Halloween in Chicago – Some Masks are Figurative, Not Literal
Halloween in Chicago.
I noticed in a few articles this week that school districts near Chicago and around the country are restricting the types of costumes that kids are able to don, putting the kibbosh on things unsavory, violent or demeaning. I wonder how the Celts would feel about all of this.
The Celts? The folks credited with originating Samhain, the festival that is the progenitor of today’s Halloween. Not that I am an expert on any of this, but a bit of research revealed that Samhain (which literally means “summer’s end”) was an end of season festival signifiying when the realms of the living and dead merged.
And with the spirits of the dead traipsing about, the smart-minded Celts about 2,000 years back decided to don the heads of the animals they sacrificed to gain equal footing with the frightening spirits who they believed would otherwise harm them.
Thus the origin of scary masks.
Well, my point today is not to sit in my Edgewater home on Chicago’s northside and delve too deeply into things Jungian. But even thought most people today don’t believe that malevolent spirits are out and about some still choose to don masks. Heck, there are some folks who gain the anonymity of a mask without donning one.
I thought of this earlier today as I clicked to cribchatter, a website that talks about Chicago real estate. To keep tabs on the Chicago market I receive daily google email alerts comprised of specific search terms. This morning’s update on “edgewater chicago” included a blurb from cribchatter telling what just more than a half-million dollars buys in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood.
Here’s the thing – cribchatter is popular with more than a few folks who exult in the pejorative. And lo and behold this sentiment was resplendent as comment after comment excoriated this home, the neighborhood, folks buying and selling Chicago real estate and the real estate professionals who represent them. Evidently we are all a bunch of dopes to those who toil behind the mask of anonymity to impress with comments that tend more toward vitriol than wit.
And therein lies the rub. How easy it is when like the wizard an online chatter is cloaked behind a computer screen where his comment can hurl at the click of a finger and hold little to no consequence for the commenter. But unlike the Celts in days gone by this mask-donner is not seeking to fend off unknown spirits to ensure that the store of food lasts until the next harvest. Actually, I am not sure what the point of this mask is.
A mentor of mine more than a decade ago love to jumble words to concoct pithy statements. I will share one he offered then that seems applicable to today’s online commenters:
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don’t say it meanly.
Hats off to Doug M. who shared that lovely tidbit. And Happy Halloween to those who choose to participate. Just be sure that your masks are not unsavory, violent or demeaning.
And I would guess that you also may want to skip the heads of sacrificed animals.
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