and creation, during a night that exists outside of time, when our inspiration is about to be brought into time during the month of November with a higher likelihood of succeeding.
Ponder also the oft debated: whether a man can write from a woman's point of view and vice versa. In Scotland, at least, the tradition of dressing in costume on All Hallows Eve consisted almost exclusively of cross-dressing (i.e. men dressing as women, and women as men). It seems as though ancient societies provided an opportunity for people to "try on" the role of the opposite gender for one night of the year.
So my NaNoWriMo friends, feel free to write from whatever point of view you wish! We are beginning during an auspicious time indeed. And the above are only a few of the links NaNoWriMo Eve has with All Hallows Eve.
Feel free to research further, and you will see that we are all truly blessed to begin our work on All Saints Day.
Pope John Paul II said in his letter to artists: Even when they explore the darkest depths of the soul...artists give voice in a way to the universal desire for redemption.
Thank you PJP-II for believing in La Perduta Gente!
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2 comments:
wow. mind blowingly great post. call me tonight and we'll learn to insert a nano icon into your post and a link to nanowrimo.org
i'll send this to kirkus.
suckerbeagle did not send this to me. nonetheless, i find it to be a great post, too. very informative. i hope your novel is off to a strong start? perhaps some of your characters are getting it on in the graveyard even as we speak?
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